Software Development Collaboration Center Launches in 2026
In January, members of IT teams across Northwestern launched a new initiative to have school and central IT staff collaborate on building sustainable, secure systems that better support the University's broad needs. This initiative is taking shape in the Software Development Collaboration Center (SDCC), led by Mike Satut, senior director of IT for Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and Moses Phenany, director of Application Development and Operations for Enterprise Systems in Northwestern IT. As part of this effort, Mike is dedicating approximately 40 percent of his time to working directly with Northwestern IT, further strengthening the alignment between school and central teams. This close collaboration is designed to help the SDCC respond more nimbly to the evolving needs of the schools and means you may even spot Mike spending more time at 1800 Sherman.
In addition to Mike and Moses, SDCC participants include IT staff from Feinberg School of Medicine, Kellogg School of Management, McCormick School of Engineering, and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, as well as Northwestern IT’s Application Development and Operations, Data Management and Analytics, Enterprise Systems, and IT Services and Support teams.
Members of the SDCC are developing a collaboration framework to support the collective delivery of software solutions and innovation across Northwestern. Limited staff, opportunities to innovate with AI, and challenges in maintaining systems in a distributed ecosystem are among the many reasons to leverage this collaborative opportunity to meet evolving University needs.
The group met for the first time last month to begin planning how best to work together to build sustainable, scalable, and secure systems. The SDCC will operate in two parts: a new governance committee to provide leadership, oversight, and executive support, and the software development experts team (SDX), a cross-organizational team of experts in development, analysis, data architecture, and project management.
SDX Team to Leverage Collaborative Development as a Central Solution for Application and Software Design and Maintenance
The SDX team will act as a conduit between IT communities of practice and project and operational teams, aiming to provide answers to questions like:
- How do we collaboratively develop software?
- What are our common solutions, platforms, and approaches?
- How do we document code and requirements?
- How best can we integrate data?
- How do we ensure long-term support and sustainability?
By aligning people, tools, and governance across schools and business units, the SDCC will drive technological innovation and build the foundation for software development solutions that meet the University's future IT needs. They are currently focused on designing a new way of working together that will deliver the greatest impact and efficiency, ahead of determining specific projects for software delivery.
Watch for more information on the group’s work in future issues of Take 5. Those with questions about the SDCC or interest in participating can contact Moses or Mike directly.