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The Interactive Campus: Administrative and Course Management System Vendors Take Up the Challenge
6/3/2002
" A tremendous amount of activity has already been made possible by Internet-based architectures, and that will continue at an accelerated pace into the future. But Campus Pipeline sees its role as helping schools build the foundations and the infrastructure upon which they can build their digital campus.Infrastructure might not seem very tangible at first to many constituents, who will be concerned with their immediate needs for specific applications. "But the purpose is for all of the different applications to be deployed and delivered in a manageable fashion," says Gilson. "If you start at the application level, without having that common foundation in infrastructure, you are going to create a ‘soup sandwich,' and obviously that is what needs to be avoided."
One technology area that is of particular interest is security. "People are grappling with security issues- not just surrounding the initial login, but across all different applications," noted Murray. How credentials are managed, what the points of vulnerability are, and how to determine the right tradeoff between security and convenience are among the top concerns.
Whereas the technology decision is critically important, the decision is as much about the function of the technology as about the technology itself. "Getting technology in place and implemented is the easy part—what is more difficult is to have that technology accepted as part of the fabric of the institution, seeing that all the constituents understand how they can take advantage of it, and finally to find that it is truly delivering for the mission of the institution," says Gilson. "It is remarkable to see the difference in results of technology implementation between schools that take a mission-oriented approach versus schools that take a very technology-centric approach. The returns are vastly greater to those who have a broad vision of what the technology can accomplish if deployed correctly."
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