System Administrator Group in a Distributed Support Environment

Like many institutions, Brown University has been challenged by the historic proliferation of many types of computers operating throughout diverse departments across campus. Poorly executed or outdated configurations employed at the departmental support level, by staff with varying skill levels, were creating many known security risks. To curtail the anticipated continued unchecked procurement of machines and systems, a coordinated effort to provide consistent and ongoing training of departmental system administrators was imperative. Formal training was too expensive and did not always prove to be a valuable investment. The challenge was to address departmental system administrator concerns in a way that would ensure