Northern Health ICT has launched a project aimed at enhancing security, control and efficiency by establishing a dedicated and secure Active Directory (AD).

The Active Directory and Separation and Modernisation Project is a major upgrade to Northern Health’s ICT infrastructure, in partnership with Logicalis. Running until September 2024, the project will better protect our systems, ensure a reliable service for all staff and prepare for future technological advancements.

Currently, Northern Health shares ICT administration with Melbourne Health, which limits control and increases cyber threat vulnerability.

“By moving to our own AD, Northern Health staff will have improved security, meaning better protection against cyber threats and enhanced control with greater management for our systems,” said Sarai Abel, Senior ICT Project Manager.

As part of the project, possible changes impacting staff include, but are not limited to, user account migration – changes in login process with additional authentication steps for logging into applications, email migration – changes in access method or managing members in groups/distribution lists, user home drive migration – replacing H drive with OneDrive for file storage, and shared folder migration – new SharePoint for file storage, sharing and collaboration.

To ensure the success of this project, ICT requires representatives from each department across all campuses for design input, data collection, and testing. A pilot is planned for August 2024, with the team seeking early adopters to pilot and champion system changes.

Stay tuned for more updates as we progress through this important initiative. For more information, contact Sarai Abel, Senior ICT Project Manager on sarai.abel@nh.org.au.

Featured image: ICT team.