The Information & Technology Services department at UNC Charlotte has been successful in building a centralized support model for the majority of the UNC Charlotte campus. The UNC Charlotte centralized support model encompasses most of the Faculty/Staff and Student lab computers on campus. The reason this centralized model has been so successful is through the implementation of campus-wide IT standards. Supporting and implementing these standards has been accomplished by utilizing strong leadership, communication methods and showing the tangible benefits a centralized support model offers. Developing the UNC Charlotte standards focused these major areas:

· Hardware
· software licensing
· network operating system

Additionally, and just as important, the proper processes and procedures to support the centralized model had to be developed and implemented. The implementation of these standards, processes and procedures has had a positive impact on our operating environment. Because of this standardization, the IT staff is now able to more effectively and efficiently respond to the ever changing IT environment on campus.