The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is adamant that in five years' time its technology infrastructure will look very different from what it does today.
"There's still a lot of duplication and a lot of complexities … that will take quite a number of years to remediate," QUT associate director solution design and delivery Scott Lawry said.
For instance, the university has some 11 different asset management systems in place.
"When really, you only need one," Lawry said. "If you use that example, and you multiply that many times, then you can understand why that is one of our key concerns."
Another aspect of the strategy plan -- and one of the larger pieces of work -- is moving the organisation away from traditional on-premise data centres and onto the cloud.
"The move to the cloud has been underway for about half a decade now, and part of it was indirect with business-led projects where they would go to market and they would be looking at products that didn't have to be installed internally that were accessible," Lawry said.
He continued, saying that once QUT has completed its five-year digital strategy plan, it would mean the university can provide consistency for students and other staff members, as well as access to quality data.
"To do that, we're going to have to look at integration across our whole portfolio, and essentially rewire all of our integration using a contemporary approach," Lawry said.
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Lawry admitted the hardest part about executing against the university's strategy has been getting the foundation right.
"Getting the governance right, getting the connections and the rules in place, getting the capabilities -- that doesn't happen overnight. But it's important that you understand that you have