New Ohio U CIO Knocks Out Strategic Plan in 75 Days

• By Paul McCloskey
• 07/24/07

Bruce Bible, Ohio University's recently appointed chief information officer, has completed an initial 75-day review of OU's information technology needs. The result is a new IT-management strategy to restructure the central office, designate advisory groups, and identify opportunities to collaborate with IT workers across the university's  Athens and regional campuses.

"We've brought multiple IT offices together, culminating with the Office of Information Technology, which is committed to better, more efficient, and more secure information technology," Bible said via a campus press office statement.  What's more, the school said Bible has improved OU's firewall protection, reduced its Social Security number use, and increased monitoring of network activity.

All of which will require more money and staffing, said Bible.

The new CIO has set a goal of $8 million in additional funding over five years, $2 million of which the OU Board of Trustees approved for this first year. The bulk of these investments will go toward hiring 11 new staff members in the first year, and most of the remainder will support improved hardware systems, Bible said in the release.

These investments will help address the top two priorities of the department, according to the release: updating and stabilizing IT infrastructure, and improving service to all campus constituents. In addition to new hires, OIT will restructure the central office to clarify staff responsibilities. "The trick now is to find the right balance between the central office and distributed IT services in order to better serve the university," Bible said.

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