.. the oversized, centralized IT department of 2001 is a relic that's never coming back and IT pros need to prepare for the decentralized IT reality of the future where companies are going to keep fewer IT pros on staff, hire more consultants, and focus their IT resources on software, the cloud, and mobile devices
Though centralized PC labs have been an important part of both campus space planning and IT infrastructure for the last two decades, this may be changing.
other kinds of student-centered academic computing support will certainly be required. This support will take the form of computer collaboration, friendly small group huddle areas, and virtual computer labs
"cloud computing" significantly lessens the need for traditional computer labs
While it may be tempting by those on some campuses to interpret the trend away from providing computer labs as opportunities to save on computing related space allocation and IT funding, they really represent a call for allocating space and funding in new ways.
The need to allocate resources properly will necessitate institutions to learn how to continue to meet challenge of creating non-traditional learning environments that support collaborative mobile computing.
Though centralized PC labs have been an important part of both campus space planning and IT infrastructure for the last two decades, this may be changing.