Shared (S:) drive administration changes

There will soon be some changes to the way that access to shared drives (S: drives) is managed within LCCOS. This post contains information for staff who will manage access and for all staff who may need to request access to shared folders.

What do I need to do now?

• Be aware that you may receive a message in the coming days advising you that you have been assigned as an owner of one or more top-level S: drive folders.
• Watch out for further communications on changes to the process of requesting access to S: drives.

What is changing?

ISD have introduced a new process where each S: drive (top level folder) has a number of named owners who can grant and revoke access to the folder and its sub-folders. Previously, administration was managed by computer reps, in particular the LCCOS HR Team.

Based on input from LCCOS Section Heads, we will shortly be assigning two staff members as owners of each top level folder. We will contact these owners with more information. ISD provide a management tool, accessible through Desktop@UCL Anywhere, which owners can use to add or remove access to these folders.

Once these owners have been assigned, we will provide a list of folders and owners on the LCCOS intranet. After this, line managers who need to request access to a folder for a member of their team should contact one of the owners to make this request. Similarly, line managers are responsible for working with the folder owners to revoke access when it is no longer required – e.g. when a staff member leaves the team or leaves UCL.

We will also be taking advantage of this opportunity to review the shared folders in use and rationalise/archive where possible, as well as providing best practice information on the use of shared drives alongside other storage options including Teams/SharePoint. Teams wanting to set up a new S: drive folder should discuss the request with LCCOS IT Support, as departmental computer reps.

What is the impact of these changes?

For the first time, we will have a local view within the department of the members of each folder and we can manage access more rigorously and efficiently. Previously, the ISD process was quite opaque, even to departmental computer reps.

By devolving access control to local managers, it will be quicker to grant access and easier to review membership at any time.

In parallel, our review of shared folders and best practice should improve the way we manage information and process data as a department.

What if I have questions?

If you have any questions about these changes, please contact LCCOS IT Support.