This news item was published prior to Apogee’s acquisition and subsequent rebrand to Boldyn Networks in November 2024. Learn more about the acquisition here.

AUSTIN, Texas (April 5, 2023) – Apogee, the trusted strategic managed technology services partner to higher education, is pleased to announce the expansion of its Executive Advisory Services to meet the evolving needs of higher education clients. Apogee Executive Advisory Services embeds former campus leaders within college and university cabinet-level teams to lead the assessment, modernization, and transformation of campus IT services.

Apogee’s recognized team of experts can serve as full-time or fractional leaders for long-term engagements or during high demand periods due to vacant or nascent IT leadership. Led by higher education and technology veteran David Hinson, Apogee executive advisors are seasoned chief technology officers (CTO), chief information officers (CIO), chief information security officers (CISO), and chief operation officers (COO) or vice presidents of administration who have years of cabinet-level experience at colleges and state systems.

Fifteen disciplines now round out the offering, including IT infrastructure, networking, cybersecurity, and compliance assessments and strategies. Advisory services are provided over weeks of remote and on-premises observations. Every engagement is tailored for the institution, and insights are codified into actionable strategic and tactical technology plans for campus leadership.

“I am excited about our enhanced advisory services practice, the world-class experts on our team, and the opportunities ahead to meet colleges and universities where they are as they navigate the post-pandemic world and confront the looming enrollment cliff,” said Hinson. “Whether an institution is facing vacant IT leadership, new IT leadership trying to quickly get its arms around pressing issues and priorities, or mature leadership looking to take campus technology service delivery to the next level, we craft engagements that enable clients to understand the current state of IT, remediate urgent issues, measure meaningful progress on long-term projects, and inculcate best practices for effective and strategic technology management.”

Situated in Winston-Salem, N.C., Salem Academy and College traces its history to 1772 and is the oldest educational institution for girls and women in America. Today, the institution is an intimate learning community of 1,100 women from all over the world and is one of the country’s most distinguished private liberal arts colleges.

“Like many small colleges in the U.S., Salem Academy and College experienced shortages and gaps in IT leadership, staff, and expertise coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Summer McGee, Salem Academy and College president. “David Hinson assessed our IT organization, infrastructure, and abilities and put us on a path to not only get back to business as usual, but also to set up a roadmap for us to align our technology investments to our institutional mission. Our engagement with Apogee has helped ensure that we are better prepared technologically to deliver on our promise to develop the full potential of our students and prepare them to change the world.”

With nearly a quarter century of experience exclusively in managed technology services to higher education, Apogee has built the expertise to deliver advisory services in the following disciplines:

• Strategic Planning and Documentation
• Business and Information Technology Resilience Planning
• Cybersecurity Controls and Audit
• Cybersecurity Program Management and Operations
• Vendor Management
• Financial Capacities Discovery
• Staffing and Organization Sizing Needs Analysis
• Coaching and Professional Development Pathways
• Governance, Compliance, and Internal Policy Development, including compliance with federal, state, and contractual cybersecurity obligations such a Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  (HIPAA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), as well as privacy policies and compliance such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and Consumer Data Protection Regulation (CDPR)
• Infrastructure Analysis and Planning
• Technology and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment and Management
• Budget Analysis and Preparation
• Leadership Succession Planning
• Cabinet Leadership Strategies and Methodologies
• Formal Technology Plan and Accreditation Support