Project Name - University of Limerick Campus Wi-Fi Project
What’s the project about?
As part of the DIGITALEVOLUTION@UL IT program of work, ITD are currently carrying out a number of major strategic investments in the University IT infrastructure and systems. The Campus Wi-Fi project is part of this investment and will provide enhanced wireless coverage for all buildings and select outdoor spaces throughout the campus.
All students and staff will access the new wireless network via eduroam. Eduroam is a secure international roaming infrastructure used by affiliated educational facilities to allow their staff and students to visit other participating institutions and continue to have wireless connectivity.
This project will greatly enhance the teaching and learning experience for the 15,000 students on the campus and provide significant benefits for the staff and guest population who require access to our wireless network.
What does it mean for you?
As part of the project, students and staff will see increased wireless coverage throughout the campus. The installation work is almost complete, the quality of the wireless signal has been significantly improved and can now support video, voice and data requirements.
All users will access the wireless network via eduroam. This change has is underway, the ‘ulwireless’ network has recently been retired and ‘ULsecure’ will be removed in December. Visitors to the university campus will access the wireless network through the new authentication-based Guest solution, which has recently been deployed.
Status?
The overall project is in the Sustain Phase, status Green.
The following is a summary of the key project activities and their status.
Project Name University of Limerick Office 365 Migration Project
What’s the project about? The existing University of Limerick Microsoft environment had a combination of on-premise exchange servers for staff email and a legacy Office 365 environment services for student email and data and some staff data. The legacy 365 environment is not suitable for future needs of the university.
The University of Limerick Office 365 project incorporates the setting up of a new single Office 365 environment under which all student and staff Microsoft services will reside. The new Office 365 environment will contain Email, One Drive, One Note and SharePoint data. All legacy IT email infrastructure will be retired.
What does it mean for you? Users will have access to an expanded set of Microsoft services and enhanced security features. The new environment will also facilitate greater collaboration between staff and students. Shared links will now contain ‘ULCampus’ as opposed to ‘Studentmailul’.
Status? The overall project is in the Ramp Phase, status Green.
Staff One Drive, One Note and email data has been moved to the new University Microsoft Environment. Student Microsoft accounts will be setup in the new environment from September.
The following is a summary of the key project activities and their status.
Project Name University of Limerick Multi Factor Authentication(MFA) for staff MS 365 Services
What’s the project about? The University of Limerick has been subject to a number of security attacks on Microsoft Services over the last year. These attacks pose a major risk to our networks and computer systems and have the potential to compromise critical applications and cause data protection issues. ITD have recently commenced the deployment of Multifactor Authentication which will enhance the security processes and help minimise the impact of future attacks. This project is one of an overall set of security measures being deployed by the University of Limerick.
Multifactor Authentication (MFA) is a security system that requires more than one method of authentication from an independent source to verify the user's identity for a login or other transaction. MFA is an effective control to insulate against remote attacks and has been recommended by the Data Protection Commission.
What does it mean for you? Staff and affiliates with a University of Limerick Microsoft 365 account will be asked for MFA when accessing Microsoft 365 services, e.g. Email, One Drive, Skype, SharePoint etc. when connecting to the network remotely. This means a user will be required to use a second method of authentication e.g. a code sent to your smart phone when accessing any Microsoft service remotely. The design principles will endeavor to minimize inconvenience for the user while still achieving our security goals.
Status? The overall project is in the Plan Phase, status Green.
MFA has been enabled for a pilot group of 150 users. Planned rollout to all staff from May 2020. The following is a summary of the key project activities and their status.
Registration Process
Click on the following Top Desk Link for information on the MFA Registration process
| Category | Recommended Action | Alternative Action (if applicable) |
| Windows 7 In Warranty Device and can be upgraded to Windows 10 | Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 | N/A |
| Windows 7 Out of Warranty Device and cannot be upgraded to Windows 10 | Device Replacement (New device will ship from Dell with Windows 10) | N/A |
| Windows 7 Out of Warranty (or near) Device and can be upgraded to Windows 10 | Advisory Device Replacement (New device will ship from Dell with Windows 10) | Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and extend hardware warranty. |
What does it mean for you?
ITD are in the process of contacting each department to help bring this project to a conclusion and to discuss how this project will affect their areas and to develop a local plan for Windows 10 rollout.
ITD are planning to complete the upgrade of all remaining Windows 7 to Windows 10 from March. These will be user-led upgrades with ITD support when required. Over a 1,000 devices have already been successfully upgraded/replaced.
Specialist Software on Windows 10
During the upgrade process, an integrity check runs against the applications installed on the device and should highlight any unsupported software. However, ITD recommends that each department test any specialist software in use in their area on any devices currently running Windows 10 to identify any other potential issues in advance.
Laptop Encryption
Any laptops that are upgraded to Windows 10 as part of this process will also be encrypted to ensure compliance with GDPR and IT Security Policy. https://ulsites.ul.ie/itd/encryption
What does this mean for me?
Human Resources are one of many divisions who have expressed the need to migrate onto an Online Form & Workflow solution. The consensus throughout the campus, was that the HR Recruitment Pack Process would drive many efficiencies, throughout many departments, and was therefore identified to be the pilot solution. If you are an Originator or an Approver within the current HR Recruitment Pack Process, you will soon be migrated onto the electronic version. The solution will be delivered in a Phase 1 & Phase 2 approach. Phase 1 will deliver a working & operational solution, while further enhancements and fine tuning will be delivered in Phase 2. Watch this space for further details.
The two policies referred to above were approved by the Governing Authority of the University last September and can be found on the ITD website at:- https://ulsites.ul.ie/itd/policies-procedures
The project aims to ensure that any access to University network and email resources, is for University use only, is not excessive and is maintained in an appropriate manner, in line with UL’s IT Policies.
Network and Email Account Management Project
The project includes a review of procedures surrounding the maintenance of UL network and email accounts. It incorporates some additional automation of the processes to grant, maintain and expire the accounts. An audit of all existing accounts was conducted as part of the project to ensure the accounts are provisioned in line with UL Policies.
Status?
The overall project is in the Sustain Phase, status Green.
The following table outlines the key ‘high-level’ phases within the overall project.
| Project Phase | Planned Start Dates | ||
| 1 | Review and update procedures and working guidelines for maintaining network and email accounts. | Completed | |
| 2 | Deliver additional automation of processes to grant, maintain and expire network and email accounts. | Completed | |
| 3 | Audit of all existing ‘non student’ accounts | Completed | |
| 4 | Post Project / Business as Usual | Completed | |
ITD will keep you informed on key developments as projects, or business as usual continuous improvement initiatives evolve. More detailed communications will be issued to users directly impacted by any changes.
Why are we doing this?
Impacted Services/What does it mean for you?
