Ithaka’s Strategic Services team helps higher education organizations and initiatives address pressing strategic issues and establish sustainable models.  Our experience shows that many non-profit organizations aim to use information technology to meet needs in higher education, but these organizations do not always have the time or the expertise to develop their strategies fully.  We exist in order to support organizations that share our mission -- libraries, universities, membership organizations, not-for-profit publishers, foundations, and others – to ensure that their projects are high-impact and sustainable for the long term.  In addition to serving individual clients, we undertake projects to provide the broader community with new perspectives on our changing environment.

Our services include:

• Market Analysis.  A sound strategy requires a thorough understanding of the surrounding environment.  Drawing upon our in-house research team and our network of contacts, we provide insight into the needs of those who are served and analyze how new services are positioned relative to those of other providers.  For example, we supported JSTOR’s strategic review by analyzing scholarly communications in specific disciplines and assessing how the online publishing landscape is evolving.  Recently, we completed a study of university publishing in the digital age.

• Business Models.  Sustainability is a major concern for innovative projects.  We think that there is more than one path to sustainability, so we avoid prescribing template business models.  Instead, we work with our partners to understand the unique value that they provide to their constituencies.  For example, we worked with the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University to research the market environment for two of its courses and to suggest sources of ongoing revenues to support its activities.  In May 2008, we released a report on sustainability and revenue models for online academic resources. 
  

• New Service Design.  We help our partners to translate new service concepts into solid offerings that respond to their constituents’ needs.  Building upon market analysis, we help our partners to define the “Who/What/When/Where/and How” of new service models.  For example, we support Ithaka’s incubated entities through the iterative process of refining the services they will offer to their customers.

• Evaluation of New Ventures.  Using qualitative and quantitative techniques, we study the potential for new projects to succeed.  For example, over a dozen open source software projects have been launched in higher education in recent years.  In response to proposals for an organization to support these efforts, we examined the need for such an organization and suggested what its mission and areas of activity might be.  We have done similar project assessments on behalf of foundations.

To inquire about our services, please contact:

StrategicServices@ithaka.org