Centralized versus decentralized computing: organizational considerations and management options
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)
Reinventing support services: transcending the centralized-decentralized support model debate
SIGUCCS '02 Proceedings of the 30th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services
Voluntary centralization of user support in a de-centralized organization
SIGUCCS '04 Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services
Proceedings of the 34th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference: expanding the boundaries
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The decentralized- versus centralized-computing debate has raged for years; a survey of SIGUCCS papers and presentations from the past 25 years will confirm that fact. A new paradigm is emerging at Tulane University - a collaborative approach in which decentralized IT groups work with central IT to implement university-wide projects. One such project was Tulane's recent successful implementation of Exchange. Key to the success of this major university-wide change was the inclusion of 2 major decentralized computing groups - the Law School and the Business School - as pilot projects. These groups, both from academic departments, brought a new view to the project planning table. This paper describes how this new collaborative approach has worked at Tulane, how it came about, what has worked (and what has not worked), and how such an approach provides a foundation for future benefits.