Who We Are
Intentional Brains was created by Dr. Michael Berman to serve the strategic needs of higher education and the technology suppliers that serve it. Michael has led the technology function at five different higher education organizations, from a small specialty college to the largest public university system in the country. He has worked with presidents, cabinets, faculty senates, technology committees, deans, registrars… you name it. He has also served on corporate customer groups, major non-profit boards, and advised CEOs, startup founders, and investors. Now he is available to work with you to address your toughest strategic challenges.
Through his extensive network of highly-talented colleagues, he is able to assemble the expertise to tackle any challenge. Interested? Contact us and see how you can add Intentional Brains to your team.
WHAT WE DO
Leadership Advisor
Leadership can be a lonely role. I can work with you to help you regain focus, solve difficult problems, and help you achieve the outcomes you want. Services can be short-term and episodic or long-term depending on your needs.
Strategic Planning Services
Leaders in IT and other areas are often asked to create a Strategic Plan. Depending upon your institution’s needs, culture, practices and resources this can mean very different things. I can help you develop a strategy, identify resources, provide writing and editing assistance, develop a stakeholder and communication strategic, and build an assessment framework..
Thinking about a strategic plan and not sure where to start? Or perhaps you find yourself stuck partway through. Let’s talk about it.
IT Assessment, Evaluation, and Recommendations
Perhaps you’re a CIO at a new institution and you’ve been asked to “fix IT”. Where do you start? I can help you understand what’s driving campus concerns and develop practical strategies for success.
Or you may be a President or Vice President who is hearing “IT is broken” from your stakeholders. Is it? How would you know? I can help you evaluate those concerns and help your IT leadership respond, or work with you to evaluate what you need from your next IT leader.
Senior Team Assessment
Do you have the right leadership team to accomplish the goals you’re challenged to meet? Where are the holes? Should you focus on building those skills internally, or should you try to recruit new members for your team? I can help you work through this tough process and gain clarity around where you need to go to be successful.
IT Resilience
The old model of business continuity through backup and recovery of onsite systems no longer meets the demands of the modern academy — technology is so deeply embedded that you have to have a resilient environment that makes use of cloud services. But getting from here to there with limited budgets and personnel is not easy. I’ve done it and I can help you develop and execute a strategy that will help you sleep at night.
Student Information Systems evaluation, modernization, and migration strategy
Almost nobody likes their SIS, but a rip-and-replace approach is always expensive, often risky, and not desirable for many institutions. How can you learn to live with your SIS, address its limitations, and serve your stakeholders better — and do it in months, not years? I’ve been there and done it and I can help you develop a strategic plan for addressing your SIS. Or if you’re ready to take the leap… I can help you determine the best direction and develop an objective, unbiased view of the likely cost and challenges.
My services are independent of the influence of any SIS vendor.
