Priorities for Adopting an Exponential IT Mindset in Higher Education
Adopting Exponential IT is critical for relevance and resiliency in today’s environment.
- Increasingly constrained and competitive economic context in higher education makes adoption of these technologies a high-risk, high-priority strategic-decision.
- The ability to evolve and enable new technologies and capabilities to remain competitive and relevant is increasingly difficult.
- IT leaders struggle to develop highly specialized knowledge of emerging technologies and trends to drive this rapid shift.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
Institutions of higher education struggle to balance the need for cost-optimization in a tightening market while investing in technology to remain competitive and relevant. IT leaders must no longer be spectators of innovation, but strategic institutional partners to the organization’s success. Through visionary guidance, Exponential IT should be explored and adopted to secure a strong position within the evolving landscape of higher education.
Impact and Result
- Recognize the urgency of adopting Exponential IT within higher education to combat industry disruptions.
- Understand the four priorities of Exponential IT transformation in higher education that are being adopted today to remain resilient within the market.
- Acknowledge the foundational capabilities and maturity required to begin an effective Exponential IT transformation, resulting in value creation.
Priorities for Adopting an Exponential IT Mindset in Higher Education
Adopting Exponential IT is critical for relevance and resiliency in today’s environment.
Analyst perspective
Enable value creation through Exponential IT.
From digitizing service models to computerizing operations and the new influx of artificial intelligence processing, information technology has drastically changed organizations.
Opportunities are multiplying at an exponential rate thanks to the rapid pace of technological change. To make the most of the impending opportunities, IT executives will need to transform into institutional leaders who can unlock advanced value and insights for their college or university.
With the exponential technologies come accompanying risks, both externally through the competitive educational environment and internally through the challenges of deploying these expensive technologies effectively. In the world of Exponential IT, where new skills and capacities are needed, innovation readiness is often still a mystery.
It is imperative for technology leaders in higher education to grasp the main priorities of Exponential IT transformation to stay competitive in today’s challenging environment. Recognizing and integrating core foundational capabilities are considered crucial initial steps in starting a successful Exponential IT transformation, resulting in the generation of value in the industry.
Mark Maby
Principal Research Director for the Education Sector
Info-Tech Research Group
Executive summary
Your challengeThe increasingly constrained and competitive economic context in higher education makes adoption of these technologies a high-risk, high-priority strategic decision. The ability to evolve and enable new technologies and capabilities to remain competitive and relevant is increasingly difficult. Students expect personalized services and experiences, which are difficult for education organizations to execute due to their lack of data strategy, governance, and quality. |
Common obstaclesIT leaders struggle to have highly specialized knowledge of emerging technologies and trends to drive this rapid shift. The ability to capitalize on data is becoming increasingly critical to keep up the pace with the shifting economy. The delivery of new modes of instruction poses great opportunities but are challenging to execute due to the current immaturity of the market. |
Info-Tech’s approachRecognize the urgency of adopting Exponential IT within the education sector to combat industry disruptions. Comprehend the four priorities of Exponential IT transformation in the higher education industry that are being adopted today to remain resilient within the market. Acknowledge the foundational capabilities and maturity required to begin an effective Exponential IT transformation, resulting in value creation. |
Info-Tech Insight
Institutions of higher education struggle to balance the need for cost optimization in a tightening market while investing in technology to remain competitive and relevant. IT leaders must no longer be spectators of innovation, but strategic institutional partners to the organization’s success. Through visionary guidance, Exponential IT should be explored and adopted to secure a strong position within the evolving landscape of the higher education industry.
Info-Tech Research Group: EXPONENTIAL IT
What is Exponential IT?
Exponential IT is a framework defined by Info-Tech Research Group.
The technology curve has recently bent exponentially.
Generative AI has been the catalyst for this sudden shift, but there are more and more new technologies emerging (e.g. quantum computing, 5G), putting significant pressure on all organizations.
Speed is now imperative. All IT leaders and organizations are at risk of falling behind if they do not adopt new technologies fast enough.
Our framework instructs all IT leaders on how to transform their organization and elevate their value-creation capabilities, to close the gap between the exponential progression of technological change and the linear progression of IT’s ability to successfully manage that change.
This research allows IT leaders to understand the industry-specific priorities for Exponential IT and begin an effective Exponential IT transformation, resulting in value creation.
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Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
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Unlock Sample ResearchContributors
- Don Ostergard, Chief Information Officer, Royal Roads University
- Jimmy Dunn, Vice President for Operations, California Health Sciences University