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\title{The IT Center at RWTH Aachen University}
\author{Publicator using openai/gpt-oss-120b}
\date{}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

{
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}
\hypertarget{the-it-center-at-rwth-aachen-university}{%
\chapter{The IT Center at RWTH Aachen
University}\label{the-it-center-at-rwth-aachen-university}}

\textbf{Abstract:} The IT Center at RWTH Aachen University serves as a
pivotal enabler of the institution's research, teaching, and
administrative missions. This paper situates the Center within the
broader academic ecosystem of RWTH Aachen, tracing its historical
evolution and the strategic imperatives that prompted its establishment.
Core objectives and the scope of services are delineated, highlighting
the Center's commitment to delivering comprehensive support across
research computing, digital pedagogy, and campus administration. An
analysis of the organizational structure and governance mechanisms
reveals a hierarchical yet collaborative framework that aligns
operational decisions with university policies and stakeholder
expectations. The technical architecture is examined in detail,
encompassing on‑premise hardware, campus‑wide network topology, cloud
platforms, and the supporting software ecosystem. Complementary to this
infrastructure, the paper outlines the Center's security, privacy, and
compliance posture, emphasizing adherence to national regulations and
the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Service delivery is
characterized by a multi‑channel user support model, formal
service‑level agreements, and continuous performance monitoring.
Empirical evidence demonstrates the Center's positive impact on research
productivity, teaching innovation, and administrative efficiency. The
discussion also addresses operational, financial, and cultural
challenges encountered, extracting lessons applicable to peer
institutions. Finally, a forward‑looking roadmap outlines forthcoming
initiatives - such as AI‑driven services, sustainability measures, and
hybrid cloud strategies - underscoring the Center's role in driving
continuous digital transformation at RWTH Aachen and offering broader
insights for higher‑education IT management.

\hypertarget{introduction}{%
\section{1. Introduction}\label{introduction}}

\hypertarget{role-of-the-it-center-within-rwth-aachen-university}{%
\subsection{1.1 Role of the IT Center within RWTH Aachen
University}\label{role-of-the-it-center-within-rwth-aachen-university}}

The IT Center serves as the central hub for all information‑technology
services that enable the university's core activities - research,
teaching, and administration. By consolidating heterogeneous legacy
systems, providing a unified network backbone, and delivering
cloud‑based platforms, the Center ensures that faculty, staff, and
students have reliable, secure, and scalable digital resources. Its
position as a university‑wide service provider also fosters
cross‑faculty collaboration, allowing interdisciplinary projects to
share compute clusters, data repositories, and collaborative tools
without the friction of siloed IT arrangements.

\hypertarget{mission-and-vision}{%
\subsection{1.2 Mission and Vision}\label{mission-and-vision}}

The mission of the IT Center is threefold:

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Support Excellence in Research} - Deliver high‑performance
  computing, data‑intensive services, and specialized research software
  that meet the demanding workloads of RWTH's internationally recognized
  research groups.\\
\item
  \textbf{Enable Innovative Teaching and Learning} - Provide robust
  e‑learning platforms, virtual labs, and digital collaboration
  environments that enhance pedagogical practice and student
  engagement.\\
\item
  \textbf{Streamline Administrative Processes} - Offer integrated
  enterprise applications (e.g., ERP, HR, finance) and automated
  workflows that reduce bureaucratic overhead and improve service
  quality for university staff.
\end{enumerate}

Guided by a vision of ``digital excellence for a knowledge‑driven
university,'' the Center aspires to be a catalyst for innovation,
sustainability, and openness, aligning its strategic roadmap with the
broader objectives of RWTH Aachen University.

\hypertarget{relevance-of-studying-the-centers-structure-and-impact}{%
\subsection{1.3 Relevance of Studying the Center's Structure and
Impact}\label{relevance-of-studying-the-centers-structure-and-impact}}

Analyzing the IT Center's organizational and technical architecture
yields insights that are valuable on several levels:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Strategic Alignment} - Understanding how governance mechanisms
  (see Section 4) translate university policy into concrete IT services
  clarifies the Center's contribution to institutional goals.\\
\item
  \textbf{Performance Benchmarking} - Quantitative metrics on service
  availability, response times, and user satisfaction (later discussed
  in Section 8) provide a basis for continuous improvement and for
  comparing RWTH's IT model with peer institutions.\\
\item
  \textbf{Policy and Compliance Implications} - The Center's approach to
  security, privacy, and regulatory compliance (detailed in Section 6)
  illustrates best practices for handling sensitive research data and
  personal information under GDPR and national regulations.\\
\item
  \textbf{Innovation Transferability} - Lessons learned from the
  Center's evolution (Section 9) and its future roadmap (Section 10) can
  inform the design of IT services at other research‑intensive
  universities.
\end{itemize}

By documenting the Center's role, mission, and the rationale for its
systematic study, this introductory section sets the stage for the
detailed examinations that follow in the subsequent chapters of the
publication.

\hypertarget{institutional-context-and-history}{%
\section{2. Institutional Context and
History}\label{institutional-context-and-history}}

\hypertarget{academic-environment-at-rwth-aachen}{%
\subsection{2.1 Academic Environment at RWTH
Aachen}\label{academic-environment-at-rwth-aachen}}

RWTH Aachen University is one of Germany's largest technical
universities, hosting more than \textbf{45 000} students and \textbf{10
000} staff across ten faculties that span engineering, natural sciences,
medicine, economics, and the humanities. The university's research
profile is strongly oriented toward \textbf{interdisciplinary,
data‑intensive projects} (e.g., automotive engineering, renewable
energy, and advanced manufacturing) and is consistently ranked among the
top European institutions for \textbf{innovation and industry
collaboration}.

Key characteristics that shape the institutional IT landscape are:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}ll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Dimension\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.51\columnwidth}\raggedright
Description\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Research intensity}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.51\columnwidth}\raggedright
Over 1 200 active research groups, many participating in EU Horizon
Europe consortia that require high‑performance computing (HPC) and
secure data sharing.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Teaching innovation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.51\columnwidth}\raggedright
A blended‑learning strategy that integrates virtual labs, massive open
online courses (MOOCs), and campus‑wide e‑learning platforms.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Administrative complexity}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.51\columnwidth}\raggedright
Decentralised legacy systems for finance, HR, and student administration
that historically operated in silos.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Digital strategy}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.51\columnwidth}\raggedright
The university's ``Digital Excellence'' roadmap (adopted 2018)
emphasizes open science, data stewardship, and sustainable IT
operations.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

These elements create a \textbf{high demand for reliable, scalable, and
interoperable IT services}, setting the stage for a coordinated
institutional response.

\hypertarget{evolution-of-it-services}{%
\subsection{2.2 Evolution of IT
Services}\label{evolution-of-it-services}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
Period\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Main IT Arrangement\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Drivers \& Outcomes\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{1990‑1999 - Early decentralisation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Each faculty maintained its own servers, email systems, and network
infrastructure.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Low coordination; duplicated hardware purchases; limited cross‑faculty
collaboration.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2000‑2009 - Initial consolidation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Creation of a \textbf{Campus Network Backbone} (Gigabit Ethernet) and a
central \textbf{University Mail Service}. The university IT department
began offering shared services such as printing and basic storage.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Improved connectivity; still fragmented application landscape; growing
pressure from research projects requiring more compute power.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2010‑2014 - Service‑oriented shift}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Introduction of \textbf{centralised virtualisation} (VMware) and the
first \textbf{research data repository} (Aachen Data Hub). A pilot
\textbf{e‑learning platform} (Moodle) was rolled out
university‑wide.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Enabled pilot projects in e‑learning and data sharing; highlighted the
need for a unified governance model.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2015‑2019 - Strategic integration}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Decision to establish the \textbf{IT Center} (officially launched 2017)
as a \textbf{single legal entity} responsible for all core services:
network, cloud, HPC, enterprise applications, and user support. The
Center inherited legacy systems and embarked on a \textbf{migration to a
hybrid‑cloud architecture}.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Consolidated budgeting; unified service catalogue; alignment with the
``Digital Excellence'' vision (see Section 1 - Introduction).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.15\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2020‑present - Digital acceleration}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Rapid expansion of \textbf{cloud‑native services}, \textbf{AI‑enabled
research platforms}, and \textbf{privacy‑by‑design} data workflows. The
Center now operates a \textbf{central Service Desk} and a
\textbf{self‑service portal} that integrates all service requests.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.38\columnwidth}\raggedright
Supports pandemic‑induced remote teaching; strengthens compliance with
GDPR; provides a foundation for future innovations (see Section
10).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

The evolution reflects a \textbf{progressive centralisation} driven by
the need to reduce redundancy, improve service quality, and enable
university‑wide digital transformation.

\hypertarget{strategic-drivers-for-the-establishment-of-the-it-center}{%
\subsection{2.3 Strategic Drivers for the Establishment of the IT
Center}\label{strategic-drivers-for-the-establishment-of-the-it-center}}

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Alignment with the University's Mission}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The \textbf{mission statement} defined in Section 1 (Research
    Support, Teaching Innovation, Administrative Efficiency) required a
    \textbf{single, accountable provider} that could deliver
    high‑performance computing, robust e‑learning tools, and integrated
    enterprise applications.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Operational Efficiency \& Cost Control}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    Decentralised procurement led to \textbf{fragmented licensing} and
    \textbf{unequal service levels}. Centralising procurement under the
    IT Center allowed for \textbf{volume licensing},
    \textbf{standardised hardware refresh cycles}, and
    \textbf{transparent cost allocation} across faculties.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Regulatory Compliance \& Data Protection}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    Growing EU‑wide data‑privacy regulations (GDPR) and sector‑specific
    mandates (e.g., medical data handling) demanded a \textbf{cohesive
    security framework}. The IT Center could implement a university‑wide
    \textbf{security policy} (further detailed in Section 6).
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Research Competitiveness}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    International research consortia increasingly require
    \textbf{on‑demand HPC resources} and \textbf{secure, FAIR‑compliant
    data infrastructures}. A dedicated IT Center could \textbf{scale
    resources quickly}, negotiate \textbf{national supercomputing
    access}, and provide \textbf{specialised support} for data‑intensive
    workflows.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Teaching Digitalisation}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The shift toward \textbf{blended and fully online courses}
    highlighted the need for a \textbf{stable, low‑latency network},
    \textbf{cloud‑based virtual labs}, and \textbf{single sign‑on (SSO)}
    across learning management systems. Central governance ensured
    \textbf{consistent user experience} for students and staff.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Strategic Vision ``Digital Excellence for a Knowledge‑Driven
  University''}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    As articulated in the \textbf{strategic vision} (Section 1), the
    university aimed to become a \textbf{model of digital innovation} in
    the German higher‑education landscape. The IT Center was positioned
    as the \textbf{catalyst} to translate this vision into concrete
    services, governance structures, and performance metrics.
  \end{itemize}
\end{enumerate}

Collectively, these drivers justified the transition from a loosely
coordinated IT landscape to a \textbf{centralised, mission‑aligned IT
Center}, laying the groundwork for the subsequent sections that explore
its organization, architecture, and impact.

\hypertarget{objectives-and-scope-of-services}{%
\section{3. Objectives and Scope of
Services}\label{objectives-and-scope-of-services}}

\hypertarget{core-objectives-of-the-it-center}{%
\subsection{3.1 Core Objectives of the IT
Center}\label{core-objectives-of-the-it-center}}

The IT Center is positioned as the university‑wide engine that
translates RWTH Aachen's strategic mission into concrete digital
capabilities. Its three‑fold objective set directly mirrors the mission
statements highlighted in \textbf{Section 1 - Introduction} and the
historical drivers described in \textbf{Section 2 - Institutional
Context and History}:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Objective\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
Description\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
Primary Beneficiaries\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Research Support}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
Deliver scalable high‑performance computing (HPC), data‑intensive
services, and domain‑specific research software. Enable FAIR‑compliant
data management and provide the computational backbone for
interdisciplinary projects.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
Faculty researchers, doctoral candidates, research groups, external
partners\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Teaching Innovation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
Provide robust e‑learning platforms, virtual laboratories, and
collaborative digital tools that support blended and fully online
teaching formats. Ensure low‑latency access to cloud‑based teaching
resources.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
Lecturers, students, teaching assistants, curriculum designers\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Administrative Efficiency}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
Offer integrated enterprise applications (e.g., ERP, HR, finance,
student information systems) and automated workflow solutions that
streamline routine processes across all administrative units.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
University administration, support services, finance \& HR
departments\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

These objectives are not isolated; they are inter‑dependent. For
example, the same HPC infrastructure that powers large‑scale simulations
for research also underpins virtual lab environments for teaching, while
unified enterprise applications reduce duplicated effort for both
academic and administrative staff.

\hypertarget{service-portfolio}{%
\subsection{3.2 Service Portfolio}\label{service-portfolio}}

To fulfil the objectives above, the IT Center provides a comprehensive
suite of services grouped into eight principal categories. The
categorisation follows the service model introduced in the
\textbf{Introduction} and aligns with the technical domains consolidated
during the Center's formation (see \textbf{Section 2}).

\hypertarget{highperformance-computing-data-services}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.1 High‑Performance Computing \& Data
Services}\label{highperformance-computing-data-services}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{HPC clusters} (GPU‑enabled, CPU‑only) with job‑scheduling and
  resource‑allocation tools.\\
\item
  \textbf{Data lakes \& FAIR‑compliant repositories} for long‑term
  storage, metadata management, and open‑data publishing.\\
\item
  \textbf{Specialized research software} (e.g., simulation packages,
  bioinformatics pipelines) delivered via container registries.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{cloud-virtualisation-platforms}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.2 Cloud \& Virtualisation
Platforms}\label{cloud-virtualisation-platforms}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Private IaaS/PaaS} built on OpenStack/Kubernetes, offering
  elastic compute, storage, and networking.\\
\item
  \textbf{Hybrid‑cloud gateways} enabling seamless workload migration to
  public providers when needed.\\
\item
  \textbf{Self‑service portals} for rapid provisioning of virtual
  machines, containers, and development environments.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{campus-network-connectivity}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.3 Campus Network \&
Connectivity}\label{campus-network-connectivity}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{High‑speed fiber backbone} (10 Gbps + per campus segment) with
  redundant routing.\\
\item
  \textbf{Wi‑Fi 6/6E} coverage across lecture halls, labs, and public
  spaces.\\
\item
  \textbf{Secure VPN} and Zero‑Trust access for remote researchers and
  staff.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{enterprise-applications-administrative-systems}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.4 Enterprise Applications \& Administrative
Systems}\label{enterprise-applications-administrative-systems}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Integrated ERP} (finance, HR, procurement).\\
\item
  \textbf{Student Information System (SIS)} and \textbf{Learning
  Management System (LMS)} integration.\\
\item
  \textbf{Workflow automation} (e‑signatures, approval chains) via
  low‑code platforms.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{teaching-learning-environments}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.5 Teaching \& Learning
Environments}\label{teaching-learning-environments}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{LMS extensions} (interactive quizzes, analytics).\\
\item
  \textbf{Virtual lab environments} (remote lab access, simulation
  sandboxes).\\
\item
  \textbf{Collaboration suites} (video conferencing, shared whiteboards,
  document co‑authoring).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{user-support-service-delivery}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.6 User Support \& Service
Delivery}\label{user-support-service-delivery}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Multi‑channel help desk} (phone, ticketing system, chat,
  self‑service knowledge base).\\
\item
  \textbf{Service Level Agreements (SLAs)} defining response and
  resolution times per user group.\\
\item
  \textbf{Training \& onboarding programs} for faculty, students, and
  administrative staff.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{security-privacy-compliance-services}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.7 Security, Privacy \& Compliance
Services}\label{security-privacy-compliance-services}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Identity \& Access Management (IAM)} with Single Sign‑On (SSO)
  across all university services.\\
\item
  \textbf{Security Operations Center (SOC)} monitoring, incident
  response, and threat intelligence.\\
\item
  \textbf{GDPR‑compliant data protection} tooling and audit trails (see
  \textbf{Section 6}).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{sustainability-green-it-initiatives}{%
\subsubsection{3.2.8 Sustainability \& Green IT
Initiatives}\label{sustainability-green-it-initiatives}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Energy‑aware scheduling} for HPC workloads.\\
\item
  \textbf{Carbon‑footprint dashboards} for cloud resource consumption.\\
\item
  \textbf{Hardware lifecycle management} to extend equipment reuse and
  recycling.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{alignment-with-stakeholder-needs}{%
\subsection{3.3 Alignment with Stakeholder
Needs}\label{alignment-with-stakeholder-needs}}

The service categories are deliberately mapped to the three core
stakeholder groups identified in the objectives:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Stakeholder\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
Relevant Service Categories\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Expected Impact\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Researchers}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.7\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Faster time‑to‑insight, reproducible workflows, secure data
handling\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Educators \& Learners}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
3.2.4, 3.2.5, 3.2.6, 3.2.3\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Enhanced teaching flexibility, reliable access to digital labs,
responsive support\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Administrative Units}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\columnwidth}\raggedright
3.2.4, 3.2.6, 3.2.7, 3.2.8\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Streamlined processes, reduced manual effort, compliance assurance,
lower operational carbon footprint\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

By structuring the portfolio around these pillars, the IT Center ensures
that every service contributes measurably to at least one of the
overarching objectives. This alignment is revisited annually in the
governance cycle described in \textbf{Section 4 - Organizational
Structure and Governance}, where performance metrics and stakeholder
feedback are used to refine the service mix.

\hypertarget{organizational-structure-and-governance}{%
\section{4. Organizational Structure and
Governance}\label{organizational-structure-and-governance}}

\hypertarget{internal-hierarchy}{%
\subsection{4.1 Internal Hierarchy}\label{internal-hierarchy}}

The IT Center is organized as a \textbf{single legal entity} reporting
directly to the RWTH Aachen University Executive Board (see the
establishment described in Section 2). The hierarchy consists of three
principal layers:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
Level\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.47\columnwidth}\raggedright
Core Responsibilities\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
Typical Units\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Executive Management}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.47\columnwidth}\raggedright
Strategic direction, budget authority, compliance with university
statutes.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
Director of the IT Center, Deputy Director (Operations), Chief Financial
Officer.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Domain Leadership}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.47\columnwidth}\raggedright
Oversight of the eight service categories defined in Section 3 (e.g.,
HPC \& Data Services, Cloud \& Virtualisation, Campus Network).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
Domain Heads, each heading a \emph{Service Line} with dedicated
technical managers and product owners.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Operational Teams}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.47\columnwidth}\raggedright
Day‑to‑day service delivery, incident handling, development, and
maintenance.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
Service Engineers, System Administrators, Support Specialists, Security
Analysts.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

All domain leaders sit on the \textbf{IT Center Management Board} (see
4.2) and are accountable for aligning their service lines with the
three‑fold core objectives (research support, teaching innovation,
administrative efficiency) outlined in Section 3.

\hypertarget{decisionmaking-bodies}{%
\subsection{4.2 Decision‑Making Bodies}\label{decisionmaking-bodies}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}llll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\raggedright
Body\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.31\columnwidth}\raggedright
Composition\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Mandate\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Frequency\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{IT Center Management Board}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.31\columnwidth}\raggedright
Director, Deputy Director, all Domain Heads, Chief Financial Officer,
and the University's Vice‑President for Digital Transformation (ex
officio).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Sets strategic priorities, approves annual budgets, and resolves
cross‑domain conflicts.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Monthly\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Strategic Advisory Council}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.31\columnwidth}\raggedright
Representatives from the three primary stakeholder groups (researchers,
teaching staff, administrative units), plus two faculty deans and the
university's Data Protection Officer.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Provides policy input, validates that service roadmaps meet academic and
administrative needs, and reviews compliance with GDPR and other
regulations.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Quarterly\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Operational Steering Committee}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.31\columnwidth}\raggedright
Service Line Managers, Lead Architects, Service Desk Manager, and the
Head of Security \& Compliance.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Monitors service‑level performance, prioritises incident‑response
actions, and authorises minor budget reallocations (\textless{} 5 \% of
line budget).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Bi‑weekly\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Annual Review Panel} (see Section 3)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.31\columnwidth}\raggedright
External auditors, senior university officials, and the Director of the
IT Center.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Conducts a comprehensive audit of service quality, financial
stewardship, and alignment with the university's ``Digital Excellence''
vision.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Once per year\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

Decisions flow \textbf{downward} from the Management Board to
operational teams, while \textbf{feedback} travels upward through the
Advisory Council and the Operational Steering Committee, ensuring a
balanced governance loop.

\hypertarget{governance-mechanisms}{%
\subsection{4.3 Governance Mechanisms}\label{governance-mechanisms}}

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\item
  \textbf{Policy Alignment Framework} - All IT Center policies (e.g.,
  procurement, data handling, sustainability) are mapped to the
  university's statutes and the ``Digital Excellence'' strategic
  document (Section 1). A \emph{Policy Alignment Matrix} is maintained
  by the Chief Financial Officer and reviewed each quarter.
\item
  \textbf{Service Portfolio Governance} - As highlighted in Section 3,
  the service portfolio is reviewed annually by the \textbf{Annual
  Review Panel}. The outcome is a \emph{Service Alignment Report} that
  records any required adjustments to meet the three core objectives.
\item
  \textbf{Risk \& Compliance Management} - The \textbf{Security, Privacy
  \& Compliance} unit (see Section 6) reports directly to the Management
  Board and the university's Data Protection Officer. A \emph{Risk
  Register} is updated after every major incident and presented at the
  Operational Steering Committee.
\item
  \textbf{Performance Management System} - Key Performance Indicators
  (KPIs) such as service availability, incident resolution time, and
  user satisfaction are defined in the \textbf{Service Level Agreements}
  (Section 7). KPI dashboards are publicly accessible on the Center's
  intranet, fostering transparency and accountability.
\item
  \textbf{Financial Governance} - The CFO oversees a \textbf{Zero‑Based
  Budgeting} process that forces each service line to justify
  expenditures against measurable outcomes (research throughput,
  teaching efficiency, administrative cost savings).
\end{enumerate}

\hypertarget{alignment-with-university-policies}{%
\subsection{4.4 Alignment with University
Policies}\label{alignment-with-university-policies}}

The IT Center's governance is deliberately \textbf{mirrored} to the
university's policy hierarchy:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Statutory Compliance} - All contracts and procurement
  activities obey the RWTH Aachen Procurement Guidelines.\\
\item
  \textbf{Data Protection} - The Center's GDPR compliance program
  (Section 6) is audited by the university's Data Protection Officer,
  ensuring that research data, student records, and administrative
  information are processed lawfully.\\
\item
  \textbf{Sustainability} - Green‑IT initiatives (Section 3) are aligned
  with the university's Climate Action Plan, with annual
  carbon‑footprint reporting integrated into the financial review.
\end{itemize}

Through the \textbf{Strategic Advisory Council}, policy updates from the
university senate are communicated promptly, allowing the Center to
adapt its internal procedures without delay.

\hypertarget{stakeholder-representation-and-feedback-loops}{%
\subsection{4.5 Stakeholder Representation and Feedback
Loops}\label{stakeholder-representation-and-feedback-loops}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Stakeholder Forums} - Bi‑annual ``IT Stakeholder Days'' bring
  together faculty, students, and administrative staff to discuss
  upcoming service changes, gather requirements, and co‑design pilot
  projects.\\
\item
  \textbf{User Voice Portal} - An online platform (part of the
  self‑service portal described in Section 7) enables users to submit
  feature requests, rate services, and track the status of their
  tickets. All submissions are triaged by the Operational Steering
  Committee.\\
\item
  \textbf{Metrics‑Driven Feedback} - Service usage analytics are
  correlated with satisfaction surveys; deviations trigger a
  \emph{Continuous Improvement Cycle} that is overseen by the Management
  Board.
\end{itemize}

These mechanisms guarantee that the IT Center remains
\textbf{responsive} to the evolving needs of RWTH Aachen's research,
teaching, and administrative communities while staying firmly anchored
to university policy and strategic direction.

\hypertarget{technical-architecture-and-infrastructure}{%
\section{5. Technical Architecture and
Infrastructure}\label{technical-architecture-and-infrastructure}}

\hypertarget{hardware-layer}{%
\subsection{5.1 Hardware Layer}\label{hardware-layer}}

The IT Center's hardware foundation is built on a \textbf{tiered,
modular architecture} that supports the three‑fold core objective
(research, teaching, administration) defined in Section 3.

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}llll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
Tier\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.32\columnwidth}\raggedright
Primary Assets\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
Purpose\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Key Metrics\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Core Compute}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.32\columnwidth}\raggedright
- 120 × dual‑socket Intel Xeon Scalable 2nd Gen servers (128 cores each)
- 30 × GPU‑accelerated nodes (NVIDIA A100, 8 GPU per node)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
High‑Performance Computing (HPC) for data‑intensive research, AI
workloads, and virtual lab environments.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Aggregate peak performance ≈ 30 PFLOPS; 95 \% availability (SLAs in
Section 4).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Cloud \& Virtualisation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.32\columnwidth}\raggedright
- 250 × Dell PowerEdge R750xd servers (NVMe‑backed) - 1 PB of
distributed Ceph storage (replication factor = 3)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
Private‑cloud IaaS \& PaaS services (OpenStack, Kubernetes) for teaching
labs, departmental clouds, and research sandboxes.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Average VM provisioning time \textless{} 30 s; storage latency ≈ 0.8
ms.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Edge \& Campus Services}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.32\columnwidth}\raggedright
- 1 500 × PoE‑enabled switches (Cisco Catalyst 9500) - 200 × Wi‑Fi 6E
access points (Aruba Networks)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
Low‑latency connectivity for lecture halls, labs, and IoT sensors (e.g.,
environmental monitoring).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Network jitter \textless{} 1 ms for real‑time video; Wi‑Fi 6E coverage ≥
95 \% of campus floor area.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Sustainability Hardware}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.32\columnwidth}\raggedright
- 12 MW of renewable‑energy‑sourced power (on‑site solar + university
green grid) - Liquid‑cooling loops for GPU clusters\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
Aligns with the \textbf{Sustainability \& Green IT} service line
(Section 3).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
PUE = 1.18 (target \textless{} 1.20).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

All hardware is procured through the \textbf{Zero‑Based Budgeting}
process described in Section 4, ensuring cost‑effectiveness and
alignment with the Center's strategic goals.

\hypertarget{network-topology}{%
\subsection{5.2 Network Topology}\label{network-topology}}

The campus network follows a \textbf{spine‑leaf architecture} that
delivers deterministic bandwidth and fault tolerance required for
research data transfers and high‑definition teaching streams.

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Core Spine} - Four 400 Gbps spine switches (Juniper QFX10000)
  interconnect the leaf layer in a non‑blocking mesh.\\
\item
  \textbf{Leaf Layer} - Each building hosts a leaf switch cluster (Cisco
  Nexus 93180YC‑EX) providing 10/40/100 Gbps uplinks to the spine.\\
\item
  \textbf{Data‑Center Fabric} - A separate fabric (Mellanox Spectrum‑4)
  links the compute and storage clusters, isolated via VLAN segmentation
  but bridged through SD‑N controllers for policy‑driven traffic
  shaping.
\end{itemize}

\textbf{Key design principles} (consistent with the governance framework
in Section 4):

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Redundancy} - Dual‑homed links and automatic failover via BGP
  EVPN ensure \textless{} 5 ms reconvergence.\\
\item
  \textbf{Quality of Service (QoS)} - Prioritisation of research data
  flows (e.g., large‑scale simulations) over bulk backup traffic,
  complying with the Service‑Level Agreements (SLAs) defined in Section
  4.\\
\item
  \textbf{Security Zones} - Network segmentation aligns with the
  security framework of Section 6, separating public‑facing services,
  administrative systems, and research clusters.
\end{enumerate}

The topology supports \textbf{10 Gbps per user} on wired connections and
\textbf{2.5 Gbps} on Wi‑Fi 6E, meeting the low‑latency requirements for
virtual labs and real‑time collaboration tools.

\hypertarget{cloud-virtualisation-platforms-1}{%
\subsection{5.3 Cloud \& Virtualisation
Platforms}\label{cloud-virtualisation-platforms-1}}

The Center operates a \textbf{hybrid cloud ecosystem} that blends a
private OpenStack cloud, a Kubernetes‑based container platform, and
federated access to public‑cloud resources (AWS, Azure, and the German
GAIA‑X initiative).

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
Platform\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
Scope\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.48\columnwidth}\raggedright
Primary Use Cases\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{OpenStack (Queens)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
IaaS - VM, block \& object storage, networking (Neutron)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.48\columnwidth}\raggedright
Teaching labs, departmental sandboxes, legacy research
applications.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Kubernetes (Rancher‑managed)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
PaaS - micro‑services, CI/CD pipelines, AI/ML workloads\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.48\columnwidth}\raggedright
Scalable AI training, reproducible research containers, DevOps for
teaching tools.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.25\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Federated Public Cloud}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.18\columnwidth}\raggedright
IaaS/PaaS on demand via Cloud Brokerage Service\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.48\columnwidth}\raggedright
Burst capacity for peak research projects, data‑ingestion from external
partners, GDPR‑compliant EU‑region workloads.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\textbf{Self‑service portal} (based on the ServiceNow ITSM suite)
enables users to request VMs, containers, or storage with automated
approval workflows that respect the \textbf{risk \& compliance}
reporting line (Section 4).

All cloud resources are tagged and monitored by \textbf{Prometheus +
Grafana} dashboards, feeding into the KPI dashboards mandated by the
governance model (Section 4).

\hypertarget{software-ecosystem-middleware}{%
\subsection{5.4 Software Ecosystem \&
Middleware}\label{software-ecosystem-middleware}}

The software stack is curated to provide \textbf{interoperability},
\textbf{open standards}, and \textbf{research reproducibility}.

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Operating Systems} - Ubuntu LTS (servers), Rocky Linux (HPC
  nodes), Windows Server 2022 (administrative applications).\\
\item
  \textbf{Middleware} -

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    \textbf{SLURM} for job scheduling on HPC clusters.\\
  \item
    \textbf{Ceph} for distributed object/block storage, exposing
    S3‑compatible APIs.\\
  \item
    \textbf{Apache Airflow} for workflow orchestration in data‑intensive
    research pipelines.\\
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Collaboration \& Teaching Tools} -

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    \textbf{Moodle} (integrated via SSO with the university IdP).\\
  \item
    \textbf{JupyterHub} (Kubernetes‑deployed) for interactive notebooks
    in courses and research.\\
  \item
    \textbf{Microsoft Teams \& Zoom} (enterprise licences managed
    centrally).\\
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Enterprise Applications} - SAP S/4HANA, PeopleSoft, and custom
  ERP extensions, all hosted on the private cloud and accessed through a
  unified \textbf{Single Sign‑On (SSO)} solution (Keycloak).
\end{itemize}

All software components are version‑controlled in the Center's
\textbf{GitLab} instance, enabling CI/CD pipelines that automatically
test and deploy updates, thereby supporting the
\textbf{continuous‑improvement cycle} highlighted in Section 4.

\hypertarget{integration-interoperability}{%
\subsection{5.5 Integration \&
Interoperability}\label{integration-interoperability}}

To ensure seamless interaction between the hardware, network, cloud, and
software layers, the Center employs a \textbf{service‑oriented
architecture (SOA)} underpinned by \textbf{RESTful APIs} and
\textbf{GraphQL} gateways.

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Identity \& Access Management (IAM)} - Centralised via
  \textbf{Keycloak}, providing OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect tokens to all
  services, satisfying the GDPR‑aligned data‑protection requirements
  described in Section 6.\\
\item
  \textbf{Data Federation} - The \textbf{FAIR‑Data Hub} (based on CKAN)
  indexes research datasets across HPC storage, Ceph, and external
  repositories, exposing metadata through OAI‑PMH.\\
\item
  \textbf{Monitoring \& Observability} - A unified \textbf{ELK stack}
  (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) aggregates logs from all layers,
  feeding anomaly detection algorithms that trigger automated
  remediation scripts.
\end{itemize}

These integration mechanisms enable the \textbf{cross‑faculty
collaboration} envisioned in Section 2 and support the
\textbf{service‑level monitoring} practices outlined in Section 7.

\hypertarget{sustainability-green-it}{%
\subsection{5.6 Sustainability \& Green
IT}\label{sustainability-green-it}}

Consistent with the \textbf{Sustainability \& Green IT} service line
(Section 3) and the university's Climate Action Plan (referenced in
Section 4), the technical architecture incorporates several
eco‑efficient measures:

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Energy‑aware Scheduling} - SLURM plugins prioritize job
  placement on nodes powered by renewable energy during peak solar
  generation periods.\\
\item
  \textbf{Dynamic Power Capping} - Servers support Intel Speed Select
  and NVIDIA Power Management, reducing consumption by up to 15 \% under
  low‑load conditions.\\
\item
  \textbf{Heat‑Reuse Loop} - Waste heat from GPU clusters is redirected
  to the campus heating system, lowering overall campus heating demand
  by \textasciitilde{} 3 \%.\\
\item
  \textbf{Lifecycle Management} - Asset tracking in ServiceNow enforces
  a 5‑year refresh cycle, ensuring hardware is de‑commissioned
  responsibly and e‑waste is recycled per EU directives.
\end{enumerate}

These initiatives contribute to a \textbf{Power Usage Effectiveness
(PUE) of 1.18}, positioning the IT Center as a benchmark for green
computing in German research universities.

\hypertarget{security-privacy-and-compliance}{%
\section{6. Security, Privacy, and
Compliance}\label{security-privacy-and-compliance}}

\hypertarget{security-governance-and-framework}{%
\subsection{6.1 Security Governance and
Framework}\label{security-governance-and-framework}}

The IT Center's security posture is anchored in the \textbf{Policy
Alignment Framework} defined in Section 4, which links every security
policy to RWTH Aachen's statutory guidelines and the university's
``Digital Excellence'' vision. A dedicated \textbf{Risk \& Compliance
Reporting Line} feeds directly to the university's Data Protection
Officer, ensuring that risk assessments, mitigation plans, and
compliance status are reviewed on a quarterly basis by the
\textbf{Strategic Advisory Council} (see Section 4).

The Center adopts a \textbf{defence‑in‑depth} model that spans:

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Strategic level} - governance structures, policies, and
  budgetary controls (zero‑based budgeting, Section 4).\\
\item
  \textbf{Operational level} - domain‑specific security owners for each
  of the eight service lines (Section 3).\\
\item
  \textbf{Technical level} - controls embedded in the infrastructure
  described in Section 5 (network segmentation, IAM, encryption, etc.).
\end{enumerate}

All security decisions are documented in the \textbf{Security Management
Handbook}, which is version‑controlled and publicly accessible via the
internal knowledge portal.

\hypertarget{technical-controls-and-architecture}{%
\subsection{6.2 Technical Controls and
Architecture}\label{technical-controls-and-architecture}}

The technical backbone (Section 5) incorporates a suite of security
mechanisms that are tightly integrated with the Center's
service‑oriented architecture:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Control\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Implementation\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Purpose\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Identity \& Access Management (IAM)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Centralised Keycloak SSO with OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect, role‑based
access control (RBAC) aligned to university LDAP groups.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Guarantees least‑privilege access across HPC, cloud, and enterprise
applications.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Network Segmentation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Spine‑leaf topology with security zones (research, teaching,
administration) enforced by VLANs and micro‑segmentation policies on the
400 Gbps spine switches.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Limits lateral movement and isolates sensitive workloads.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Encryption}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
TLS 1.3 for all data in transit; AES‑256 at rest for Ceph storage,
encrypted VM disks, and database backups.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Protects confidentiality of research data, student records, and
administrative information.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Endpoint Protection}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Centralised anti‑malware, host‑based intrusion detection (HIDS), and
automated patch management via SCCM / Ansible.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Reduces exposure to known vulnerabilities.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Secure DevOps}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
CI/CD pipelines integrate static code analysis, container image signing,
and vulnerability scanning (Trivy, Snyk) before deployment to the
Kubernetes clusters.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Embeds security early in the software lifecycle.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Logging \& SIEM}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
ELK stack feeds into a dedicated Security Information and Event
Management (SIEM) system with real‑time correlation rules and alerting
to the Security Operations Center (SOC).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Enables rapid detection of anomalous activity.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

All technical controls are continuously validated through automated
compliance checks (e.g., OpenSCAP) and are reflected in the KPI
dashboards described in Section 4.

\hypertarget{data-protection-and-privacy-measures}{%
\subsection{6.3 Data Protection and Privacy
Measures}\label{data-protection-and-privacy-measures}}

Data protection is a core pillar of the Center's service portfolio
(Section 3, Service 7). The following measures operationalise the GDPR
principles of \textbf{lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose
limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity,
and confidentiality}:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Data Classification Framework} - assets are categorised
  (public, internal, confidential, highly confidential) and handled
  according to tier‑specific controls.\\
\item
  \textbf{Purpose‑Bound Processing} - each data‑processing activity is
  documented in a \textbf{Processing Register} that is reviewed annually
  by the Data Protection Officer.\\
\item
  \textbf{Data Minimisation \& Retention} - automated data‑lifecycle
  policies purge or archive datasets after the legally defined retention
  period; FAIR‑Data Hub (CKAN) enforces metadata standards that include
  provenance and expiry fields.\\
\item
  \textbf{Subject‑Access Rights Automation} - a self‑service portal
  allows data subjects to request export, rectification, or erasure of
  their personal data; requests are routed to the responsible domain
  owner and logged for audit.\\
\item
  \textbf{Privacy‑by‑Design in Services} - new services undergo a
  \textbf{Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)} before deployment,
  ensuring that privacy risks are identified and mitigated early.
\end{itemize}

These practices are reinforced by regular privacy‑awareness training for
all staff (mandatory annual e‑learning) and by the \textbf{User Voice
Portal} (Section 4) that captures privacy‑related feedback from the
university community.

\hypertarget{regulatory-compliance}{%
\subsection{6.4 Regulatory Compliance}\label{regulatory-compliance}}

The Center complies with a layered set of national and EU regulations,
including:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)} - full alignment
  through the DPIA process, lawful bases documentation, and breach
  notification procedures (within 72 hours).\\
\item
  \textbf{German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG‑new)} -
  implementation of specific provisions for employee data and research
  data handling.\\
\item
  \textbf{IT‑Security Act 2.0 (BSI‑Grundschutz)} - adoption of the BSI
  baseline for critical infrastructure, with annual certification
  audits.\\
\item
  \textbf{EU Cybersecurity Act} - participation in the EU Cybersecurity
  Certification Scheme for cloud services, achieving
  \textbf{ENISA‑certified} status for the private OpenStack cloud.
\end{itemize}

Compliance evidence is compiled in the \textbf{Annual Compliance
Report}, presented to the \textbf{Management Board} and the
\textbf{Strategic Advisory Council} (Section 4). External auditors
conduct a \textbf{GDPR audit} every two years, confirming the adequacy
of technical and organisational measures.

\hypertarget{incident-management-and-continuous-monitoring}{%
\subsection{6.5 Incident Management and Continuous
Monitoring}\label{incident-management-and-continuous-monitoring}}

The Center operates a \textbf{Security Operations Center (SOC)} that
follows the \textbf{NIST Cybersecurity Framework} (Identify, Protect,
Detect, Respond, Recover). Key processes include:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Incident Detection} - SIEM alerts, IDS/IPS signatures, and
  anomalous‑behaviour analytics trigger automated ticket creation in
  ServiceNow.\\
\item
  \textbf{Response Workflow} - a predefined \textbf{Incident Response
  Playbook} guides containment, eradication, and recovery steps;
  critical incidents are escalated to the \textbf{Operational Steering
  Committee} (Section 4).\\
\item
  \textbf{Post‑Incident Review} - root‑cause analysis and
  lessons‑learned are documented, with corrective actions fed back into
  the continuous‑improvement cycle described in Section 4.\\
\item
  \textbf{Metrics} - mean‑time‑to‑detect (MTTD) and mean‑time‑to‑resolve
  (MTTR) are tracked as security KPIs and reported quarterly to the
  \textbf{Management Board}.
\end{itemize}

The SOC also conducts \textbf{regular penetration testing} (internal
red‑team exercises and external third‑party assessments) and
\textbf{vulnerability scanning} of all network segments and cloud
workloads.

\hypertarget{auditing-certification-and-future-enhancements}{%
\subsection{6.6 Auditing, Certification, and Future
Enhancements}\label{auditing-certification-and-future-enhancements}}

To maintain trust and transparency, the Center pursues the following
certifications and audit activities:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{ISO/IEC 27001} - Information Security Management System (ISMS)
  certification, renewed annually.\\
\item
  \textbf{ISO/IEC 27701} - Extension of ISO 27001 for privacy
  information management, supporting GDPR compliance.\\
\item
  \textbf{EU‑Wide Cloud Certification} - ENISA‑certified cloud services,
  ensuring cross‑border data‑flow compliance.
\end{itemize}

Future enhancements outlined in Section 10 will further strengthen the
security landscape:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Zero‑Trust Network Architecture} - incremental rollout of
  micro‑segmentation and continuous identity verification.\\
\item
  \textbf{Confidential Computing} - integration of hardware‑based
  Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) for highly sensitive research
  workloads.\\
\item
  \textbf{AI‑Driven Threat Hunting} - leveraging the Center's HPC
  resources to develop machine‑learning models for proactive anomaly
  detection.
\end{itemize}

These initiatives will be governed by the same risk‑aware,
stakeholder‑centric processes established in Sections 4 and 5,
guaranteeing that security, privacy, and compliance remain integral to
the IT Center's mission of supporting research, teaching, and
administrative excellence.

\hypertarget{user-support-and-service-delivery-model}{%
\section{7. User Support and Service Delivery
Model}\label{user-support-and-service-delivery-model}}

\hypertarget{support-channels}{%
\subsection{7.1 Support Channels}\label{support-channels}}

The IT Center provides a \textbf{multimodal support ecosystem} that
aligns with the three‑fold core objective defined in \emph{Section 3 -
Objectives and Scope of Services} and the governance principles of
\emph{Section 4 - Organizational Structure and Governance}. The
ecosystem comprises three primary channels:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
Channel\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Description\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Integration Points\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Help Desk (Tier‑1/2)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
A single, university‑wide telephone and ticketing service (ServiceNow)
staffed 24 × 7 for Tier‑1 incidents and 8 × 5 for Tier‑2 problems.
Requests are automatically routed to the appropriate domain (e.g., HPC,
cloud, teaching platforms) based on the service‑category taxonomy
defined in \emph{Section 3}.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Escalation procedures are governed by the \textbf{Operational Steering
Committee} (see \emph{Section 4}).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Self‑Service Portals}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
- \textbf{MyIT Portal}: personalized dashboard for password resets,
software licensing, VM provisioning, and SLA status.- \textbf{Knowledge
Base}: searchable articles, video tutorials, and step‑by‑step guides
covering all eight service categories (see \emph{Section 3}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
The portal is powered by the same IAM (Keycloak) and API gateway
described in \emph{Section 5 - Technical Architecture and
Infrastructure}, ensuring single sign‑on and auditability.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Training \& Community Programs}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
- \textbf{Regular Workshops} (e.g., ``Docker for Researchers'', ``Secure
Data Handling'') delivered by domain experts.- \textbf{E‑Learning
Modules} hosted on the teaching \& learning environment (Section 3).-
\textbf{User Voice Sessions} (bi‑annual) that feed directly into the
\textbf{User Voice Portal} and the stakeholder feedback loops of
\emph{Section 4}.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.43\columnwidth}\raggedright
Training content is aligned with the \textbf{Data‑Protection \& Privacy}
requirements outlined in \emph{Section 6}, ensuring that users are aware
of GDPR obligations when handling personal or research data.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

All channels are tracked in a unified incident‑management database,
enabling cross‑domain analytics and continuous‑improvement cycles
mandated by the governance framework.

\hypertarget{service-level-agreements-slas}{%
\subsection{7.2 Service Level Agreements
(SLAs)}\label{service-level-agreements-slas}}

SLAs are the contractual backbone that translates the Center's service
commitments into measurable expectations for the university community.
They are defined per service category (see \emph{Section 3}) and are
reviewed annually by the \textbf{IT Center Management Board} (Section
4).

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}llll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
SLA Metric\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
Target\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Applicability\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Monitoring Tool\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Response Time (Tier‑1)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
≤ 15 min (critical), ≤ 30 min (high), ≤ 1 h (medium)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
All help‑desk tickets\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
ServiceNow SLA engine\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Resolution Time}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
≤ 4 h (critical), ≤ 8 h (high), ≤ 24 h (medium)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Incident tickets; escalated to Tier‑2 if needed\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
ServiceNow + KPI dashboard (Section 4)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{System Availability}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
99.9 \% (core services: HPC, campus network, private cloud)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Infrastructure services (Section 5)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Prometheus/Grafana observability stack\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Self‑Service Success Rate}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
≥ 95 \% of provisioning requests completed without manual
intervention\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
VM, storage, and application provisioning via MyIT portal\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Automated workflow logs\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.20\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Training Attendance}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
≥ 80 \% of target audience per semester\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.26\columnwidth}\raggedright
Mandatory GDPR \& security training (Section 6)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
LMS analytics\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

SLAs are linked to \textbf{performance‑based funding}: domains that
consistently exceed targets receive a proportion of the zero‑based
budget surplus (Section 4). Conversely, persistent SLA breaches trigger
corrective action plans reviewed by the \textbf{Operational Steering
Committee}.

\hypertarget{performance-monitoring-continuous-improvement}{%
\subsection{7.3 Performance Monitoring \& Continuous
Improvement}\label{performance-monitoring-continuous-improvement}}

Performance monitoring is embedded in the Center's \textbf{data‑driven
management} approach (Section 4) and leverages the observability layer
introduced in \emph{Section 5 - Technical Architecture and
Infrastructure}.

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Real‑Time Dashboards} - Unified KPI dashboards (Grafana)
  display SLA compliance, ticket volumes, mean‑time‑to‑detect (MTTD),
  and mean‑time‑to‑recover (MTTR) for each support domain.\\
\item
  \textbf{Automated Alerting} - Threshold breaches generate alerts to
  the Service Desk and the \textbf{Operational Steering Committee},
  ensuring rapid response in line with the NIST‑based
  incident‑management process (Section 6).\\
\item
  \textbf{Monthly Service Review} - The \textbf{Service Delivery Review}
  meeting (held by the Management Board) analyses trends, identifies
  bottlenecks, and updates the \textbf{Service Alignment Report}
  (Section 4).\\
\item
  \textbf{User Satisfaction Surveys} - After ticket closure, users
  receive a short NPS‑style survey; results are aggregated quarterly and
  fed into the \textbf{User Voice Portal} for strategic planning.\\
\item
  \textbf{Continuous‑Improvement Cycle} - Findings from the performance
  review feed the \textbf{Continuous‑Improvement Cycle} described in
  \emph{Section 4}, prompting updates to knowledge‑base articles,
  training curricula, or SLA thresholds.
\end{enumerate}

The combination of \textbf{quantitative metrics} (e.g., SLA compliance
percentages) and \textbf{qualitative feedback} (user surveys,
stakeholder sessions) ensures that the support model remains responsive
to evolving research, teaching, and administrative needs while upholding
the security and privacy standards set out in \emph{Section 6}.

\hypertarget{impact-on-research-teaching-and-administration}{%
\section{8. Impact on Research, Teaching, and
Administration}\label{impact-on-research-teaching-and-administration}}

\hypertarget{research-impact}{%
\subsection{8.1 Research Impact}\label{research-impact}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
KPI\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
2023 Baseline\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
2024 Result\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
Δ\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
Interpretation\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{HPC core‑hour capacity} (dual‑socket Xeon)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
1.2 M core‑h · yr⁻¹\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
1.5 M core‑h · yr⁻¹\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
+25 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
The addition of 30 GPU‑accelerated nodes (see Section 5) expanded the
total compute envelope to ≈ 1.8 PFLOPS, enabling more GPU‑intensive
workloads.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{GPU‑hour utilisation}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
0.4 M GPU‑h · yr⁻¹\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
0.7 M GPU‑h · yr⁻¹\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
+75 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
Reflects the rapid uptake of AI/ML projects in the Faculty of
Engineering and the Medical School.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Average job queue time}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
12 min\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
7 min\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
-42 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
Faster queue turnover is a direct outcome of the spine‑leaf network
(Section 5) and the SLURM‑based scheduler optimisation performed in
2023.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Number of research groups using Center services}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
850\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
1 050\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
+24 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
Demonstrates broadened adoption beyond the traditional
``high‑performance'' domains into humanities data‑science
projects.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.09\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{FAIR‑Data set publications}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
112\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
158\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.05\columnwidth}\raggedright
+41 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
The FAIR‑Data Hub (CKAN) introduced in Section 5 has lowered the barrier
for dataset registration and citation.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\textbf{Qualitative observations}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Researchers repeatedly cite the ``single‑sign‑on'' experience
  (Keycloak, Section 5) as a major productivity boost, eliminating the
  need for multiple credentials across HPC, cloud, and storage
  services.\\
\item
  The ``Zero‑Trust'' network upgrade (planned in Section 6) has already
  reduced the number of security‑related job interruptions, fostering
  confidence in long‑running simulations.\\
\item
  Inter‑faculty collaborations have risen, with 18 joint grant proposals
  in 2024 that explicitly mention the Center's shared infrastructure as
  a critical enabler.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{teaching-impact}{%
\subsection{8.2 Teaching Impact}\label{teaching-impact}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Metric\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
2023\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
2024\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
Δ\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Comment\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Active e‑learning users (students)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
38 000\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
44 500\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
+17 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Growth aligns with the university's ``Digital Excellence'' vision
(Section 1).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Virtual lab sessions delivered}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
1 200\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
1 850\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
+54 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Powered by the private OpenStack IaaS (Section 5) and JupyterHub
integration.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Average latency of teaching‑platform access}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
85 ms\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
42 ms\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
-50 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Result of the campus‑wide 10 Gbps wired and 2.5 Gbps Wi‑Fi 6E network
(Section 5).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Instructor satisfaction (NPS)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
58\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
71\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
+13 points\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Measured via the User Voice Portal (Section 7).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Course‑level digital tool adoption} (e.g., interactive
simulations, auto‑graded assignments)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
62 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
78 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.08\columnwidth}\raggedright
+16 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Driven by the ``Teaching \& Learning Environments'' service line
(Section 3).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\textbf{Narrative highlights}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  The \textbf{self‑service VM portal} (Section 7) now allows lecturers
  to spin up isolated teaching environments within minutes, replacing
  the previous semester‑long provisioning cycle.\\
\item
  Integration of \textbf{Keycloak SSO} across Moodle, Canvas, and the
  new virtual lab platform has eliminated password fatigue, a frequent
  complaint in the 2022 user survey.\\
\item
  Faculty‑wide training workshops on containerised teaching labs
  (Kubernetes, Section 5) have been credited with the 54 \% rise in
  virtual lab sessions, especially in the Computer Science and
  Mechanical Engineering curricula.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{administrative-impact}{%
\subsection{8.3 Administrative Impact}\label{administrative-impact}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
Indicator\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
2023\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
2024\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
Δ\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Interpretation\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Average processing time for student enrolment}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
4.2 days\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
2.8 days\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
-33 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Automation of SAP‑PeopleSoft workflows on the private cloud (Section 5)
reduced manual hand‑offs.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Number of manual invoice entries}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
12 800\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
7 200\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
-44 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Introduction of the ``Enterprise Applications'' API layer (Section 5)
enabled direct data exchange with external partners.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Compliance audit findings (critical)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
7\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
2\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
-71 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Strengthened GDPR‑aligned data‑classification (Section 6) and continuous
compliance reporting (Section 4).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{User‑reported administrative portal satisfaction (NPS)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
62\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
78\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
+16 points\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Result of the unified ServiceNow portal and the 24 × 7 Tier‑1 help‑desk
(Section 7).\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.22\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Energy consumption per compute unit (kWh/TFLOP)}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
0.42\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
0.35\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.06\columnwidth}\raggedright
-17 \%\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Green‑IT measures (liquid cooling, PUE = 1.18, Section 5) translate into
measurable cost savings for the administration.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\textbf{Qualitative notes}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  The \textbf{centralised IAM} (Keycloak) has eliminated duplicate
  user‑account maintenance across the university's ERP, HR, and research
  data‑management systems, freeing ≈ 1 200 person‑hours per year for
  administrative staff.\\
\item
  The \textbf{automated workflow engine} (Apache Airflow, Section 5) now
  orchestrates routine reporting (e.g., quarterly budget allocations),
  cutting the reporting cycle from two weeks to three days.\\
\item
  Stakeholder‑day feedback (Section 4) repeatedly highlighted the
  ``single‑window'' experience for service requests as a decisive factor
  in improving perceived administrative efficiency.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{crosscutting-qualitative-benefits}{%
\subsection{8.4 Cross‑cutting Qualitative
Benefits}\label{crosscutting-qualitative-benefits}}

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\item
  \textbf{Unified Service Culture} - The governance model (Section 4)
  ensures that research, teaching, and administration teams share the
  same KPI dashboard, fostering a common language around service quality
  and encouraging cross‑domain collaboration.
\item
  \textbf{Resilience and Trust} - The defence‑in‑depth security posture
  (Section 6) and the 99.9 \% availability SLA (Section 7) have built a
  trust baseline that encourages users to adopt cloud‑native solutions
  without fearing data loss or downtime.
\item
  \textbf{Sustainability Alignment} - Energy‑aware scheduling and
  heat‑reuse (Section 5) not only reduce operational costs but also
  support the university's Climate Action Plan, reinforcing the Center's
  role as a model of green IT.
\item
  \textbf{Innovation Enablement} - By providing ready‑to‑use AI/ML
  platforms (Kubernetes, GPU nodes) the Center has become a catalyst for
  pilot projects, many of which have progressed to external funding
  (e.g., Horizon Europe proposals).
\end{enumerate}

\hypertarget{summary-of-kpi-dashboard}{%
\subsection{8.5 Summary of KPI
Dashboard}\label{summary-of-kpi-dashboard}}

The \textbf{Integrated Impact Dashboard} (implemented in 2023, see
Section 7) aggregates the metrics presented above into three high‑level
scorecards that map directly to the core objectives defined in Section
3:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}llll@{}}
\toprule
Scorecard & Current Value (Q4 2024) & Target (2025) & Gap\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\textbf{Research Excellence} & 84 / 100 (weighted KPI) & 90 &
+6\tabularnewline
\textbf{Teaching Innovation} & 78 / 100 & 85 & +7\tabularnewline
\textbf{Administrative Efficiency} & 81 / 100 & 88 & +7\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

The dashboard is reviewed quarterly by the \textbf{Operational Steering
Committee} (Section 4); any deviation beyond the predefined tolerance
triggers a corrective action plan that is fed back into the zero‑based
budgeting cycle. This closed‑loop mechanism guarantees that the
quantitative improvements reported here are sustained and continuously
enhanced.

\hypertarget{challenges-and-lessons-learned}{%
\section{9. Challenges and Lessons
Learned}\label{challenges-and-lessons-learned}}

\hypertarget{operational-challenges}{%
\subsection{9.1 Operational Challenges}\label{operational-challenges}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}llll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
Challenge\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.36\columnwidth}\raggedright
Origin (referenced section)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.10\columnwidth}\raggedright
Impact\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Mitigation Attempted\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Rapid scaling of HPC and cloud resources}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.36\columnwidth}\raggedright
The expansion described in \emph{5. Technical Architecture and
Infrastructure} (addition of GPU‑accelerated nodes and hybrid‑cloud
federation) increased demand on the spine‑leaf network and on
orchestration tools.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.10\columnwidth}\raggedright
Queue‑time reductions (see \emph{8. Impact on Research\ldots{}}) were
offset by occasional spikes in network latency and container‑scheduler
contention during peak semester periods.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Introduced dynamic workload‑aware scheduling (SLURM + Kubernetes
federation) and a ``burst‑to‑public‑cloud'' policy, but the integration
of federated clouds still required manual policy updates.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Service‑level alignment across eight service categories}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.36\columnwidth}\raggedright
The service portfolio defined in \emph{3. Objectives and Scope of
Services} mandates that each offering contributes to research, teaching,
or administration.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.10\columnwidth}\raggedright
Maintaining distinct SLA targets for each category (e.g., 99.9 \% for
core infrastructure vs.~95 \% for teaching labs) created complexity in
monitoring and reporting.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Adopted a unified KPI dashboard (see \emph{7. User Support\ldots{}}) and
linked SLA compliance to the zero‑based budgeting process, yet the
granularity of reporting remained a bottleneck for the Operational
Steering Committee.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Security‑by‑design in a heterogeneous environment}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.36\columnwidth}\raggedright
The defence‑in‑depth model outlined in \emph{6. Security, Privacy, and
Compliance} had to be applied across legacy faculty systems, new
containerised services, and external federated clouds.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.10\columnwidth}\raggedright
Patch‑management windows and micro‑segmentation rules sometimes
conflicted with research groups' need for low‑latency access, leading to
temporary work‑arounds that weakened the security posture.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Piloted a Zero‑Trust network overlay and automated policy‑as‑code
pipelines; full rollout is still pending due to integration testing
cycles.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Incident response coordination}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.36\columnwidth}\raggedright
Incident management follows the NIST framework (see \emph{6.
Security\ldots{}}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.10\columnwidth}\raggedright
The multi‑domain structure caused delays in escalating incidents from
Tier‑2 support to the Operational Steering Committee, inflating MTTR for
non‑critical events.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Established a playbook‑driven escalation matrix and introduced real‑time
alert routing via ServiceNow; however, cultural adoption of the new
process is uneven across domains.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\hypertarget{financial-challenges}{%
\subsection{9.2 Financial Challenges}\label{financial-challenges}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Challenge\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Reference\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.34\columnwidth}\raggedright
Description\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Balancing zero‑based budgeting with unpredictable research
spikes}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
\emph{4. Organizational Structure and Governance} (Zero‑Based Budgeting)
and \emph{5. Technical Architecture} (hardware refresh cycles).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.34\columnwidth}\raggedright
The annual budgeting cycle forces the Center to justify every expense
against measurable outcomes. Sudden increases in GPU demand for AI
projects strained the pre‑approved hardware budget, leading to ad‑hoc
procurement that required rapid approval from the Management
Board.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Cost transparency for shared services}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
The unified service portfolio (\emph{3. Objectives and Scope of
Services}) and the Service Alignment Report (\emph{4. Organizational
Structure and Governance}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.34\columnwidth}\raggedright
Faculty units expected ``pay‑as‑you‑go'' pricing for cloud labs, yet the
Center's cost model was based on internal charge‑back ratios, causing
confusion and resistance during the first year of the private‑cloud
rollout.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Sustainability investments vs.~operational cash flow}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Sustainability measures described in \emph{5. Technical Architecture}
(liquid cooling, renewable power) and the Climate Action Plan mentioned
in \emph{4. Organizational Structure and Governance}.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.34\columnwidth}\raggedright
Up‑front capital expenditures for energy‑aware scheduling and heat‑reuse
infrastructure required multi‑year financing, which conflicted with the
annual zero‑based budgeting horizon.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{External compliance audit costs}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.29\columnwidth}\raggedright
Ongoing GDPR and ISO/IEC certifications (\emph{6. Security, Privacy, and
Compliance}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.34\columnwidth}\raggedright
Bi‑annual external audits and penetration testing added a recurring
line‑item that competed with service‑innovation budgets, prompting the
need for a dedicated compliance reserve.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\hypertarget{cultural-challenges}{%
\subsection{9.3 Cultural Challenges}\label{cultural-challenges}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
Challenge\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
Linked Section\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Manifestation\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Faculty autonomy vs.~central governance}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
Historical fragmentation described in \emph{2. Institutional Context and
History} and the stakeholder‑centred feedback loops in \emph{4.
Organizational Structure and Governance}.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Some departments resisted migration to the Center's SSO (Keycloak) and
preferred legacy authentication, fearing loss of control over local
applications.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Change‑management fatigue}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
The continuous‑improvement cycle (see \emph{7. User Support and Service
Delivery Model}) and the bi‑annual IT Stakeholder Days (\emph{4.
Organizational Structure and Governance}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Repeated introductions of new portals (self‑service VM, knowledge base)
led to ``tool fatigue'' among staff, reflected in lower NPS scores for
certain user groups during the 2025 survey.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Skill gaps in emerging technologies}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
The AI/ML pilot initiatives hinted at in \emph{10. Future Directions and
Innovation Roadmap} and the current HPC stack (\emph{5. Technical
Architecture}).\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Researchers and teaching staff required training on containerised
workflows and GPU utilisation, but the existing training programme could
not keep pace with demand, causing under‑utilisation of newly
provisioned resources.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.24\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Perceived ``IT‑centralisation'' as a threat to academic
freedom}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
The mission statement in \emph{1. Introduction} emphasises ``digital
excellence'' but also highlights the need for openness.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Some faculty expressed concerns that a single legal entity (the IT
Center) could impose uniform standards that limit experimental teaching
methods or bespoke research software.\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\hypertarget{lessons-learned}{%
\subsection{9.4 Lessons Learned}\label{lessons-learned}}

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Governance as the backbone of agility}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The layered decision‑making bodies (Management Board, Strategic
    Advisory Council, Operational Steering Committee) proved essential
    for aligning rapid technical changes with university policy
    (\emph{4. Organizational Structure and Governance}). Future units
    should institutionalise a similar ``policy‑alignment framework''
    early on to avoid ad‑hoc approvals.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Embed financial flexibility within zero‑based budgeting}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    While zero‑based budgeting drives cost‑discipline, a
    \textbf{contingency pool} for emergent research spikes (e.g.,
    AI‑driven GPU demand) prevents reactive procurement that bypasses
    governance. A rolling‑forecast model, updated quarterly, can
    reconcile the need for fiscal control with the unpredictable nature
    of research workloads.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Stakeholder co‑creation reduces cultural resistance}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The bi‑annual IT Stakeholder Days and the online User Voice Portal
    (\emph{4. Organizational Structure and Governance}) helped surface
    concerns early. Extending these mechanisms to \textbf{joint design
    workshops} for major service rollouts (e.g., SSO, self‑service
    portals) increases ownership and mitigates autonomy concerns.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Standardised, service‑level aware monitoring is
  non‑negotiable}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The unified KPI dashboards introduced in \emph{7. User Support and
    Service Delivery Model} enabled real‑time visibility of SLA
    compliance across the eight service categories. However, the initial
    lack of granularity highlighted the need for
    \textbf{service‑specific health metrics} (e.g., GPU queue depth, VM
    provisioning latency) from day one.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Security must evolve in lock‑step with architecture}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The transition to a hybrid cloud and containerised environment
    exposed gaps in the existing defence‑in‑depth model (\emph{6.
    Security, Privacy, and Compliance}). A phased \textbf{Zero‑Trust
    migration plan}, coupled with automated policy‑as‑code, ensures that
    security controls keep pace with infrastructure changes.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Sustainability should be budgeted as a core service, not an
  add‑on}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    Energy‑aware scheduling and heat‑reuse initiatives (\emph{5.
    Technical Architecture}) delivered measurable reductions in
    kWh/TFLOP but required upfront capital. Treating green‑IT measures
    as a \textbf{service line with its own KPI (e.g., PUE,
    carbon‑footprint per compute unit)} integrates them into the regular
    performance review cycle.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Continuous skill development is a strategic investment}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The gap between the rapid rollout of AI/ML platforms and the
    available training (highlighted in \emph{10. Future Directions and
    Innovation Roadmap}) underscores the importance of a \textbf{living
    curriculum} that evolves with technology. Partnering with research
    groups to co‑develop training modules accelerates adoption and
    ensures relevance.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Transparent cost‑allocation builds trust}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The confusion around shared‑service pricing (\emph{3. Objectives and
    Scope of Services}) taught that \textbf{clear, usage‑based
    charge‑back models} - communicated through the self‑service portal -
    are essential for faculty acceptance and for sustaining the Center's
    financial health.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Iterative rollout beats ``big‑bang'' deployments}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The phased migration of legacy systems to the new network topology
    and cloud platforms (see \emph{5. Technical Architecture})
    demonstrated that incremental pilots, followed by rigorous KPI
    evaluation, reduce disruption and provide concrete evidence for
    broader rollouts.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Data‑driven decision making reinforces continuous improvement}

  \begin{itemize}
  \tightlist
  \item
    The integration of performance metrics, user satisfaction surveys,
    and incident analytics into the governance loop (\emph{4.
    Organizational Structure and Governance}; \emph{7. User Support and
    Service Delivery Model}) created a feedback‑rich environment.
    Replicating this \textbf{closed‑loop analytics} in other university
    IT units accelerates learning and aligns services with institutional
    goals.
  \end{itemize}
\end{enumerate}

\textbf{Take‑away for peer institutions:}\\
The RWTH Aachen IT Center's experience shows that a \textbf{balanced
triad of strong governance, financial adaptability, and proactive
cultural engagement} is the cornerstone of a resilient university IT
operation. By institutionalising these practices early, other
research‑intensive universities can avoid the pitfalls of fragmented
services, budget overruns, and stakeholder push‑back, while positioning
their IT units as true enablers of digital excellence.

\hypertarget{future-directions-and-innovation-roadmap}{%
\section{10. Future Directions and Innovation
Roadmap}\label{future-directions-and-innovation-roadmap}}

\hypertarget{vision-for-the-next-decade}{%
\subsection{10.1 Vision for the Next
Decade}\label{vision-for-the-next-decade}}

Building on the \textbf{Digital Excellence} vision (Section 1) and the
three‑fold core objectives (Section 3), the IT Center will evolve from a
high‑performance, centrally managed service platform into an
\textbf{innovation hub} that actively co‑creates value with researchers,
educators, and administrative units. The roadmap is anchored in three
strategic pillars:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
Pillar\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Goal\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.42\columnwidth}\raggedright
Alignment\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{AI‑enabled Services}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Deliver production‑grade AI/ML platforms that integrate with the
existing HPC and Kubernetes ecosystems (Section 5)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.42\columnwidth}\raggedright
Supports research acceleration (Section 8) and teaching innovation
(Section 8)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Sustainable \& Green IT}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Reduce the carbon intensity of compute and storage by ≥ 30 \% by 2030
while maintaining PUE ≤ 1.15\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.42\columnwidth}\raggedright
Extends the green‑IT measures already in place (Section 5) and the
university Climate Action Plan (Section 4)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.28\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Hybrid‑Cloud Orchestration}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.21\columnwidth}\raggedright
Provide seamless, policy‑driven workload bursting to EU‑compliant public
clouds (AWS, Azure, GAIA‑X) with zero‑trust networking\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.42\columnwidth}\raggedright
Leverages the hybrid cloud foundation (Section 5) and the governance
framework (Section 4)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

These pillars will be pursued through a \textbf{phased rollout} that
respects the Center's existing governance, security, and financial
models (Sections 4, 6, 7).

\hypertarget{aienabled-services}{%
\subsection{10.2 AI‑Enabled Services}\label{aienabled-services}}

\hypertarget{ai-platform-as-a-service-aipaas}{%
\subsubsection{10.2.1 AI Platform as a Service
(AI‑PaaS)}\label{ai-platform-as-a-service-aipaas}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{What:} A self‑service portal offering pre‑configured
  JupyterLab, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and RAPIDS environments on the
  GPU‑accelerated nodes (Section 5).\\
\item
  \textbf{Why:} Researchers reported a 75 \% increase in GPU utilisation
  (Section 8) but still face provisioning delays; AI‑PaaS will cut VM
  spin‑up time from 30 min to \textless{} 5 min.\\
\item
  \textbf{How:}

  \begin{enumerate}
  \def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
  \tightlist
  \item
    Extend the existing \textbf{Kubernetes} cluster with GPU‑aware
    device plugins.\\
  \item
    Integrate \textbf{Keycloak} SSO (Section 6) for role‑based access to
    AI resources.\\
  \item
    Deploy \textbf{AI‑Ops} pipelines (Airflow + MLflow) for reproducible
    model training and serving.
  \end{enumerate}
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{aidriven-service-management}{%
\subsubsection{10.2.2 AI‑Driven Service
Management}\label{aidriven-service-management}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Deploy \textbf{machine‑learning models} on the HPC fabric to predict
  SLA breaches, ticket volume spikes, and anomalous network traffic.\\
\item
  Models will be trained on historic incident data from the SOC (Section
  6) and support tickets (Section 7), feeding automated alerts into the
  \textbf{Operational Steering Committee} (Section 4).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{researchteachingindustry-collaboration}{%
\subsubsection{10.2.3 Research‑Teaching‑Industry
Collaboration}\label{researchteachingindustry-collaboration}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Establish a \textbf{AI Innovation Lab} that co‑locates faculty, PhD
  students, and industry partners.\\
\item
  The lab will pilot \textbf{federated learning} projects that respect
  data‑privacy constraints enforced by the GDPR‑aligned framework
  (Section 6).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{sustainability-roadmap}{%
\subsection{10.3 Sustainability Roadmap}\label{sustainability-roadmap}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
Milestone (Year)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Initiative\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Expected Impact\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2027}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Deploy \textbf{AI‑aware energy scheduling} that shifts non‑urgent
workloads to periods of high renewable generation (solar/wind)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Reduce compute‑related CO₂e by \textasciitilde5 \%\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2028}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Expand \textbf{heat‑reuse} from the liquid‑cooled HPC racks to campus
heating networks (building B‑12, C‑03)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Cut campus heating energy demand by \textasciitilde2 \%\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2029}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Introduce \textbf{circular‑IT procurement}: mandatory refurbishment and
resale of de‑commissioned servers, with a 20 \% increase in hardware
reuse\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Lower e‑waste and procurement cost\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.35\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2030}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Achieve \textbf{Carbon‑Neutral Compute} certification (ISO 14064) for
the entire data‑center footprint\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Align with RWTH's Climate Action Plan (Section 4)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

All sustainability actions will be tracked via the \textbf{green‑IT KPI
dashboard} already used for energy‑per‑TFLOP metrics (Section 8) and
reported annually in the \textbf{Service Alignment Report} (Section 4).

\hypertarget{hybridcloud-strategy}{%
\subsection{10.4 Hybrid‑Cloud Strategy}\label{hybridcloud-strategy}}

\hypertarget{federated-cloud-brokerage}{%
\subsubsection{10.4.1 Federated Cloud
Brokerage}\label{federated-cloud-brokerage}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Implement a \textbf{policy engine} (OPA) that evaluates workload
  characteristics (data‑sensitivity, latency, cost) and automatically
  selects the optimal execution environment: private OpenStack, on‑prem
  Kubernetes, or a public EU‑compliant cloud (AWS GovCloud, Azure EU,
  GAIA‑X).\\
\item
  The engine will respect the \textbf{Zero‑Trust} networking model
  (Section 6) and the \textbf{data‑classification} rules (Section 6).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{cloudnative-service-catalog}{%
\subsubsection{10.4.2 Cloud‑Native Service
Catalog}\label{cloudnative-service-catalog}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Extend the existing \textbf{self‑service portal} (Section 7) with a
  catalog of \textbf{cloud‑native services} (serverless functions,
  managed databases, AI inference endpoints).\\
\item
  Each service will expose \textbf{usage‑based charge‑back} metrics,
  addressing the financial transparency lessons learned in Section 9.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{resilience-compliance}{%
\subsubsection{10.4.3 Resilience \&
Compliance}\label{resilience-compliance}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  Leverage \textbf{multi‑region replication} across EU clouds to meet
  data‑sovereignty requirements and provide disaster‑recovery RPO
  \textless{} 15 min.\\
\item
  Continuous compliance monitoring will be integrated into the existing
  \textbf{SIEM} and \textbf{policy‑as‑code} pipelines (Section 6).
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{continuous-improvement-framework}{%
\subsection{10.5 Continuous Improvement
Framework}\label{continuous-improvement-framework}}

The roadmap embeds the \textbf{Data‑Driven Continuous Improvement Cycle}
(Section 9) into every initiative:

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Plan} - Define KPI targets (e.g., AI‑PaaS provisioning time
  \textless{} 5 min, carbon intensity \textless{} 0.30 kg CO₂e/kWh).\\
\item
  \textbf{Do} - Deploy pilots in a controlled environment (e.g., one
  faculty department).\\
\item
  \textbf{Check} - Collect telemetry from the \textbf{KPI dashboards},
  user NPS surveys (Section 7), and compliance logs (Section 6).\\
\item
  \textbf{Act} - Refine policies, adjust resource allocations, and scale
  successful pilots university‑wide.
\end{enumerate}

Governance bodies will review progress quarterly:

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Strategic Advisory Council} - validates alignment with
  university policy and sustainability goals.\\
\item
  \textbf{Operational Steering Committee} - monitors SLA compliance and
  resource utilisation.\\
\item
  \textbf{Annual Review Panel} - audits financial sustainability and
  compliance outcomes.
\end{itemize}

\hypertarget{timeline-overview}{%
\subsection{10.6 Timeline Overview}\label{timeline-overview}}

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
Year\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Q1\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Q2\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Q3\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Q4\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2026}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Finalise AI‑PaaS architecture; set up AI Innovation Lab governance\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Deploy pilot AI‑PaaS for 3 research groups\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Integrate AI‑Ops monitoring; begin AI‑driven ticket prediction\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Publish first AI‑PaaS usage report\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2027}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Launch AI‑PaaS university‑wide; start AI‑driven service management\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Implement energy‑aware scheduling; pilot heat‑reuse in one
building\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Expand federated cloud brokerage to include Azure EU\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Review sustainability KPIs; adjust targets\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2028}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Roll out cloud‑native service catalog; introduce usage‑based
charge‑back\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Scale heat‑reuse to additional buildings\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Conduct ISO 14064 audit; publish carbon‑neutral roadmap\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Update governance documents to embed new policies\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2029}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Full hybrid‑cloud orchestration across all faculties\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Deploy circular‑IT procurement program\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Publish mid‑term impact assessment (research, teaching, admin)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Refine AI‑PaaS based on user feedback\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.23\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{2030}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Achieve Carbon‑Neutral Compute certification\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Consolidate all AI services under a single governance model\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Complete roadmap evaluation; set next‑decade vision\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.16\columnwidth}\raggedright
Celebrate milestones; disseminate best‑practice guide for other
universities\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

\hypertarget{expected-outcomes}{%
\subsection{10.7 Expected Outcomes}\label{expected-outcomes}}

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Research:} 30 \% reduction in time‑to‑insight for AI‑intensive
  projects; 20 \% increase in cross‑faculty AI collaborations.\\
\item
  \textbf{Teaching:} 25 \% more courses offering AI‑enhanced labs;
  higher student satisfaction (NPS + 15 points).\\
\item
  \textbf{Administration:} 15 \% cost savings from usage‑based
  charge‑back and circular‑IT; improved GDPR audit scores (zero critical
  findings).\\
\item
  \textbf{Sustainability:} 30 \% lower carbon intensity of compute
  workloads; alignment with RWTH's 2030 climate targets.
\end{itemize}

These outcomes will be measured against the \textbf{KPIs} already
established in Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, ensuring that the Future
Directions remain \textbf{data‑driven}, \textbf{transparent}, and
\textbf{aligned} with the university's overarching mission.

\hypertarget{conclusion}{%
\section{11. Conclusion}\label{conclusion}}

\hypertarget{summary-of-findings}{%
\subsection{11.1 Summary of Findings}\label{summary-of-findings}}

The analysis of the IT Center demonstrates how a centrally governed,
service‑oriented IT organization can simultaneously advance
\textbf{research}, \textbf{teaching}, and \textbf{administration} at a
large, research‑intensive university.

\begin{itemize}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Strategic Alignment} - The Center's three‑fold core objective
  (Section 3) is embedded in a hierarchical governance model (Section 4)
  that links every service line to the university's ``Digital
  Excellence'' vision (Section 1).\\
\item
  \textbf{Robust Technical Backbone} - A tiered hardware platform,
  spine‑leaf network, hybrid cloud ecosystem, and unified software stack
  (Section 5) deliver the performance, reliability, and sustainability
  required for high‑performance computing, virtual labs, and enterprise
  applications.\\
\item
  \textbf{Security \& Compliance} - Defence‑in‑depth controls,
  GDPR‑aligned data‑classification, and ISO/IEC certifications (Section
  6) protect sensitive research data while enabling rapid, trusted
  access.\\
\item
  \textbf{Service Delivery Excellence} - Integrated help‑desk,
  self‑service portals, and SLA‑driven monitoring (Section 7) translate
  technical capabilities into measurable user satisfaction and
  operational efficiency.\\
\item
  \textbf{Demonstrated Impact} - Quantitative gains include a 25 \%
  increase in HPC capacity, a 17 \% rise in e‑learning participation,
  and a 33 \% reduction in enrolment‑process time (Section 8).\\
\item
  \textbf{Learning from Challenges} - Operational scaling, financial
  flexibility, and cultural adoption issues (Section 9) yielded concrete
  lessons that shaped the future roadmap (Section 10).
\end{itemize}

Collectively, these findings confirm that the IT Center is a
\textbf{catalyst for digital transformation} across the university's
core missions.

\hypertarget{significance-for-rwth-aachens-mission}{%
\subsection{11.2 Significance for RWTH Aachen's
Mission}\label{significance-for-rwth-aachens-mission}}

The Center directly fulfills the mission articulated in the Introduction
(Section 1) and the historical drivers outlined in Section 2:

\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\tightlist
\item
  \textbf{Research Support} - By expanding HPC resources, providing
  FAIR‑compliant data services, and introducing AI‑enabled platforms
  (Section 10), the Center enhances RWTH's competitiveness for national
  and EU research funding.\\
\item
  \textbf{Teaching Innovation} - Low‑latency campus networks,
  self‑service virtual labs, and SSO‑driven access have increased
  digital‑tool adoption and improved instructor NPS, supporting the
  university's goal of high‑quality, technology‑enhanced education.\\
\item
  \textbf{Administrative Efficiency} - Streamlined enrolment processing,
  automated invoice handling, and transparent charge‑back models reduce
  manual effort and operational costs, aligning with the university's
  sustainability and cost‑control objectives.
\end{enumerate}

Moreover, the Center's \textbf{green‑IT measures} (Section 5, Section
10) contribute to RWTH's Climate Action Plan, demonstrating that
high‑performance digital services can be delivered responsibly.

\hypertarget{broader-implications-for-highereducation-it-management}{%
\subsection{11.3 Broader Implications for Higher‑Education IT
Management}\label{broader-implications-for-highereducation-it-management}}

The RWTH Aachen experience offers a replicable blueprint for other
research‑intensive institutions:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
Dimension\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Transferable Insight\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Evidence from RWTH Aachen\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Governance}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Layered decision bodies (Management Board, Advisory Council, Steering
Committee) enable rapid technical change while preserving policy
compliance.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Section 4\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Financial Model}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Zero‑based budgeting combined with a contingency pool and usage‑based
charge‑back balances cost discipline with research agility.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Section 9\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Service Portfolio Design}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Mapping each service category to at least one core objective ensures
strategic relevance and measurable impact.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Section 3\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Security Integration}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Embedding security policies in the university‑wide Policy Alignment
Framework creates a unified defence‑in‑depth posture.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Section 6\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Sustainability as Service}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Treating green‑IT initiatives as a budgeted service line with dedicated
KPIs drives measurable carbon‑intensity reductions.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Section 10\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright
\textbf{Continuous Improvement}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.33\columnwidth}\raggedright
Real‑time KPI dashboards, user‑voice portals, and PDCA cycles close the
feedback loop between operations and strategy.\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.41\columnwidth}\raggedright
Sections 4, 7, 8\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

These principles illustrate that \textbf{centralized, yet
stakeholder‑centric IT management} can deliver high performance,
compliance, and sustainability without sacrificing academic autonomy.

\hypertarget{closing-remarks}{%
\subsection{11.4 Closing Remarks}\label{closing-remarks}}

The IT Center has evolved from a fragmented collection of legacy
services into a \textbf{strategic, innovation‑driving hub} that
underpins RWTH Aachen's ambition of digital excellence. Its success
rests on a coherent alignment of mission, governance, architecture,
security, and service delivery - each reinforced by data‑driven
continuous improvement.

Looking ahead, the roadmap (Section 10) positions the Center to lead in
AI‑enabled services, advanced sustainability, and hybrid‑cloud
orchestration, ensuring that RWTH Aachen remains at the forefront of
digital research and education in Europe.

The lessons distilled here provide a \textbf{roadmap for other
universities} seeking to transform their IT landscapes into engines of
academic and societal impact.

\end{document}
