Three units within UW-IT’s Infrastructure Division critical to the University of Washington’s business functions now have new leaders — a key step in a major reorganization that was completed in late 2023.
Scott Bingham is Director of Microsoft Platforms, a new unit in UW-IT; David Cox is Director of Computing and Storage; Joby Walker is Director of Infrastructure Tools.
Strengthening UW’s partnership with Microsoft
UW students, faculty and staff rely on multiple IT tools and apps to accomplish their work, but over the years, as the University has sought to streamline its offerings, Microsoft tools have grown in importance.
“With our new Microsoft Platforms unit, we aim to elevate our partnership with Microsoft and maximize the value of Microsoft technologies for University business,” said Bin Guo, Infrastructure’s associate vice president.
“Scott will help us to strengthen our partnership with Microsoft, and at the same time, work with other UW-IT teams to curate relevant Microsoft technologies and continue to deliver premium services to our community,” she said.
Scott brings broad technical expertise across applications, infrastructure, program and project management, and IT operations. “And he is proficient in bringing together technology and business strategy to solve unique challenges,” she said.
Scott is no stranger to UW, where he received a Computer Science degree. He has more than 20 years of experience leading technology teams delivering high-value digital solutions and services.
For the last 12 years, he served in various IT leadership roles at Seattle Children’s, and most recently has led the IT Operations department, where he implemented and supported a large portfolio of digital solutions and services across the Hospital, Research Institute and 40 remote clinical sites.
Scott is also the founder and president of Housing Solutions for Hope (HS4H), a Seattle Children’s non-profit — showcasing his deep passion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in support of under-represented communities.
Cutting-edge computing and storage solutions coming to the UW
The Computing and Storage unit also will play a critical role as the University seeks new business solutions in the short- and long-term, Guo said.
“We are at a pivotal point of leading the university into the next era, and the Computing and Storage unit continues to play a key role in that journey,” Guo said.
“This includes a few major efforts like defining and driving the implementation of next generation student systems in collaboration with our partners in the Data and Applications Division, modernizing of our on-premises storage solutions and expanding our computing environment to the cloud.
David is well known around UW, where he has been contributing to its mission in different roles and capacities for more than 30 years — with outstanding results. He has diverse technical knowledge and experience as well as leading teams in various areas.
“It’s a super exciting journey ahead and we are glad to have David onboard,” she said.
Infrastructure tools key to smooth University business operations
The Infrastructure Tools team already has played an instrumental role in Finance Transformation by enabling UW Connect (ServiceNow) to be the enterprise customer support platform, Guo said.
Under Joby’s leadership, she expects the unit will continue to scale up the capabilities to enable more business workflows and onboard more university customers efficiently.
UW-IT also oversees a vast portfolio of tools to support the management of the backbone IT infrastructure for the university, including project management and developer tools. But as University priorities change, the Infrastructure Tools unit will play a key role in building a solid roadmap for years to come.
“Joby is perfect for this role,” Guo said. “He has been contributing to UW’s mission in different roles and capacities for more than two decades and he has a great track record of delivering outstanding results in an extremely collaborative and pragmatic manner.”
“He also brings diverse technical knowledge and experience and is a great example of the embodiment of our three core values — invested, compassionate and team player.”
“I am confident that Joby will help us lead through this growth and pave the way forward,” Guo said. “It’s a super exciting time.”
Leadership changes reflect UW-IT’s path to a dynamic future
In the past year, UW-IT has transformed itself and created new divisions and units, committing itself to a new work model focused on the people who depend on IT tools and services.
The new hires and units, Guo said, go a long way to fulfilling Infrastructure Division’s mandate. As part of its work, various units design, implement and support essential IT infrastructure services and technologies that are indispensable to carrying out the University’s mission.
They include the University’s wired and wireless networks, telecommunications services, computing and storage services, infrastructure tools and service delivery platforms. At the same time, Infrastructure works closely with other divisions in UW-IT to ensure the right IT solutions are in place. See where Infrastructure and its units fit within UW-IT.
“We are very excited to have such committed leaders in UW-IT,” Guo said. As UW-IT continues to position itself to better serve the University’s mission, we need a strong vision to get us there.”