History

Future perspectives and challenges

The ongoing activities, provided and targeted cloud services are the subject of a very dynamic development. The IT Center strives to shorten the time needed for the provision of these services and to achieve a balance between demand and supply on many levels (technical, organizational, commercial, legal, data protection, etc.). Central to this project are

  • Introduction of handouts/consulting
  • Introduction of RWTH-wide processes for cloud use at the RWTH
  • Inclusion of further cloud providers (prerequisite for exit and switch strategies)
  • Personnel (qualification, requirements profile)

2020

30.09.2020 Start of the pilot project Azure Introduction at the RWTH Aachen

With Microsoft Azure, virtual solutions can be taken without having to purchase special hardware for on-site use. For example, it can be used to map test scenarios or support resources for temporary project periods, but also for components that are only available in the cloud.

The RWTH joined a framework agreement negotiated by GÉANT - in Germany represented by the DFN association. Microsoft Azure can be used via this framework agreement.

The two-day kick-off event with the selected pilot customers, representatives of the staff councils, the data protection officer of RWTH Aachen University and IT Center colleagues from the departments Service & Communication and Systems & Operations initiated the start of the pilot phase on 15 and 16 September 2020.

The pilot phase will now last 12 months to test the use of the cloud to gather and evaluate experience. The aim of the pilot phase is to implement and continuously improve the integration into the processes of the university, to get to know the exact use cases better and to make a corresponding service agreement with the staff councils.

23.09.2020 Microsoft 365 for students

The cloud service M365 for students will be launched just in time for the start of the preliminary courses at RWTH Aachen University in the winter semester 2020/2021.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting loss of most of the attendance courses at RWTH Aachen University poses new challenges for students. In order to provide support in these circumstances, the IT Center has found a corresponding solution on behalf of the CIO Advisory Board of the RWTH Aachen University. In addition to the familiar office applications Word, Excel and PowerPoint, the availability of Microsoft Teams and OneDrive in particular should help students to organise themselves and communicate in the digital semester.

The requirements, terms of use, registration details and instructions are available in the IT Center Help.

23.03.2020 Microsoft Teams for employees of the RWTH Aachen

In view of the current situation due to the spread of the corona virus, RWTH Aachen University has been working flat out over the past few weeks to find solutions to the challenges that arise. In order to counter the spread of the corona virus, most employees at RWTH Aachen University now work in their home offices or only individually in their offices.

Since 23.03.2020 the cloud service Microsoft Teams has been available to the employees of RWTH Aachen University. With this service, internal communication and digital collaboration could be ensured at short notice. Meetings, jour fixe appointments and presentations can thus be held online in the form of chat, telephone and video conferences.

The requirements and the possibilities of use are provided in a detailed manual in the IT Centre Help.

15.01.2020 Lecture at the central group representation of employees in technology and administration of the RWTH

During the regular meeting, the cloud activities were presented to the central group representation of employees in technology and administration. This included both the previous activities and the planned introduction of M365 and Azure at RWTH Aachen University.

2019

27.08.2019 Meeting of the IT Committee

The IT Center presented the cloud activities to the IT committee. The main aim was to provide the staff councils with further information and to coordinate the next steps. In Q4 2019 there will first be a presentation by the IT Center at the staff council meeting. The introduction of M365 will then be submitted to the staff councils for co-determination.

30.07.2019 Meetup of the Microsoft Cloud Community at Freie Universität Berlin

  • Networking of participating universities from all over Germany
  • Mutual information sharing about acitivities and projects on the topic of Cloud in the university context
  • Presentations among others:
    • of the DFN association about GÉANT succession application
    • of the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and the use of Azure-Bots for the support and development of virtual system structures
    • of RWHT by Denise Dittrich on current developments and activities at RWTH in the cloud sector

Lots of questions demonstrate the great interest of the participating universities in the current developments.

You can find information about the Meetup on the corresponding Microsoft websites. For details on the Meetup, please visit the IT Center Blog. Both contributions are unfortunately only in German language.

10.07.2019 Lecture at the Group Representation of the Scientific Employees of the RWTH Aachen University

The cloud activities of GVWiss were presented during the regular meeting. It was about the previous activities as well as the planned introduction of Azure and M365 at the RWTH.

19.06.2019 Meeting of the Cloud RWTH Group

The following points were discussed:

  • Current state of procurement of Azure
  • Use of M365 at RWTH: a timetable with tasks to be completed for the introduction of M365 at RWTH has been drawn up.
  • Removal of licenses for alumni: the free licenses in M365 may only be used by active RWTH staff and students.
  • Involvement of the staff councils: it was decided to give another lecture at the IT committee to inform both staff councils about new activities and developments.

10.04.2019 Meeting of the RWTH Cloud Group

The following points were discussed:

  • The handbook on data protection in the cloud has been finalized. A website with further information will be prepared and published.
  • Current state of procurement of Azure
  • Current status of the official use of M365 at RWTH University
  • Further communication in the committees of the RWTH: Lecture at the GV planned for July

09.04.2019 RWTH Adminrunde

Presentation on the current state of cloud usage at RWTH Aachen University as part of the RWTH Adminrunde.

25.03.2019 Meeting of the RWTH Cloud Group

The status of the procurement Azure and the further procedure here were discussed. The communication in the committees of the RWTH is further promoted (e.g. CIO advisory board, Adminrunde). The handbook on data protection in the cloud will be finalised and made available as soon as possible.

2018

28.11.2018 Strategic meeting at CIO level

Bradley Tipp, business strategy leader at Microsoft, visited RWTH. Here he met with the Chancellor, the Director and Managing Director of the IT Center and the Chief Engineer of the PEM. Afterwards, the PEM gave an insight into its activities in the automotive sector and application scenarios for Microsoft Azure.

26/27.11.2018 Meeting of AK Strategy and Organisation 2018

The IT Center participated in the working group meeting with the topic "Cloud Use at Universities". The feedback on a lecture by the IT Center shows that the RWTH with its activities is perceived as a pioneer.

08.11.2018 Higher Education Roadshow with Microsoft

The first NRW stop of the Higher Education Roadshow was in the Generali Hall in the SuperC. Among other things, the lectures dealt with ethical questions in the context of the use of artificial intelligence.

28.09.2018 Proof Of Concept Workshop

This workshop served to implement a Use Case from the IT Center. As a test, the support chat was successfully executed on the basis of Azure resources.

27.09.2018 Identity Workshop

This workshop served the clarification of questions around the IDM connection around the Microsoft Cloud offer.

25.07.2018 Cloud use at the RWTH

Under this project name, the activities that deal with the RWTH-wide provision of cloud services are summarized. In concrete terms, the aim is to develop, together with the departments 5 (Organisation and IT), 7.3 (Purchasing and Zool Affairs), 9 (Legal Affairs) and the data protection officer, the prerequisites for a procedure that meets the RWTH requirements. Three teams, coordinated by the IT Center, were formed for this purpose:

1st team: Clarification of commercial and legal questions. (Dec. 9, Dec. 7, IT Center)
2nd team: Data protection and data security (DSB, CTO and IT Manager Security of the IT Center)
3rd team: Communication in the committees of RWTH University (Dec. 5, Managing Director of the IT Center)

27.06.2018 Cloud activities

In the first round, the IT Center sees a number of partners and services that are suitable for use in the university. The corresponding processes are referred to as "cloud activities" and pursued with different approaches.

13.06.2018 InfoTag 2018

InfoTag 2018 was aimed at executives at the RWTH. In a new format, discussion rounds take up most of the time. Demands include cloud services, their delivery and appropriate policies.

08.06.2018 Participation at the EBC (Munich)

The Executive Briefing Center of Microsoft, serve the information of specialists. The IT Center used this opportunity to inform itself about the Azure portfolio.

10th to 12.04.2018 Campus Connection Summit (London)

The Campus Connection Summit is an event organized by Microsoft to which representatives of educational institutions are invited. On the one hand projects will be presented, on the other hand there will be the opportunity for networking with participants from all over Europe.
05./06.03.2018 Cloud Strategy Workshop

The IT Center advises its cloud strategy. Beginning with an external lecture on the vertical range of manufacture, the workshop ends with the foundation of the A-Team and the formation of a vision with concrete goals.

Foundation of the A-Team

Within the Cloud Strategy Workshop the A-Team will be founded with the task to directly provide a service based on cloud resources. This way all challenges should be solved exemplarily.

27.02.2018 Foundation of Cloud Core Team

The cloud core team creates an overview of the cloud activities at the IT center and coordinates them. The seven team members come from different areas of the IT Center to achieve the greatest possible coverage.

2017

10.08.2017 Meeting with Microsoft

At a meeting with Microsoft, the new cloud strategy of Microsoft is presented: The aim is to replace OnPremise products with cloud services within a few years. The period varies