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In This Issue
The Demand for 'On Demand'
10/29/2006
Major shift or marketing buzzword? Questions to ask
Bob Weir is vice president of
information services at
Northeastern University (MA),
the fifth-largest private university
in the country. Weir is
responsible for both academic
and administrative
technology
services for all
members of the
NEU community
(students, faculty,
staff, parents,
alumni, and
prospects), a
total population of more than
200,000. Weir and his team
are particularly focused on
direct academic and administrative
services, whether
under the myNEU portal or
the emerging ‘on demand’
umbrella. Here, Weir draws
from his experience with
NEU’s award-winning Northeastern
On Demand initiative—a web-based
virtual computing environment
—to explain why higher ed’s
trend toward “on demand”
services is stronger than you
might think.
Want to be considered for Campus Technology’s Top 10? Send your countdown and a brief background/bio summary to mgrush@1105media.com
- 10
-
What’s ‘on demand’ got to do with higher education?
- Incoming freshmen, born in 1988, have never known life without PCs or the net.
- To be relevant, higher ed must reflect the real world…an “on demand” world.
- 9
-
So what do these ‘on demand’ people demand?
- Full access to their information, tools, and work regardless of time or place.
- Access via whatever workstation (or digital device) is available.
- Immediate service that reflects their unique needs.
- 8
-
Is this just another ‘enterprise portal’ discussion? Nope: Take your portal and...
- ...add file storage with “self-service” collaboration.
- ...add access to desktop applications and tools.
- ...mix in cell phones, iPods, Xboxes, and heaven-knows-what’s around the corner.
- 7
-
How can we cater to tens of thousands of individuals?
- Automated robust authentication/authorization (identity, role, status, preferences) through enterprise information systems is the “not-so-secret” secret sauce.
- 6
-
You want software delivery via the internet to anyone? Are you daft?
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