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When Information technology (IT) was first introduced to organizations it was not considered a strategic asset. It was usually centralized and locked away in a basement. Over the years, IT moved away from centralization to decentralization and, since the mid-1990s, has begun to shift back. Heald College, like other institutions, has followed the same IT path. During the early years of IT, there was no need to decentralize deployment of mainframe systems. In a short period, technology evolved into a client-server configuration, which allowed for decentralization of system ordering, installation, and maintenance. Furthermore, many organization populations wanted tasks automated and the inability, in some cases, of IT to keep up with demand led to a decentralization or outsourcing of the function (Olsen, 2002).This decentralization resulted in fractured IT infrastructures, which were not standard and, in many cases, could not communicate with the central system (Feld, 1998). Non-standard systems produce increased maintenance costs as well as a loss of purchasing power when the number of vendors and system types increase and number of systems purchased from a single vendor decrease (Feld, 1998).The negative force of multiple IT systems within a single organization has propelled the pendulum to swing back to centralization. IT has been acknowledged as a strategic asset and not a tactical tool. Organizations have recognized standardizing and centralizing systems results in a savings in procurement and maintenance costs (Preston, 2001). Dow Jones & Co, McGraw-Hill, and Knight Ridder are just a few companies centralizing IT operations (Kontzer, 2001), Heald College is another example of a decentralized organization returning to a centralized IT structure.