Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Funding
Securing Security Dollars
IT security projects are continually under-funded, despite being a top concern for 2007. Here’s how to make the case for security investment.
4/13/2007
Administration officials “might not understand what the IT group and the security team is going through,” Sartin suggests; a problem that can be addressed with some internal marketing. Some security consultants suggest using an education campaign to raise awareness. That campaign should highlight the importance of investing in security, from a risk management standpoint. “Explain what happens out there and why universities are good targets,” Spallitta advises.
While universities can hire a consultant to put together the internal marketing campaign (at a cost), the IT department itself should already have the metrics to illustrate the need for security dollars. Products such as intrusion detection systems, for example, flag security events. IT managers can periodically cull event data and then present top management with a high-level overview of what they’re up against. Presenting hard numbers—recording the frequency of attacks against a particular IT asset or detailing the amount of overtime paid to have a firewall monitored—can help get IT security funding off the back burner.
IT managers can also emphasize worst-case scenarios to motivate balking administrators. The scare tactic might capture the attention of executives who don’t wish to see their names in the paper for endangering the identities of hundreds or thousands of students, Spallitta points out. Still, horror stories may not impress university leaders convinced that data breaches only happen to somebody else. Sartin says IT managers need to drive the point home that although serious incidents may not be daily occurrences, the risk grows greater daily.
Spallita, meanwhile, notes that regulatory compliance is a key driver behind security efforts in the enterprise world, and may also provide an angle in the higher ed sector. Security managers, he says, can go to their boards and make a case for investment from the compliance perspective. Indeed, many universities still need to deal with the security and privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. In addition, the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard applies to schools that handle credit card data.
The Grant Angle
Grants may also provide IT security funding, albeit indirectly.
Kristin DeProspero, grants director at Polycom, a collaborative communications vendor, says the grant programs she is familiar with don’t fund IT security as an independent item. Instead, grants usually cover broader areas such as distance learning.
But in a few cases, grants will help pay for infrastructure, such as security, if it’s part of a larger project. DeProspero cites as an example the US Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program, a grant program that applies to entities located in rural areas. Security funding can be included if the project proposed in the grant application meets the program’s distance learning or telemedicine requirement.
Though such government grants tack on IT security as part of a broader program, they may not help when security is a pressing need. Timing can be an issue, but while the government grant process could take 18 months, a private sector grant might be awarded in a couple of months.
Schools should consider turning to vendors for help navigating the grant-seeking process. For example, Polycom’s Grant Assistance Program offers both human resources and financial support. Among other benefits, the program provides one-on-one advice on the grant process and up to $1,500 toward grant writer fees.
John Moore has been writing about information technology in education, government, and healthcare for 20 years.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Talisma Launches New Version of CRM with Built-in Application Management
Talisma Corp. announced version 8.0 of its constituent relationship management (CRM) application for higher education. The new release includes application management, a revamped user interface, two-way text messaging, personalized Web portals, and an ADA-compliant Web client, among other enhancements.
- Bringing Composers into Classrooms Through Skype
Two Pennsylvania teaching colleagues with an interest in music and technology are bringing remote experts into classrooms at almost no cost, using Skype's free videoconferencing technology.
- Columbia U Going Live on iTunes U
Columbia University has been beta testing its content through iTunes U, the Apple desktop media player for education-related podcasting. The New York-based university expects to go live with its release at the start of the fall semester.
- Let the Games Begin! Google vs. Microsoft
Pursuing a strategy as a consumer of services and choice, Drexel University has partnered with both Google and Microsoft to provide students with massive e-mail mailboxes, gigabytes of file storage with collaboration tools, Web-based calendars, personal blogs, and more.
- Ferrum College Enrolls Juniper Networks To Extend 10 Gigabit Ethernet
Ferrum College in southwestern Virginia has chosen to replace its campus-wide legacy Cisco network infrastructure with Juniper Network switching, network access control (NAC), and firewall/virtual private network (VPN) solutions. The college chose the new equipment after deciding to extend 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) throughput across the network in support of advanced voice over IP (VoIP) by fall 2009.
- Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management
Beginning this fall, students in Tiffin University's newest online program, Ivy Bridge College, will use eCollege, a course management system from Pearson, for all of their online courses. The 2,350-student Tiffin U is located in Tiffin, OH and offers both on-campus and online classes. Since 2005, those online courses have been managed through Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution.
Related Articles
- California Community Colleges Partner with Waterfall Mobile on Statewide Emergency Notification Coverage
- King's College and ASU Add e2Campus for Improved Emergency Notifications
- Saint Joseph Builds Out Wireless Network in Multi-year Upgrade
- Vista Ramp Up Is Happening Now, Study Says
