Greetings, everyone.
This time last December, I asked what we could accomplish by working as one Michigan IT community while focused on our users. I had no doubt that we would overcome challenges and embrace new opportunities together to support our amazing institutions throughout 2020. I could not have imagined how important that would become just a few short months later. These challenging times called for extraordinary leadership, dedication, can-do attitude, trusting each other, supporting each other, serving our community, and working together. Each one of YOU exhibited all of these amazing attributes and more.
I enjoyed seeing all of the hard work and excellent work on display at the Michigan IT Symposium last month. Taking the time to pause to celebrate each other’s work and rekindle connections with colleagues was especially important this year. Thank you to the Michigan IT Symposium co-chairs, Mashon Allen and T. Charles Yun, for leading another inspiring event for this community. I personally enjoyed the opportunity to learn from Eric Yuan, Zoom founder and CEO, during the fireside chat keynote. We are seen as innovative partners, and this type of relationship can strengthen the support we can offer to the university.
The strategic decisions we make to deliver and support university-wide services such as Zoom, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, and TeamDynamix not only lead to more intuitive and seamless technology experiences for the community, but save and extend university resources, as well. When we work together, we add more value. In the new year, we will have new challenges ahead of us, and new opportunities to work toward together.
I am hopeful that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with this pandemic with news about vaccines and their efficacy. I hope you have a relaxing and healthy winter break. I encourage everyone to continue to follow guidelines from our public health officials, wear a mask, and continue the practice of social distancing. Together, we will get through this.
I want to leave you with this holiday message from ITS. Thank you for working with us, helping our community learn new technology, and making the most of a challenging year.
It is a privilege and honor to represent all of you. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
Regards,
Ravi Pendse PhD
Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
University of Michigan
rpendse@umich.edu
