Prioritizing IT Functions for a University Information System
This paper outlines a framework for prioritizing information technology functions within a university setting. It examines enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a support model for both office and customer operations, discusses communication methods shaped by emerging peer-to-peer technologies, and addresses personnel and training requirements. The paper then evaluates three core IT functions—email, intranet, and ERP—against four criteria: revenue generation, cost reduction, legal mandates, and competitive adoption. Drawing on published literature, it concludes that email holds the highest immediate priority due to cost-effectiveness and accessibility, the intranet ranks second, and ERP, while potentially the most valuable long-term, requires the greatest investment and transition planning.
- Introduction: Context for prioritizing university IT functions
- Support Plan for Office and Customer Functions: ERP as integrated support framework for universities
- Communication Methods and Personnel Requirements: Emerging communication tech and staffing needs
- Application and Function Priorities: How ERP links departments and manages data
- Strategy for Prioritizing IT Projects: Criteria-based ranking of email, intranet, ERP
- Conclusion: Email leads, ERP offers greatest long-term value
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What makes this paper effective
- Applies a concrete four-criterion evaluation matrix to rank competing IT projects, giving the argument an analytical, decision-support structure rather than relying on opinion alone.
- Integrates multiple academic and practitioner sources (Miranda, Yi, Kollock, Luftman et al.) to ground each section's claims in published evidence.
- Moves logically from broad framing (ERP features, communication trends) to specific prioritization outcomes, making the reasoning easy to follow.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied comparative analysis: it defines evaluation criteria, applies them uniformly across three candidate IT functions, and interprets the results to produce a ranked recommendation. This technique — common in management and information systems writing — shows readers how abstract criteria translate into actionable decisions.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief contextual introduction, then works through five substantive areas: an ERP-based support plan, communication and staffing considerations, application priorities, and a prioritization strategy culminating in a scored table. Each section builds on the previous one, so the final ranking feels earned rather than asserted. The references section follows APA formatting conventions.
Introduction
Advances in information technology continue to change the way businesses and institutions conduct their planning and administration operations. Information technology has improved the efficiency of repetitive tasks such as payroll processing, accounting transactions, and financial reporting. However, in order to achieve the best mix of IT functions in any given setting, it is vital to understand who the customers of the system will be, and what priority must be assigned to respective functions including email, databases, and web servers. To this end, this paper provides a prioritization of a university's information technology functions, including goals, a support plan for both office and customer functions, proposed communication methods, personnel and training requirements, application and function priorities, and a strategy for prioritizing IT projects.
Support Plan for Office and Customer Functions
A support plan that accommodates both office and customer functions within the university is best realized through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) approach. ERP integrates traditional financial management applications — such as accounting, budget control, accounts payable, and payroll — with non-financial applications such as purchasing, inventory, and human resources through a common database standard (Miranda, 2001). It is commercial off-the-shelf software that encompasses the enterprise and focuses on resources, allowing for timely support when and where needed. The tasks provided by this software package include financial control, operational management, analysis and reporting, and routine decision support.
According to Miranda (2001), ERP systems are comprised of software applications that provide almost any organization with the knowledge to manage its core business processes. These systems differ from previous generations of accounting software because ERP relies on a common database for both financial and non-financial applications, accessible on a real-time basis. In addition, ERP enables organizations to redesign existing processes as they implement new software. Miranda notes that ERP systems generally have the following features:
Modular Integration — ties different operational functions to the overall system.
Common and Relational Database — facilitates the integration of information into a single information storage facility and organizes records into a series of tables linked by common fields.
Client/Server Technology — describes the cooperation between the client (a desktop computer in an end-user department) and the server (a networked computer) in two-tier, three-tier, or multiple-tier configurations. In the two-tier architecture, data resides on either the server or the client. The three-tier or multiple-tier architecture allows data to reside on the server, application logic to reside on a second server, and the client to run an interface to the application.
Workflow Capabilities — automates business processes, especially the routing of electronic documents within the enterprise system.
Flexible Chart of Accounts — the chart of accounts (COA) supports financial reporting and budgetary requirements. ERP provides a flexible COA structure based on relational database concepts.
Advanced Reporting and Analysis — system-wide capabilities for reporting and information analysis (e.g., the human resources module has the same reporting capabilities as the accounting modules).
Communication Methods and Personnel Requirements
Today, the trend is clear: there is an explosion in the growth of peer-to-peer applications to facilitate online communications. These new technologies will allow customers to access businesses not only via computers — wireless customers could potentially access a website from a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a pager. People may also communicate directly with companies via satellite. High-speed broadband networks will allow users to transmit enormous amounts of data, including audio and moving images. Dearstyne (2001) argues that this capability will help improve peer-to-peer communication, which will ultimately reduce the role that companies and their web servers play in the communication loop. From this perspective, information technology may be viewed as a tremendous driver of change, but the challenge is to identify the social responsibilities of the software engineers involved and to ensure those considerations are incorporated into system design from the outset.
In this rapidly changing and growing environment, it is important to develop an understanding of the level of technical versus human support needed in an online community. According to Kollock (1998), the labor required to support a rapidly growing university community and maintain quality interactions is quite intense. Therefore, the university must make arrangements for appropriate training for the IT functions deemed priorities, with such training accomplished in-house where possible or outsourced when necessary.
Conclusion
This evaluation clearly shows that email would be a high priority for any university given its cost-effectiveness and ease of use by almost anyone. The ability to transfer documents and data in a virtually instantaneous manner makes it an indispensable part of any IT function. The intranet function ranked a close second, though constraints involving the added expense of purchase, implementation, and training tempered its score. Finally, ERP could be viewed as potentially the most valuable IT function for the university over the long term; however, the transition period involved makes it the most complicated and expensive of these three IT initiatives, and it is best approached as a strategic long-term investment rather than an immediate deployment.
References
Dearstyne, B. W. (2001, April 1). The view from the fast lane. Information Management Journal, 11(3), 121.
Kollock, P. (1998). Social dilemmas: The anatomy of cooperation. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 183–214.
Luftman, J. N., Lewis, P. R., & Oldach, S. H. (1993). Transforming the enterprise: The alignment of business and information technology strategies. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1), 198–221.
Mansell, R., & Wehn, U. (1998). Knowledge societies: Information technology for sustainable development. Oxford University Press.
Miranda, R. (2001). ERP and financial management systems. Government Finance Officers Association.
Yi, H. (2002, Winter). ERPs: The promise and the peril. The Public Manager, 31, 55–57.
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