September

In the world of IT, unmanaged risk has real-world consequences. Sloppy data handling often precedes a security breach. Getting a comprehensive picture of risks associated with IT products and systems in use at the University is one element of Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) in the Information Security Office (ISO).

UIT's Center for High Performance Computing, along with the universities of Chicago and Michigan, have received a $4 million NSF grant to produce SLATE, a new online platform for stitching together large amounts of data from multiple institutions. The U's participation will be led by Joe Breen, Senior IT architect for CHPC.

Prior to the discovery of four "surprise" conduits, the ACC "east feed" project already included 15,000 to 17,000 connections (phone, fiber, etc.). As Tim Goodale, senior product manager in UIT Pathway Engineering, put it, "Basically, everything that was running through a manhole had to be moved to all new infrastructure."

UIT staff are working hard behind the scenes before, during, and after each home game to ensure everything runs the way it’s supposed to, from ticket scanner and concession stand connectivity, to maintaining Wi-Fi in the press box and cellular coverage for the whole stadium, to facilitating the upload of live statistics to various sports websites.

It's an exciting time to be in IT. There are so many new and innovative technologies available that are transforming how we deliver and consume IT services. Some of these technologies are critical to our ongoing success and must be part of our IT strategy going forward.