Gigabit Magazine – August 2019

satisfy, but delight their expectations.”

“These are solutions that they feel that

they are a part of,” he comments.

Another motivation of the company’s

technological transformation is the goal

of easing the workload of both staff and

students. “Some of the ways in which

we have achieved this is by moving to

unlimited email, creating passwords that

don’t expire, and having unlimited storage,

as well as creating the fastest networks

and research computers in the state.

When you’re working with genomics

and personalised medicine, these small

factors make a great deal of difference.”

Carver cannot emphasise enough

the importance of listening to a variety

of people when devising a business

strategy. “On my first day as CIO,

we created a crowd-sourcing site,

and we had some 800 meetings in the

first 100 days. By creating a voice for

everyone, you can work towards the

best possible solution and provide

each aspect of the university with

its own competitive edge.” This level

of communication enabled staff

and students to be receptive to the

technical changes, because they

were solutions requested by them.

For example, one goal was to

leverage the faculty’s disciplinary

expertise. “We can’t treat faculty as the

most expensive typists on the planet,”

228

AUGUST 2019

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM