This paper arises from presentations given at a colloquium involving members of the Association of University Administrators (AUA) and staff from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK Funding Councils held in November 2005. It discusses the increasing reliance on IT in modern higher education administration, and the role of the Joint Information Systems Committee in providing world-class leadership in the innovative use of information and communications technology to support educational research. The two most popular tools available to JISC, business process review and systems integration, are described in detail.