January 29, 2004

Information Systems Architecture group will focus on secure communications

Information Technology has announced the formation of a new group, Information Systems Architecture (ISA). Headed by Tom Board, former director of Technology Support Services, the ISA group will focus primarily on providing secure communications between IT systems on a University-wide level and educating University units on the designs and strategies leading to an integrated self-service environment for the Northwestern.

“At the most basic level, our intent is to make the NetID (Northwestern University Network Identifier) the primary identification solution for more University-wide applications,” said Board. “In that process, we can deploy a universal and secure login method for University-wide administrative and academic systems.”

As Northwestern goes forward and wants to define more of its security decisions based on the status of people’s access to various campus systems, this status will be propagated across the University. By defining an integrated and secure method of communicating between these systems, ISA will increase the security and availability of University-wide information, leading to better management solutions. University users will save effort, reduce errors, and improve productivity.

The ISA group is currently involved with several projects, including deployment of the University-wide Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Registry and LDAP online directory for increased directory information, authentication, and authorization services. The migration to LDAP will allow for more information than is currently retained in the online campus directory (the “Ph directory” or “white pages service”), such as a person’s affiliations, authorizations, and permissions. ISA is also advising major University initiatives to streamline processes and improve service access. “We are available to talk to any school or division that is specifying, acquiring, or deploying services to the University community,” Board said.

A future project will be development of a single sign-on Web portal integrating multiple University administrative and academic services, such as WebMail, the Course Management System, and CAESAR online registration. Board said the group will work with an outside consultant to assess software options for such a portal.

Get more information at www.it.northwestern.edi/isa/index.html.