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NYPD Needs to Replace 36K Useless Smartphones read the headline of an 8/28/17 New York Post article.
The piece went on to detail how the New York City Police Department purchased Windows phones as part of a $160 million mobility effort. Just months after the last Windows phone was handed out, the NYPD decided to replace them all with iPhones, as Microsoft had stopped supporting the phone’s operating system.
The Post was scathing in its criticism of the NYPD, and in particular of Jessica Tisch, the Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology. The Post article quoted sources saying that, “Nobody purchases 36,000 phones based on the judgment of one person..I don’t care if you’re Jesus f- -king Christ, you get a panel of experts.”
In response to the Post article, Tisch responded on the NYPD site that "Three years ago we made the decision to bring mobility to the NYPD. At that time, neither iOS nor Android phones allowed us to cost-effectively utilize prior investment in custom Windows applications.”. She went on to write that the contract with Microsoft allowed for the original phones to be rolled out at “no cost”, and that the Department could also replace the original phones after two-years, again at “no cost”. Tisch went on to claim that the NYPD smartphone initiative was 45% under-budget.
Okay. What, if anything, can we learn in higher ed from the NYPD Windows phone experience?
In thinking about this story - and without the benefit of all the facts save what are in the Post and what the NYPD chose to release - I offer the following (perhaps counterintuitive) lessons for higher ed:
Lesson #1 - Be More Aggressive in Releasing Information on Tech Initiatives and Challenges:
The NYPD was put in a position of responding to a damning New York Post story. The Department would have been much better off if they had been communicating fully about the mobility initiative all along, and had been proactive in announcing the change from Windows phones to iPhones. Further, the NYPD would be more credible if they were willing to share what they did wrong, and what lessons they have learned from the experience. The NYPD IT Department clearly under-invested in communications.
A failure to put resources and time into communicating, and to be fully proactive and transparent in the messaging that is released, continues to plague too many university IT units. Forward looking and effective CIO’s will prioritize communicating above almost everything else.
Lesson #2 - A Willingness to Make a Big Tech Change Should Be Applauded:
The real story the NYPD making a change from Windows phones to iPhones is not the initial bad decision to go with Microsoft. We don’t have enough information about the wisdom of that initial choice, or the contract that was signed. Rather, the real story should be that the NYPD was willing to make a big change.
Too often higher education institutions are unwilling to abandon an earlier technology related decision. We worry about all the investment we have made in a particular vendor or platform. A better way to think our technology choices is to only look at future gains and benefits. It is hard to get over the bias of loss aversion, and to realize that past investments are sunk costs. Making big tech changes requires courage, and support from institutional leadership. We should be willing to undo past tech decisions on our campuses more aggressively than is usually the case.
Lesson #3 - The Opportunity to Replace Landlines with Smartphones:
It makes total sense to me that every cop should have a smartphone. It makes further sense to me that police departments should standardize on a single platform, thus enabling both consistency in support and a focus on innovation at scale. What does not make sense to me is why a landline phone is still standard equipment across much of higher education. Why haven’t all colleges and universities replaced that venerable landline phone with smartphones?
I’d like to learn more about how the NYPD is thinking about mobility. Within our higher ed world, I know that if everyone on campus was on a common mobile OS that this universal platform would certainly catalyze investment in mobile learning innovation. Every college and university should have a mobile strategy. We should be thinking about leveraging mobile devices to both advance learning and to support the lives of our students, and the work of our employees. Is there an opportunity to gain savings from doing away with desk phones that we could invest in a campus mobile experience?
What higher ed lessons do you draw from the NYPD 36,000 Windows phone replacement story?
