Dear Colleagues:
As Chancellor Frenk recently shared, UCLA faces significant financial pressures from a range of sources. Even before these constraints emerged, UCLA’s 2023-28 Strategic Plan called for a transformation in how we deliver services to better support our mission of education, research and public service. Goal 5 of that plan — strengthening institutional effectiveness — remains essential, and the need to modernize our digital infrastructure is more urgent than ever.
Today, we are taking a major step forward with the launch of One IT, a timely and ambitious initiative to align and modernize UCLA’s digital services. By consolidating IT resources across campus under a single operating model, One IT will help UCLA protect against cybersecurity threats, improve core IT infrastructure for more reliable and higher-quality services, enable innovation, and make IT operations more equitable and cost effective. This effort is consistent with the chancellor’s aim to enhance the effectiveness of the campus’s administrative functions, a central priority in our current operating environment.
The One IT initiative will allow us to dramatically improve key components of our IT environment while remaining supportive of the needs of individual campus units, including the research and education-related needs of academic units. The initiative does not include UCLA Health IT, which supports the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing as well as the Semel Institute, and which has already gone through a similar effort.
Over the past four years, UCLA has laid the foundation for this work through Reimagine IT and other projects outlined in the Digital Campus Roadmap. We have integrated select academic and administrative units, launched governance structures and demonstrated measurable results. With more than 20 percent of decentralized IT already unified, we are now ready to accelerate campuswide transformation at scale. One IT will create a more secure, modern and equitable IT environment that better serves UCLA’s faculty, students, researchers and staff with new technology.
Why One IT — and Why Now
Today, UCLA operates more than 40 separate IT units, 70 distinct networks and 39 email systems. This fragmented landscape increases cybersecurity risk, creates service inconsistencies and limits our ability to innovate at scale.
One IT addresses these challenges through a structured, three-phase approach: Consolidate, Rationalize and Transform. This effort will:
- Strengthen security and reduce risk by modernizing and unifying infrastructure and cybersecurity practices
- Improve service quality through scalable platforms, consistent service levels and streamlined support
- Enable innovation and research through advanced technologies, cloud capabilities and improved data services
- Promote equity by providing more consistent and accessible digital experiences across all units
- Optimize financial resources by aligning IT investments with campus priorities
- Provide a strong platform for faculty working at the frontiers of emergent computational technologies
What to Expect
We will begin the One IT transition on September 8. At that time, the reporting lines for each unit IT lead and their teams will change; these staff will begin to formally report to Digital & Technology Solutions (DTS) while continuing to support their respective units through a dotted-line relationship. This model ensures continuity of local service and accountability to academic and operational needs. During this phase, there will be no immediate changes to day-to-day IT support or to each unit’s IT staffing. The university is committed to minimizing disruption, particularly as the academic year begins, and ensuring a smooth transition.
The next phase of the transition, projected to take place from September through June of 2026, will entail a process of evaluating and rationalizing the capabilities and services of each IT function and the needs of the units they support. We will do this in consultation with campus leaders and faculty experts under the One IT governance structure.
In the final phase, based on the results of the evaluation and rationalization process, UCLA will begin implementing the appropriate changes to build a modern, scalable shared services model for IT.
Our Commitment
A transformation of this scale may understandably bring questions or concerns. Our commitment is to transparency, engagement and continuity. To that end, we will:
- Provide ongoing updates and FAQs via the One IT website
- Offer office hours, town halls and transition toolkits to support affected staff and managers
- Maintain strong unit-level partnerships through the Change Leader Network and discussions with Academic Senate leadership under UCLA’s model of shared governance
- Continue to engage faculty, research and administrative stakeholders to design future service models
- Review and respond to urgent needs, including academic and research-related exceptions, in coordination with unit leaders
If you have questions or would like to learn more, please visit the One IT website or contact OneIT@ucla.edu.
The goals of this initiative go beyond operational efficiency. One IT will enable our people to do their best work in an environment that is more secure, more resilient and better equipped to advance UCLA’s mission. Thank you for your dedication and continued partnership as we roll out this initiative to strengthen our university.
Sincerely,
Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Co-Chair, Strategic Plan Goal 5
Michael J. Beck
Administrative Vice Chancellor
Co-Chair, Strategic Plan Goal 5
Lucy Avetisyan
Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer