IT Standards and Foundational Services Policy

Purpose

Information Technology (“IT”) services and systems that are reliable, sustainable, and well-integrated are critical to the functioning of the Ƶ18 (“university” or “CU Boulder”). Establishing and adhering to certain standards for technologies and IT foundational services:

  1. Maximizes the utility and value of IT systems by ensuring interoperability;
  2. Provides the most coherent and usable end user experience for students, employees, and affiliates;
  3. Reduces risk to the university by maximizing service sustainability and business continuity.

Policy

A. The University will adhere to IT Standards as developed by the Architectural Review Board.

  1. The CU Boulder IT Architecture Review Board (“ARB”) is part of Campus IT governance and is charged with developing standards (“IT Standards”) that, when followed, optimize the overall campus and university system IT ecosystem by maximizing interoperability, creating a consistent end-user experience, reducing redundancies, and reducing single points of failure.
  2. The ARB follows a process for developing IT Standards that engages campus leadership and Campus IT practitioners. The process is ultimately overseen by the Vice Chancellor for IT & Chief Information Officer (“VC/CIO”), in consultation with the Provost and Chief Operating Officer.
  3. Current IT Standards are listed on the right sidebar of this webpage
  4. Deans and division heads of units that deploy and manage IT services are responsible for ensuring their respective unit adheres to the documented CU Boulder IT Standards.

B. The University will leverage Foundational Services to maintain business continuity and efficiency.

  1. Certain IT services or systems (“Foundational Services”) are foundational to the campus environment or the function of the university, and it would be disruptive or highly inefficient to use alternatives or create duplicate services (e.g., wired and wireless network, email and collaboration platform, identity and access management platform). 
  2. Foundational Services are to be used exclusively and in favor of any alternative systems or services that perform the same or similar function.
  3. Campus IT Service Providers and System Owners are responsible for knowing and using the Foundational Services.
  4. Foundational Services are determined via a process that engages CU Boulder leadership and a cross section of Campus IT practitioners via the Information Technology Community of Practice (“ITCP”). The ITCP is the forum where discussions regarding standards and foundational services are communicated between the ARB and the Campus IT Service Providers and System Owners. The process is ultimately overseen by, and any decisions regarding Foundational Services are made by, the VC/CIO, in consultation with the Provost and Chief Operating Officer.
  5. A current list of Foundational Services is available on the Campus IT Policy website.

C. Administration and Enforcement

  1. IT Standards: IT services that do not meet the ARB standards may create risks to the university, create confusion and frustration for users of campus services, or be duplicative and inefficient. Any service not meeting or adhering to CU Boulder IT Standards will be reviewed by the VC/CIO or their designee and addressed with the appropriate Dean or division head. The VC/CIO may take actions to remediate the service, which may include but are not limited to changing the IT service to meet the CU Boulder IT Standards, migrating to a service that does meet IT Standards, or sunsetting the service.
  2. Foundational Services: Duplicative services create confusion and inefficiencies. Any duplicative IT service being used in place of a CU Boulder Foundational Service will be reviewed by the VC/CIO or their designee and addressed with the appropriate Dean or division head to create a roadmap and timeline to sunset and/or migrate/consolidate to a Foundational Service.

D. Exceptions

If a compelling business reason exists, exceptions to the requirements outlined in this Policy for IT Standards or Foundational Services may be granted by the Provost and Chief Operating Officer in consultation with the VC/CIO. Inquiries regarding exceptions should be made to the VC/CIO.

E. Definitions

  1. IT Standards: The official documented technical standards for IT services at the Ƶ18, designed to optimize the overall campus and university IT ecosystem. 
  2. Foundational Services: The official documented IT services that are widely needed by, and made available to, most CU Boulder community members. Foundational Services are vital to university operations for consistent service quality and include services upon which other technology services are developed and delivered. 
  3. Campus IT: The collective campus IT systems and services, including centrally provided services and local, departmentally provided/managed services.
  4. Campus IT Service Providers and System Owners: Any person responsible for deploying and managing an IT system or service, including being the primary vendor contact for a third-party provided service.

References