In these times of increasing uncertainty and shrinking budgets for higher education, identifying efficiencies that don’t degrade quality is the key to success and sustainability. For IT leaders, can simultaneously updating your IT and data governance programs be a winning strategy during lean times?
The long-predicted enrollment cliff has arrived. Undergraduate enrollment numbers have been declining steadily for decades, and signs of a more precipitous drop are already emerging. Meanwhile, shifting federal funding priorities and grant structures have created genuine budget uncertainties across institutions. These combined forces require a more strategic approach to resource allocation than ever before.
For IT leaders navigating these constraints, effective governance frameworks aren’t just helpful—they’re essential tools for prioritization and decision-making. Whether your institution has established governance programs, is building from scratch, or is specifically focused on managing AI technologies, now is the practical moment to strengthen your approach.
At Vantage, we’ve found that revitalizing IT and data governance programs simultaneously creates significant efficiencies. This coordinated strategy not only streamlines implementation but also delivers more comprehensive results during a time when both are critically needed. Here are the top reasons we encourage this approach:
Level-Setting and Program Delineation
Defining the scope and responsibilities of IT and data governance programs together ensures clarity and focus while also highlighting areas of overlap. Common intersections include information security, data privacy, and analytics tools. Reviewing key objectives at the same time helps institutions better understand and manage these shared concerns.
Time and Resource Efficiency
A cohesive strategy eliminates redundancy and ensures teams work toward shared goals, saving both time and resources. Stakeholder engagement often involves the same individuals for both IT and data governance, depending on your organizational structure and size. Hosting a single workshop for input on both programs enhances efficiency and demonstrates that leadership is mindful of stakeholders’ workloads. Additionally, developing both program charters simultaneously streamlines leadership approval—a win-win for everyone involved.
Educational and Change Management Opportunity
Bringing stakeholders together in a single session to distinguish governance from management—and IT governance from data governance—creates a valuable educational opportunity. It fosters transparency, builds trust, and ensures a shared understanding of governance principles. Strong change management practices around elevating awareness, generating a desire for change, and providing educational opportunities keep stakeholders informed, engaged, and prepared to adopt new or refined governance processes.
Integrated Roadmap Planning
While IT and data governance have distinct goals, they often rely on overlapping resources. An integrated implementation roadmap ensures your team is using the right resources at the right time while identifying dependencies that require concurrent or staggered progress. It also provides an opportunity to identify articulation points between the two programs, providing structured communication processes to keep each program apprised of the others’ activities.
“Developing data governance and IT governance programs at the same time has been enormously valuable for the University of Idaho,” Dan Ewart, Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Idaho, shared during our presentation at the 2024 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. “While we decided to concentrate first on implementing IT governance, mostly for reasons of resource availability and immediate need, having both programs developed has allowed us to begin the process of championing data governance and ensuring needs of data governance are captured in the IT governance process.”
Final Thoughts
The methodology outlined above can work for institutions of all different sizes and maturity levels when it comes to governance. It’s important to remember that governance is not one-size-fits-all. Depending on your institution’s culture, centralization level, and organizational structure, the frameworks and relative complexity of your IT and data governance programs may vary significantly. Assessing these factors in advance is crucial for effective change management and strategic alignment.
This post was authored by Senior Strategic Consultant Susan Featherston, who advises clients on analytics, IT and data governance, change management, organizational strategy, service and process improvement, and executive communications.
Need Help?
Regardless of your approach, ensuring your governance structure is flexible and responsive will position your institution for long-term success. Whether you’re enhancing existing programs or building from the ground up, our consultants can help move beyond project prioritization to embrace strategic planning and foster cross-institutional collaboration.