Open Text Corporation, a provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software and solutions, has released a survey by RedDot, The Open Text Web Solutions Group, that shows that the demands of managing websites is overloading university IT departments. The survey of IT professionals in colleges and universities across the U.S. found that the demands on IT departments have risen fast because IT staffers must spend a disproportionate amount of time managing web content, rather than pressing IT projects. In the survey, 91% of respondents said demands on their school's IT departments have risen, most of which involve requests by faculty/staff to take care of basic web needs. The majority of these requests involve IT departments making content updates to various pages of the campus website, something that can be achieved by faculty/staff.

In addition, the survey found that 64% of respondents said the number of tasks students and staff can accomplish on their own campus websites has increased in just the past year. These tasks include registering for classes, dropping/adding classes, class roster functions, and other campus activities that in the past required in-person meetings or traditional paper-based systems. The survey also found that 70% of respondents expect increases in online admission submissions in 2007. Other findings include: a majority of respondents (53%) said an up-to date and easily navigated website is very important to their institutions; 43% felt that their institutions have been successful with current online offerings, while 26% said the offerings have been only somewhat successful--which may be why 80% of respondents say their institutions are planning some type of changes to their online resources in the next year.

(www.opentext.com; www.reddot.com)

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