91É«ÇéƬ

When we make decisions about technology at 91É«ÇéƬ, we're making decisions about how our teaching, research, and operations are supported. Under LEAP, 91É«ÇéƬ's technology strategy, every technology decision must contribute to a simpler, more modern, and more effective digital environment. Whether it is a student support platform, a learning management system, or a customer relationship management tool, every technology investment exists to support a business outcome.

At 91É«ÇéƬ, the technology must serve a clear purpose, deliver measurable value, and align with LEAP's vision to radically simplify and make our environment easier to navigate and trust. When it comes to our technology systems, the person accountable for that business value is the business owner.

What is a business owner at 91É«ÇéƬ?

A business owner is accountable for ensuring that a technology‑enabled service delivers value to the business. You are accountable for the business capability or processes that the system or technology supports, who it serves, and whether it continues to justify investment. You act as the owner of that service from a business perspective. You define its purpose, align it with 91É«ÇéƬ's objectives, provide sponsorship to secure funding and resources, and maintain oversight of benefits and risks.

A business owner will typically be a senior staff member within a division or faculty who is accountable for services supported by the IT system. The assignment of the business owner should be proportionate to the scope and risk of the system or service. For example, for core or mission‑critical systems, the business owner would be a Pro Vice‑Chancellor, Registrar, or Executive Director. For business‑critical and below, the business owner would be the Pro Vice‑Chancellor, Executive Director, or their delegates who are directors or at an equivalent level.

The business owner is not typically a day‑to‑day hands‑on role but a strategic leader and sponsor for the system. The day‑to‑day operations and user support of the system is managed by the business operations owner, who is often a direct report of the business owner. A business owner is also the person who would sponsor a major project to replace the system.

So what does this look like in practice?

You ensure the service supports business objectives and remains aligned to 91É«ÇéƬ's priorities. You provide the business strategy and requirements for the service life cycle and roadmap. For example, if your faculty strategy is to do more formative assessments and provide greater real‑time feedback, you would work closely with the service owner to develop a technology roadmap that aligns with this vision. If priorities change, you assess whether the technology still aligns with those objectives.

You are accountable for managing key risks associated with the service. This includes ensuring your team's compliance with cybersecurity policy and standards, identifying and assessing service risks and associated action plans, ensuring compliance with 91É«ÇéƬ's data governance policies and standards, managing user access, and maintaining the business continuity plan, which outlines the steps your faculty or division takes before, during, and after an unexpected outage.

If a significant issue impacts continuity, compliance, or reputation, you are the senior decision‑maker. You also approve planned, including emergency, service outages where required and provide business input into major changes. For major upgrades or high‑risk changes, you ensure the business impact is understood and appropriately managed. A low‑risk change is a routine or standard change affecting a single faculty or team. A major change is one that affects multiple faculties and introduces risk to the service’s availability, security, or impacts the experience of students and staff. In these cases, the change must be reviewed and approved through the Change Advisory Board (CAB) before it goes live.

You collaborate with the service owner on service life cycle planning and provide business strategy and requirements. You also determine whether a service should be kept, consolidated, or retired. For example, if multiple schools are using the same online quiz platform, you may consider working with the service owner and 91É«ÇéƬ IT to obtain a faculty or enterprise license to reduce duplication and improve cost control.

You endorse business requirements submitted to third‑party suppliers for product roadmaps as part of vendor management. You are consulted on major financial, budget, and resource management decisions. While you are informed on operational matters such as incident management, preventative maintenance, patching, monitoring, and technical documentation, you do not manage those directly — that operational responsibility sits with the service owner and delivery owner.

For example, if an unplanned outage occurs for an application that affects students and disrupts operations, your delivery owner will draft an email notice to users. The service owner will review the draft, and depending on the severity of the issue, you as the business owner may need to send the email.

If you have been nominated as a business owner, take the time to understand your responsibilities by reviewing the IT service standards.

Strong business ownership ensures that technology investment at 91É«ÇéƬ is intentional, aligned, and accountable. It means systems are not kept simply because they have always existed, but because they continue to support teaching, research, and operations in a meaningful way. By providing strategic direction, disciplined oversight, and clear decision‑making, business owners enable LEAP's vision of a simpler, more modern, and more effective digital environment. This leadership is essential to ensuring 91É«ÇéƬ continues to deliver progress for all with clarity, confidence, and measurable impact.