Infrastructure and Architecture Policy

Policy 904

Introduction

The purpose of this policy is to inform the Appalachian State University (“Appalachian”) community of the responsibilities and requirements for the acquisition, design, and implementation of Appalachian’s Information Technology (“IT”) infrastructure and architecture, including all cloud IT services.

Scope

This policy applies to all faculty, staff, students, and vendors who seek to acquire, design, build, implement or maintain IT Infrastructure solutions, as well as devices and software that connect to and use IT Infrastructure.

Definitions

Information Technology (IT)

Same meaning as defined in Appalachian Policy 901 – IT Governance Policy.

IT Infrastructure

The system of enterprise hardware, software, networks, facilities, and service components used to develop, test, operate, monitor, manage, and support Information Technology services.

IT Architecture

A set of principles, guidelines or rules used by the University to direct the process of acquiring, building, modifying and interfacing IT resources throughout the enterprise.

IT Standards

Same meaning as defined in Appalachian Policy 901 – IT Governance Policy.

Policy and Procedure Statements

Policy Implementation and Compliance

The Chancellor vests the Chief Information Officer with the authority necessary to oversee and manage all aspects of the campus IT Infrastructure and IT Architecture. Appalachian’s Chief Information Officer is responsible for establishing specific IT Standards to govern IT Infrastructure and IT Architecture in accordance with Appalachian Policy 901 – IT Governance Policy.

Management of IT Purchases

All new campus Infrastructure acquisitions must adhere to the University IT Acquisitions Standard [1] to ensure:

IT purchases operate effectively in the University computing environment;
meet security standards;
address compliance obligations; and
support the University mission.

Exceptions

Exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Chief Information Officer with advisement from the IT Governance Board of Directors, as defined in Appalachian Policy 901 – IT Governance Policy.