The Case for IT Planning for Research Enterprises

In many cases, the development of IT infrastructure in support of university research enterprises has been left to find its own way. Researchers have often had develop their own computing, information, and networking resources, while central IT organizations have perhaps been most occupied with desktop and server support, Web applications, instructional systems support, and administrative systems responsibilities. Today, with mounting competitive pressures, growing regulatory responsibilities, and increasingly complex cost issues, a case can be made that campuses should also be actively engaged in planning how they want IT to support their research enterprises.