Joint Forces: Merging Competencies and Cultures in University IT

Rudolph D, Thoring A, Vogl R, Fleury A

Abstract

Mergers in university IT are a major challenge, as ongoing operations should be affected as little as possible. At the same time, it is not uncommon for different work cultures to collide between data centres, decentralized IT and administrative IT. There are also different expectations on the part of the user groups that need to be met. The merger of the Zentrum für Informationsverarbeitung (the IT centre with approx. 100 employees whose focus is on infrastructure) and the Stabsstelle IT und Prozessentwicklung (the administrative IT department with approx. 60 employees whose focus is on operations and organisation projects) to form the "WWU IT", which took place at Münster University (WWU) at the beginning of 2020, can serve as a good example for similar IT restructuring at universities.