As Chief Information Officer, Mark Stone is responsible for Information Technology strategy development and implementation throughout the A&M System. The CIO collaborates with leaders across the A&M System to ensure technology solutions support A&M System goals, objectives, policies, procedures and initiatives as specified by the Chancellor.
More information about Mark Stone
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a statewide network of 11 universities and eight state agencies. Each member has its own mission, history and goals, and manages its own budget. With little exception, most IT services are not centralized.
Chief Information Officer
Vision
The vision of Texas A&M System IT is built on these core principles:
Simplify – Replace complex organizational, governance and process models with simpler models that decrease costs, increase efficiencies and decrease risks
Standardize – Minimize the number of tools and processes used by members to decrease complexity and increase collaboration and innovation
Consolidate – Drive cost reductions and lower risk through A&M System-wide virtualization, consolidation of servers and storage and creation of shared services functions
Strategic Goals
The Office of IT strategic goals are based on four areas of IT maturity:
Resiliency – Ability of an organization to respond to or recover readily from a crisis, disruptive process, etc.
Includes: Hybrid / Remote Work Policy, Centers of Excellence, Succession Planning, Shared Services
Efficiency – Ability to accomplish something with the least waste of time and effort; competency in performance
Includes: System-wide Agreements, Financial System(s) Modernization, Data Management, Shared Services
Security – Precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc.
Something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense
Includes: Security Monitoring, Detection and Response, Common Security Toolsets, Practices and Policies, IHE Collaboration, Academic / Certification Programs, Workforce Development
Ingenuity – Quality of being cleverly inventive or resourceful; inventiveness in solving problems
Includes: Workforce Development, RELLIS Data Center, Esports Facilities, Joint SOCs, Fort Worth Campus, Conferences
Approach
We can’t achieve our strategic goals overnight – we recognize that change is a process and takes time and attention to implement. We’ll work to achieve change across the A&M System by using this approach:
Crawl, Walk, Run – Implement solutions using pilots, small shared service offerings and phased rollouts
Attractional – Offer solutions that are needed, solve common problems and have broad member support
Opportunistic Collaboration – Focus on solving problems that are common to A&M System members and high on their priority list