Accelerating Secure IT Services

University Information Technology Services (UITS) is providing secure, centrally supported and institutionally funded network, server, and laptop services for colleges and divisions. The project to shift campus managed IT services to the UITS secured managed services is called Accelerating Secure IT Services (ASITS). Services include: 

• Secure Network Management (Wired Network Registration)
• Secure Server Management (Managed Cloud Services)
• Secure Device Procurement and Software Management (Technology Lifecycle Care) 
• Improved Authentication and Access (Identity & Access Management)

In addition to the four major services, the University is also implementing requirements for:

• Campus Active Directories to migrate to Catnet 2.0 (BlueCat)
• Campus email domains to migrate to UAConnect 365
• Security Awareness Training to be completed by 100% of employees, DCCs, and student workers
• Security Reviews to be performed on each unit every 3 years

The University is accelerating its information security approach to address evolving cybersecurity threats and reduce risk across the institution. Addressing and implementing ASITS will help to make the university top-of-class in security and will provide a competitive advantage aiding in the opportunity to receive more grants to better the university.

Since 2018, the University has been working to strengthen its information security posture by fulfilling the recommendations outlined in the Auditor General's IT Security Performance Audit. 

The purpose of the Accelerating Secure IT Services (ASITS) project is to shift all campus managed IT infrastructure to the University Information Technology Services (UITS) secure managed network.  The ASITS project will not address any organizational structure changes and focuses on making each unit’s IT department more secure and streamlined. 

Exciting changes that help the University continue its priority in best-in-class safety and security include the migration to CatNet 2.0, Security Awareness Training completion tracking, and Security Reviews.

Migration is currently underway and and colleges and divisions will be required to fully migrate to these centrally supported services by June 30, 2025. UITS staff will work closely with units and provide the support necessary to migrate their infrastructure. The first milestone in this transition process will be for colleges and divisions to submit an inventory of campus IT managed network and infrastructure services, by Friday, February 24, 2023, via the Transition Planning Toolkit, that will fully transition to UITS managed centrally supported services.

Each department has named an IT liaison to help with the UITS partnership. The Campus IT Partnership (CITP) team will work with the UITS service area leads and the campus IT liaisons to document the IT infrastructure that will shift from the Campus IT managed network and services to the UITS managed network and services.

A full list of the IT liaisons can be found here.

A simplified and easier user experience is the priority and having mapped drives will cause administrative and troubleshooting issues, posing a threat to that experience.