Thoughts on technology, leadership, security, infrastructure, automation, and the systems between them.
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Cybersecurity
Ask an IT department if they allow shared accounts, and you'll probably hear: "No. Everyone has their own account." Fair enough. But let me ask a different question. Who has access to your root account? What about your local Administrator account? Your emergency break glass account? That service account created five...
Leadership
For years, hiring managers were told to look for the "rockstar." The person who walks in and immediately stands out. The smartest person in the room. The one who can seemingly do the work of three people. But here's the problem with rockstars: Sometimes they know they're rockstars. And sometimes everything starts...
Leadership
One of the most important skills in IT leadership has nothing to do with technology. Itâs learning how to talk about technology to people who donât live in our world. Think about a box of cereal. When you walk down the grocery aisle, the front of the box doesnât lead with a paragraph explaining every ingredient, how...
Technology
One lesson from my CGCIO journey has made me rethink what it means to call a technology project âcomplete.â Installed is not the same as implemented. I've seen this cycle more than once in IT. A request comes in for a new system, service, or integration. IT gets to work. We build the infrastructure, configure...
Leadership
âWe are out of money. Now we need to think.â I keep coming back to that phrase because there is a surprisingly good IT leadership lesson buried inside it. When money is available, it is easy for purchasing to become the answer to every technology problem. Need a capability? Buy another platform. Need more capacity? Buy...
Leadership
First CGCIO class is officially in the books. I went into the UNC School of Governmentâs Certified Government Chief Information Officer program expecting to learn. What I did not fully appreciate was how valuable the conversations outside of the material would be. Over the first two days, we explored leadership, the...
Leadership
You do not always get the hand you want. You get the hand you are dealt, and then you figure out how to make it work. The more I think about it, the more that feels like working in higher education. The difference is that we are not all holding the same cards. IT may be looking at cybersecurity, aging infrastructure...
Leadership
Thereâs an old military style saying Iâve always liked: âThe effective range of an excuse is zero.â In military terms, effective range is the distance at which a weapon or system can reliably accomplish its intended purpose. An excuse has none. I think the same principle applies surprisingly well to IT leadership. The...
Leadership
If your disaster recovery plan includes calling Bob because he's the only person who knows how something works, congratulations. Bob is now critical infrastructure. đ We spend a lot of time in IT thinking about redundancy. Redundant power. Redundant internet connections. Redundant storage. Backups. Failover. High...
Technology
If you've worked in higher education long enough, you've probably heard IT described as the "Department of No." I understand why that perception exists. Faculty are constantly discovering new ways to teach, collaborate, and engage students. Innovation should be encouraged. But innovation also needs stewardship. Every...
System
That sounds obvious. But many organizations unknowingly build monitoring solutions that rely on the same power, network, internet, and infrastructure they are supposed to monitor. That creates a dangerous blind spot. If your primary environment fails, your alerting platform may fail with it. No power. No network. No...
Leadership
There is a mindset that quietly follows many of us from K 12 into higher education IT. Block it. Filter it. Shut it down. Social media gets restricted. Gaming is immediately labeled a distraction. Streaming is allowed only if it fits a narrow definition of âeducational.â But here is the question we need to ask...
Leadership
Early in our careers, most of us are rewarded for being responsible. We build the system. We fix the outage. We make it work. That competence gets noticed and often becomes the reason we are promoted. At some point, though, responsibility turns into accountability, and that transition is rarely discussed out loud...
Leadership
Most IT leaders recognize this moment instantly. A challenge surfaces somewhere in the organization. It matters. It carries risk. It needs to be solved. And instead of landing with the group that owns the function, a figurative sticky note gets placed on ITâs desk that simply says, âMake it happen.â IT is often chosen...
Technology
During a high stress systems issue, a comment was made to me that stuck. âItâs your baby.â I was being associated with a particular platform or system, and while I do not believe it was meant negatively, it landed in a moment when tension was high and answers were needed. After things settled, I reflected on it with my...
Technology
With ice storms and winter weather impacting power and connectivity across large parts of the country, this is a good reminder that business continuity planning is not just a compliance exercise. It is a real world capability that gets tested when conditions are less than ideal. When power is lost, can your systems and...
Leadership
Lately I have been focused on something that does not get enough attention in higher education information technology: data governance agreements with third party vendors. We invest heavily in cybersecurity tools, multi factor authentication (MFA), endpoint protection, security information and event management (SIEM)...
Technology
This is a touchy topic for me, because I am deeply rooted in customer service and the value of human connection. I do not want students or employees to ever feel like they are being pushed off to a robot instead of being helped by a real person. But I am also realistic about how help desks actually operate. Most of us...
Leadership
One of the most common myths I still see in IT, especially in higher education and K 12 environments, is the belief that leadership only starts once you reach the top of the org chart. It sounds logical on the surface, but in practice, it quietly limits growth, influence, and trust long before anyone realizes it...
Leadership
One of the most misunderstood parts of modern IT leadership is that every meaningful technology project depends on the people outside of IT just as much as the people inside it. The challenge is that many non technical leaders unintentionally pull back from the early planning because they assume their job title exempts...
