IT Projects

The benefits of the Strategic Portfolio Methodology include:

• Enhanced Decision-Making: By providing a clear framework for evaluating and selecting initiatives, SPM empowers leaders to make informed decisions that support strategic goals.
• Resource Optimization: It ensures that the organization’s resources are allocated to projects that offer the highest return on investment and strategic value.
• Risk Management: SPM helps in identifying and mitigating risks by aligning projects with the organization’s risk appetite and strategic direction.
• Agility and Adaptability: In a rapidly changing business environment, SPM provides the ability to respond to disruptions and adapt strategies as needed.

Portfolio formation involves selecting and organizing a collection of projects to achieve strategic goals. The IT portfolio formation begins each year by incorporating projects that support the strategic goals of university and its divisions.

Senior IT leaders work with the IT Strategic Portfolio Manager to define key project attributes, such as scope, timeframe, and required funding. The portfolio is then assessed for feasibility and necessary actions are identified. This process may include discussions with sponsors and stakeholders to resolve conflicting initiatives or explore alternative solutions if available.

The goal is to balance operational tasks and projects with innovative initiatives, ensuring that the portfolio aligns with overall objectives and adapts to changing circumstances. Effective portfolio management requires continuous reassessment and adjustment to maintain focus on the most valuable activities.

IT uses ClickUp for its work management tool. ClickUp combines collaboration tools, project-tracking tools, reporting dashboards, workflow creations and document organization to create an all-in-one productivity platform.

Several other Elon departments are also using ClickUp to manage their work. If you would like to learn more about ClickUp, please contact Scott Hildebrand.

A project is defined as a short-term effort (with specific start/end dates) undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result within defined constraints. A project ends when it achieves its goals, and its resources are freed for other work.

IT projects include any work with a technology component that requires the significant use of IT resources AND/OR meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Implementing a new service where there is an impact to students, faculty or staff and/or changes to a business process.
• Making a change to an existing Elon service(s) where there is an impact to students, faculty or staff and/or changes to a business process.
• Multiple areas of IT are needed to complete the IT Project.

IT projects are assessed on scope, priority, complexity, risk, and impact. Based on those factors, projects may be led by IT or by division project leads. We’re here to help make that determination.

Operations by contrast are ongoing and repetitive and are typically not projects. Operational activities may repeat daily, monthly, annually, or on an as-needed basis. When operations require a major change in process, input/output, or purpose, they may become IT projects until the change is complete.

Regardless of the size or scope of a project, getting IT involved as early as possible allows us to plan resources effectively, develop actionable timetables, and ensure compatibility with other systems to maintain continuity of services.

General Project Submission Period: IT prioritizes project requests submitted from May through August, in accordance with the institution’s strategic planning cycle. Formation of the IT Project Portfolio occurs in September.

Off-cycle Projects: Requests made outside the general project submission period will be evaluated and integrated according to the project prioritization framework and available resources.

If your project includes a vendor contract or terms and conditions (also known as, Agreement, Terms, Terms and Conditions, Master Service Agreement, etc.), IT must complete a review to ensure compliance with university policies.

As needed, IT will also manage negotiations of contracts and terms of agreement directly with the vendor so that you may submit a finalized version of the contract along with the Contract Approval Cover Sheet.

Please see Purchasing’s Contract Management & Signature Policy and Procedures for more information about who has authority to enter the university into a contract, as well as the proper procedures to follow.

An IT Project Request form should be submitted before a Contract Cover Sheet is completed.

IT uses the following priorities when assessing the feasibility of the project:

1. Critical Service and Compliance Projects
2. Institutional Priorities
3. Divisional Strategic Goals
4. Departmental Strategic Goals
5. General and Non-Critical Service Projects

• Both the sponsoring vice president or assistant vice president and IT must approve project requests.
• Approval depends on the need, how well the request aligns with the divisional strategy, and whether or not funding and resources are available.
• IT reviews technical requirements and architecture to determine alignment with existing systems and services.
• IT will evaluate vendors, information security requirements and compliance needs, scalability, and sustainability of the solution.

The time it takes to evaluate a project request varies based on the size and scope of the request. For requests received during the general project submission period, requests will be finalized in September. For off-cycle requests, it may take several weeks to review and prioritize.

As project requests progress through the process, the project requestor will be kept up to date on the status. If you have questions about the status of a request, please reach out to Scott Hildebrand, IT Strategic Portfolio Manager, at shildebrand@elon.edu.