Summary of Ferrilli Consultant Engagement Assessment for PCCD
During the winter of 2015 Peralta Community College District undertook an IT project
to rethink its information technology strategy and take steps to proactively deploy
resources to meet the needs of its constituents. This project began with a thorough
assessment of the IT department by Ferrilli Consulting firm.
As part of Phase 1 of the review, Ferrilli conducted an assessment to assist the District
in identifying areas of strength, concerns and potential improvements for the
Information Technology department. The charge included presenting options on how
to best structure the department and introduces industry best practices. The assessment
was designed to determine:
 Alignment of technology: Consideration of Peralta’s vision, mission, and current
strategies while investigating if the current systems are properly aligned to
support the goals of the institution.
 Technology governance: Review will confirm if proper controls are in place and
fully functional, granting complete visibility to the executive team.
 Technology staff and organizational structure: Full evaluation of the
organizational structure to drive optimal design, ensuring the right blend of
talent is in place to implement set strategies.
 Analyze campus technology: Review the current platforms and systems,
including utilization, availability, and ease of use. Perform a standard security
and Federal and California compliance review.
 Review academic technology: Take a deep dive into current utilization of
academic technology and ease of use for all users to provide insight on possible
upgraded tools for teaching and learning.
 Technology funding and benchmarking: Analysis of spending budget on
impactful programs which contribute to the achievement of goals at each Peralta
campus.
 Technology future vision and roadmap: We will present a technology future
vision and outline the next action steps that will aid in the achievement of the
overall goals of the institution.
The summary below highlights the areas of highest risk to the departments that were
assessed and overall impression of the organizational alignment.
 Major infrastructure issues
 Pressing security issues
 Issues with the decentralized organizational structure
 No alignment with technology
Next Steps:
The mission imperatives developed in the institution’s strategic plan drive the decision
making process at PCCD. In order to keep decisions in line with the mission, the
administration, faculty and staff are dedicated to making data-driven decisions. Since
technology initiatives impact all facets of the District, it is crucial that a culture of
evidence drives the decision-making process. Currently, however, the data is not
available in order to make informed decisions. Ferrilli is working to ensure that data is
made available to support data-driven decision making.
Prior to Ferrilli consulting coming on board to aid the District, there was no method for
the continuous evaluation of technology or a way to fairly allocate resources to support
District planning. The consulting team, alongside Peralta staff and the DTC are
working to create concise standards for technology evaluation. Surveys, reports, and
mechanisms for data analysis are being put into place to ensure that the District
Technology Committee and Information Technology Services department have the
tools and data that they need to make important technology decisions for the district.
Ferrilli is also working on documenting the processes used for the support of student
learning.
The district identifies the roles and responsibilities of technology between the College
and the District through a Responsibility Matrix that can be found on the District
Technology Committee website. The District Technology Committee plans to meet in
Fall of 2016 in order to review and update the IT Master plan that included the Strategic
Plan
The Five-year IT Tactical Plan details the long and short term goals of the District and
will be included and vetted as part of the IT Master Plan. The over-arching District
goals are listed below:
 Develop an IT infrastructure that supports emerging technologies (wireless
access, streaming audio and video, voice/data integration, etc.) that provide
alternative access to instructional programs and support services.
 Provide appropriate technologies to meet increased demand for growth in
instructional programs, distance learning, assessment, and staff
development.
 Support faculty in the development of innovative online learning programs
as well as the deployment of classroom technologies
 Develop a comprehensive staff development program that trains faculty
and staff in the skills needed to effectively evaluate and use information
technologies.
 Provide systems, support and access to appropriate information for the
institution to adequately support its workforce development goals.
 Provide modern computer equipment and lab facilities to meet the training
objectives and employee needs of Workforce Development and Continuing
Education
 Strengthen the effectiveness of IT operations and technology initiatives.
 Provide relevant, timely, and accurate information for Peralta faculty, staff
and students to make strategic decisions.
 Develop a comprehensive set of written IT standards and policies (equipment
and software standards, security and data retention standards, and policies
governing the use of the Internet, e-mail and telephone services).
 Implement administrative applications that improve services to students and
create efficiencies for the administrative units of the District.