ACCS2018

Ryan, Shane, and Steve work in different parts of VCU, but have all been involved in coming up with a solution to a significant security concern -- faculty and staff running with admin rights! Ryan was introduced to this “Wild West” environment when he took over as the Desktop Services manager for VCU’s central IT organization, Technology Services, two years ago. Steve and Shane have been dealing with it within the School of Medicine and Technology Services’ security teams for longer than that. Years ago, it was common-place for people to run as admins and that was true at VCU as well. Any attempt at removing those perceived "inherent rights" was met with hesitation or downright hostility by customers and IT staff alike. Our challenge was to come up with the proper mix of processes, procedures and tools to remove the admin rights from our customer computers. In a collaborative effort different areas of VCU were able to implement a solution that was both cost effective and efficient. As a result, VCU's computers supported by Technology Services and SOMTech are more secure and our customers are still able to accomplish their jobs without a lot of IT staff intervention and assistance.