New Office Reflects Changing IT Mission

Before the sea of change that revolutionized the Office of Information Technology (OIT) this fall, Harvard's information technology stronghold hoped to be like John Winthrop's vision of Boston: The city on a hill.

But OIT failed to learn the true lesson of Winthrop's oft-quoted phrase. In trying to be a beacon for information technology (IT), it drew the constant ire of Harvard's nine deans who were accustomed to the "every tub on its own bottom" theory of management.

"[The argument] wouldn't go away," said former Vice President of Finance Allen J. Proctor '74. "No matter what I did it wouldn't go away.... [It became] a belief system."

Because Harvard's schools, particularly the larger ones, insist on keeping policy-making and innovation within their control, OIT learned the true lesson of Winthrop's parable: When the city on the hill fails, the entire world is there to watch.

Under the leadership of Assistant Provost for Information Systems Anne Margulies, OIT metamorphosized this fall. Ninety-three people, 36 percent of the staff, were terminated. The development group, a staff of engineers who worked on complex technology questions, was eliminated. The name was even changed to University Information Systems (UIS).

More importantly, UIS's mission was different. OIT battled for influence over IT policy. UIS is a service organization, existing to fulfill the needs of the schools. The change calmed the deans and represented another victory for Harvard's favored decentralized management.

Out of Touch

During OIT's existence, administrators complained that it lacked a clear mission and, therefore, sought to do everything.

"[OIT] tried to be the beacon for information technology at Harvard, but that's not how Harvard works," one administrator said.

As part of the central administration, OIT's funding came from various schools. The deans were upset with OIT in part because they felt that OIT's continuous mismanagement caused poor services and wasted their money.

In the past three years, problems between OIT and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) became so tense that FAS considered going outside OIT for its connection to the Internet.

In reorganizing OIT, the University sought to reduce its management and tone down its mission.

"OIT had too many managers and too much overhead," Margulies said. The layoffs in OIT were targeted accordingly. Twenty-four of 50 managers were eliminated.

UIS's objective now--unlike the beacon OIT once sought to be--is "to provide efficient and effective information technology services to the University."

Academic Computing

Further decentralization of IT at the highest levels of the University raised questions about what role the central administration would now play in academic computing.

President Neil L. Rudenstine said frequently this year that academic computing is one of his main priorities, but the central administration plans only to help "coordinate" activities.

This fall Provost Albert Carnesale appointed a University-wide Committee on Information Technology, the first to study the subject since May 1993.

The committee is currently drafting a report, which it will release next fall. Sources on the committee said that the report will reaffirm Harvard's commitment to the decentralized management of academic computing and recommend several areas in which collaboration between Harvard's schools would be worthwhile.

Earlier this year, Carnesale said one possible area for collaboration might be the creation of a center for multimedia study, similar to the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.