Above & Beyond IT Three SOM centers stay in line with and ahead of changes in information technology. by Jeanne Spreier and Paula Felps The School of Management (SOM), its students and the business community have devised a successful strategy for corralling information technology (IT) and improving upon its evolving transformations. Five SOM centers research IT, studying its dynamics and impact. Three -- the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks (C4ISN), the Center for Information Technology and Management (CITM) and the Center for Practice and Research in Software Management (PRISM) -- try to solve IT issues facing local industry. Two other centers -- the Center for Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation (CAPRI) and the International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis (ICDRiA) -- investigate new technologies, their effects on markets, and their inherent risks. The centers offer UTD students opportunities to learn how companies deal with IT concerns and how to use IT to solve problems. CITM: Center for Information Technology and Management When the Metroplex Technology Business Council of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce honored its best and brightest in August with the fourth annual Tech Titan awards, SOM's CITM was among those in the spotlight. The CITM, under the direction of Professor Michael J. Savoie, Ph.D., was named one of three finalists in the Technopolis category, an honor that ultimately went to U.T. Southwestern Medical Center's Office of Technology Development. But for the three-year-old CITM, the nomination alone was confirmation of a job that continues to be well done. "The Technopolis Award is for nonprofit or academic organizations that make a sizeable contribution to the tech community," Dr. Savoie explains. The finalists for the Tech Titan awards, which promote the technology industry both locally and nationally, are nominated by their peers, with a board of judges naming the best in each category. "Just to be named a finalist is really good for us," Dr. Savoie adds. "We're young. We're growing. We're doing well, and we received a lot of validation about that at the awards ceremony." More than 800 people attended the ceremony, and Dr. Savoie says that goes a long way toward heightening the center's profile. "Our tagline at the center is Ôwrapping the business case around new and emerging technologies,' and it's a nice thing to say, but the question is always, do we really do that?" he says. "This reinforced to us that what we're doing isn't just an academic exercise." The CITM, which looks at the effects of technology on business models and processes, has endeared itself to the tech community by becoming a useful and reliable source of information. The center compiles the State of Technology Report for the D/FW Metroplex, which is published annually by the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce. The center also actively pursues grants that support research into -- or about -- emerging information technologies and how they apply to the information and business communities, as well as their effect on the management of organizations at large. However, it is an ongoing project with the Telecom Corridor that is putting the CITM on the map. "We're doing the Telecom Corridor Genealogy Project, which is huge," Dr. Savoie explains. "We're generating a 40-year family tree of the companies and individuals that have worked in the North Texas technology sector." The CITM began working on the project this year, and Dr. Savoie notes that the research has multiple useful functions. "For one thing, it's a tremendously valuable tool for the chambers of commerce and economic development corporations in the area," he says. "It's also a great way for people in the tech sector to reconnect and be able to find people they used to work with. We are working with tens of thousands of companies to give a true, multidimensional diagram of the history of technology." The project has captured the interest of both industry and community groups, and Dr. Savoie says he believes it was partially responsible for the Tech Titan nomination. "This is going to be a living database that will continue to evolve as long as the tech sector exists. People are truly excited about this," he says. "That's thrilling to see. So often you work on research and wonder if it really does have an impact. "With this, we're just getting started, and we're already seeing that it does." -- Paula Felps C4ISN: Center for Intelligent Supply Networks National and area corporations find The School of Management's (SOM) research into supply chain management worthy of their time, projects, money, software and data, as recent contributions and partnerships with a software firm and a communications company make clear. Ashbel Smith Professor of Operations Management Dr. Suresh Sethi, along with Dr. Divakar Rajamani, established the C4ISN only last year. The center studies the delivery of goods and services, an effort whose many challenges lie in making sure goods and services are available when needed, with neither a shortage looming nor a surplus present. Since the center's inception, C4ISN students have dealt with several research issues for sponsoring corporations, including this year's graduate-student industry project, which focused on such issues as warehouse management, information-technology strategy, and sales configurations. The projects were sponsored by Plano-based ESI, a manufacturer of business telephone systems. Tim Pickens, ESI's vice president of manufacturing, says becoming a strategic partner with the center made bottom-line sense. "C4ISN provides the unique opportunity to leverage the extensive experience and knowledge of The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) faculty in conjunction with a pool of talented students who are hungry to help companies meet the very real supply chain challenges they face on a day-to-day basis," Pickens says. Dr. Rajamani, the center's managing director, says this work is imperative. Students experience the business world's complexities just trying to figure out what they're researching. "Defining the problem statement itself is challenging," he says. For ESI, the students defined and undertook seven projects. Through the C4ISN, Agile Software Corp. last summer sponsored a CEO forum at the school to discuss the state of the industry and technologies that will drive its future. Agile, based in San Jose, California, creates product lifecycle management (PLM) software. The company's latest release, Agile 9, donated to C4ISN for use in research projects, is installed and operational as one of the tools students can access and learn through the center. "With the number of high-technology companies located in the Dallas area, there is clearly a need to understand the competitive difference that innovative technology like Agile PLM can make to an organization," says Paul Peck, C4ISN advisory board member, and vice president of operations at Covaro Networks, a Richardson-based developer of Ethernet services transport products. Bryan Stolle, CEO of Agile Software, clearly sees value in the student relationship with the university's centers. "The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management and the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks [are among] the first academic programs" that truly are "building a connection from the school out to the local economy," Mr. Stolle says. C4ISN and similar programs "are providing linkage to students for consulting engagements, certificates in area expertise, and training.... This is the true value and why Agile Software agreed to not only participate...but provide the center our software." "The students need to understand that the real world is challenging," Dr. Rajamani says. They learn, among other things, he says, patience, as they work on these topics. C4ISN also has set up a weekend study program for professionals, 10 of whom recently completed the center's first certificate program in supply chain management. Those students, all working professionals, learned end-to-end supply chain basics in classroom and onsite settings. Faculty and industry professionals teach the 96-class-hour program, which meets two days, Fridays and Saturdays, every other week. Students who complete the program can opt to have it applied as six hours of graduate credit if they meet UTD entrance requirements. Plans are to offer the program three times a year, in May, September and January. For more information, contact Dr. Rajamani, 972-883-4843 or visit http://som.utdallas.edu/c4isn. "I have been working in the software industry for more than 10 years, designing and developing inventory control algorithms," said Siddu Tummala, the senior software engineer with Vistyx Corp., a Dallas-based company that provides information-technology services to small and mid-size retail businesses. "This program has been extremely helpful in extending my view to the whole supply chain management issue." Such continuing training is important in a field that has been tremendously affected by technological breakthroughs. "The flow and availability of real-time information has greatly facilitated a move to a more global economy," says ESI's Pickens. "This change has resulted in more highly complex supply chains...across multiple companies and continents. The successful management of this information and material flow has become critical to the long-term success and profitability of companies that participate in today's global marketplace." -- Jeanne Spreier PRISM: Center for Practice and Research in Software Management Three years into its mission, The School of Management's PRISM focuses on "applications-driven research in information technology," says the center's director, Dr. Indranil Bardhan. Research generated through PRISM is advancing knowledge that potentially has many applications, Dr. Bardhan says. PRISM studies concentrate on three areas: (1) the business value of information-technology (IT) solutions -- including the impact of enterprise systems and collaboration software on business productivity, (2) algorithms for developing optimal software coordination policies, and (3) IT portfolio management solutions for valuation and prioritization of IT projects. All center research relies heavily on interdisciplinary cooperation, including such management areas as accounting, economics and information technology. The work results in conference papers, and most projects generate published journal articles, says Dr. Bardhan, an assistant professor of management information systems (MIS) and accounting and information management (AIM). "Most projects involve a couple of professors and one or two graduate-level students working to solve a problem, such as work the center recently did with a large software firm," Dr. Bardhan says. "Working with real data based on the company's flagship network management software, UTD researchers developed new methods to optimally schedule development and coordination tasks so that the quality of software developed was improved." But PRISM research also affects the lives of those who conduct it. Ryan Sougstad received his MBA in 2002 from UTD's School of Management. While working on his degree, he knew he wanted to do an independent study project on IT valuation. Mr. Sougstad, who worked in marketing and sales at IBM, went to his company for help. "We got one of the researchers from IBM's T.J. Watson Research Lab involved in this project. [He] provided access to real-world data from an energy utility company," Dr. Bardhan says. The research led to the development of new optimization models for IT portfolio management. Mr. Sougstad, who began his doctoral studies this fall at the University of Minnesota, says his experience with Dr. Bardhan on the PRISM project uncovered a passion for research. "Our mission as academicians is to help students on their career paths and develop better solutions to real-world problems faced by IT managers and executives," Dr. Bardhan says. In Mr. Sougstad's case, the research on how to evaluate a company's IT initiatives and financial justifications resulted in a model that "could be used for any other company or any other industry," he says. The resulting paper was recently published in the Journal of Management Information Systems (Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall 2004, 33-60), and now Mr. Sougstad is working on another project with Dr. Bardhan. Their new work underscores PRISM's goal of interdisciplinary research in the areas of software management and MIS economics. "We are extending the frontiers of knowledge," Dr. Bardhan says. -- Jeanne Spreier The Student View of IT Centers Experience From undergrads to post-docs, students who have availed themselves of opportunities at The School of Management's three information-technology (IT) research centers attest to the many values of the center experience. Whether they have enrolled in short courses, signed up for work-study, served as paid research assistants or completed unpaid internships, they have derived benefits that outlast their stays. Here is what several have said: * Of the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks Professional Certificate in Supply Chain Management Program (see C4ISN on page 6): * Wendy Wilson, manager of supply strategy and planning for Market Unit Supply and Rollout at Ericsson, Inc., completed C4ISN's three-month program. "I found this class to be of great value," she says. "There are too many benefits to name, but most importantly, the many methodologies I've learned can easily be translated into real-life applications, which will help me to better support our supply chain." * "For me, this course is the piece that bridges the gap between my technical knowledge in the software we provide and the real business problems that my customers face on a day-to-day basis," Ali Al-Abbasi, manager of Support at Viewlocity Inc. in Dallas, says of his experience in C4ISN's certificate program. "I have found this course extremely informative and the information gained from the course material as well as [from] the other [class] members... has been of great value." * Of their experience as research assistants in the Center for Information Technology and Management (see CITM on page 4): * Anantha Narasimhan, a former CITM research assistant and a 2004 Master of Science in Management and Administrative Sciences graduate now working at Dell Computer Corp. in Austin, says the hard work he did at CITM reflects the real world. "We made our mistakes. We learned from [them]," he says, noting CITM Director Dr. Michael Savoie always oversaw and corrected the students' work. "We learned from all that." * Learning at CITM happens at many levels. "One thing I learned from the projects is how to effectively be a great project manager," says Sajeev Prelis, who will graduate in December with dual degrees, an MBA and a Master of Science in Management and Administrative Sciences, and who began working last August as an IT auditor at Weaver and Tidwell in Dallas. "The experience at the center gave me this invaluable skill." * Of his research assistant experience in the Center for Practice and Research in Software Management (see PRISM on page 8): * Ryan Sougstad, a 2002 Cohort MBA alum, says PRISM's research on how to evaluate a company's information-technology initiatives and financial justifications, resulted in a model that "could be used for any other company or any other industry." Now working on a doctorate at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Sougstad has launched another project with PRISM director Dr. Indranil Bardhan. Looking in-depth into digital and risk management realms CAPRI and ICDRiA: Two New Centers Open New technologies, their effects on markets and the management of risk drive two new School of Management research centers established as the academic year began. Intellectual property rights and related issues in the digital domain come under the purview of the Center for Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation (CAPRI), while the International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis (ICDRiA) will study risk management as it relates to industrial projects involving new technologies, applications and markets. Dr. Stan Liebowitz, professor of managerial economics (see Professor Liebowitz Debates on page 27), heads CAPRI, which opened its doors in August thanks to initial funding from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and Microsoft (see Microsoft and Charles G. Koch Foundation Help Launch New Research Center on page 21). Primarily a think tank devoted to research, CAPRI will award grants to academicians to study such subjects as open-source software, peer-to-peer file sharing, common property ownership of intellectual creations and digital rights management. "Five years ago, virtually no scholars were looking at these issues," Dr. Liebowitz says. "This is an evolving field, and the establishment of CAPRI signals UTD's desire to become a source of knowledge and understanding of property rights in the digital realm." Dr. Alain Bensoussan, SOM's new Distinguished Research Professor in Operations Management (see Strengthening the Academic Foundation on page 22), directs ICDRiA, which opened mid-September. The center is especially interested in projects funded by such industries as telecommunications, automotive and pharmaceutical, and by such public sectors as defense, space and energy. "The center conducts comparative studies in methodological and organization aspects of risk managment," Dr. Bensoussan says. As a forum for the exchange of knowledge, the center also will be able "to provide a better view of the risks in industrial projects to banks and insurance companies, for which managing risk is the core business," he adds.