Should I submit a Technology Need Request?
As of December 2023, "Technology Need" requests cannot be submitted to OIT directly - it must first be submitted as a Technology IDEA and be reviewed by the appropriate group. If they determine no existing solution meets the requestor's needs and IT Governance & Prioritization is required, it will be converted to a project request and go through the governance process. See the IT Governance and Prioritization Guidelines article for more information on the governance process.
What date is this process effective?
Starting December 1st, 2018, any project that falls under the criteria outlined in the IT Governance & Prioritization Guidelines article must adhere to the process defined therein.
What happens if my ticket becomes a project request?
When OIT determines a standard service request needs to go through IT Governance & Prioritization, it will be converted to a project request and the PPMO gets notified of your submission. Expect the following to happen next:
- The Portfolio & Project Management Office (PPMO) will reach out to you to perform basic analysis regarding your requirements, business value, data classification and resource needs. PPMO will attempt to contact you within two weeks, but this is contingent upon the number of requests and available staff.
- Your request for new technology is scored based on university impact and risk, and is added to the workflow for IT Governance & Prioritization (ITGP).
- PPMO advances the request to next workflow step, Initial Security Review. At this step, OIT Security reviews available information to identify and document risks and any follow-up steps that are necessary if the request gets approved.
- Next step is the review by the Chief Information Officer (CIO).The CIO looks at the request from a global IT perspective and may add information to the request that will assist in the approval/denial decision making by the President. The CIO will attempt review within one week of completion of PPMO review., but this is contingent upon number of requests.
- Depending on the impact, risk, cost, and other aspects of the request, the CIO may make a decision on the request. In that case, the following next step (President's Cabinet review) is not necessary and the requestor is notified of the decision and next steps.
- If decision not made by CIO: request will be put in the “Governance Committee Review” status and will remain in that status until the Governance Committee (President’s Cabinet) reviews your requests. All outstanding requests are presented to the Governance Committee on a quarterly basis. At that time the committee makes a recommendation to the President and the President makes a decision on the disposition of your request.
- Results of the decision will be communicated to through email within one week, as follows:
- If your request is approved, you will receive instructions on the next steps.
- If your request is denied, you will receive an email indicating the reason and that the request will be closed.
What if I already have a product selected with a contract ready to sign?
If it meets the criteria outlined in the IT Governance & Prioritization Guidelines article, it must be submitted as a Technology IDEA and go through that process and IT Governance before a contract is signed.
What happens if my request is denied?
When a decision is made to deny the request, the requester will be notified and the request will be closed. If new information supporting your request is identified you may resubmit the request via the Technology IDEA service. The request will be processed through the appropriate process(es) as if it were a new request - in other words, the same review and approval steps apply.
How do I check the status of my request?
If a service ticket is converted to a project request for a review & decision via IT Governance, you can check the status by going to Services Project Requests. You can modify the search parameters to expand or narrow the results listed. The search will show any project requests that meet the following criteria:
- Requests that you initiated (i.e. you're listed as Requestor)
- Project requests for which you are the Sponsor
- Project requests for your allowed accounts/departments
- Project requests for which you are marked as a Stakeholder
- Project requests you are assigned to
How do I know if an effort is a project?
A project is directed at achieving a specific result, involves the coordinated undertaking of interrelated activities, has a limited duration (a beginning and an end), is unique, and involves risk. See the IT Governance & Prioritization Guidelines article for more information.
What happens if my request receives a high priority within the list of requests?
Priority scoring is based on weighted levels of risk and impact to the organization. If your request receives a high priority it does not mean your project will be worked on immediately. Requests are turned into a project only when resources become available. If your request scored high in one cycle and there weren't resources available to start it, the request is resorted with the new request that are received in the new cycle. If a request that hasn't turned into a project is #1 in a cycle, it may not remain #1 in the next cycle.
What happens if my request is not prioritized very high in the list of requests?
Requester will be notified of the prioritized position of the request and and will be instructed to do nothing further on their effort/request until notified from the appropriate unit that resources are freeing up to begin work on the request. The priority position may change each quarter as new requests are added to the list.