Walking a tightrope: IT strategies for supporting university research, teaching & administration

The importance of ICT to all aspects of university business cannot be overemphasised. However the devolved nature of university management, and particularly of research, results in tensions between the central university ICT services (including elearning), striving to provide resilient and cost-effective services for all, and the academic communities that need agile and leading-edge ICTs to serve their time-constrained and collaborative needs. Examples of these tensions are provided. Completely resolving these tensions is not realistic, but some methods, based on good practice in strategic management and knowledge management can support better partnerships that enable all to feel that their objectives are taken into account and ensure better understanding by all stakeholders of the issues.