Dang! I hate getting questions that I'm not prepared to answer. It happened at the Subcommittee meeting today. Wayne Peay, University of Utah Library, (Okay, I don't know his title. But I do know he is passionate about what he does. And I respect that.) asked where I saw UEN in 5 to 7 years. Five to Seven years? Holy smokes! Five to seven years? I can't imagine.

I feel like I stumbled on the answer. Something about ethernet in the first mile, the metro and the core. Something about fully converged IP networks. Something about developing a secure network. Wayne followed up with another zinger. Did I see a time in 4 or 5 years when UEN will have outlived its usefulness and will go away. Sputter, sputter, choke.

Of course, any technical endeavor could take a few wrong turns and outlive its usefulness. I did have the presence of mind to comment on the importance of meeting user needs and changing with the technical times our preserve our usefulness.

There was much discussion about the need for harmony between the business part of any organization and the technical part. This is a subject that I have strong feelings about. This started back when I read the book Megatrends by John Naisbitt. Naisbitt made the point that the railroads struggled because they didn't understand what business they were in. They thought that they were in the railroad business when in fact they were in the transportation business.

Naisbitt also pointed out that most American businesses struggle in this area. For proof he challenged anyone to go to the corporate headquarters of any company or organization. He pointed out that a person would be hard pressed to discover anything about what the company did to earn its money. Take your pick of any company. Good companies don't make this mistake. Office workspace is filled with reminders of what they do.

At UEN we need to remember what we do. We are educators and are part of the education process in Utah (and beyond Utah for that matter.) We must make sure that everything we do supports and promotes education.

I am going to think carefully about Wayne's questions. Then I will develop some answers. I won't be unprepared again.

That's all for now.........
10:04:26 PM    comment []