CISO of the University , Aaron Baillio has helped to completely modernize the institute ' s IT environment , empowering the students and staff
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
CISO of the University , Aaron Baillio has helped to completely modernize the institute ' s IT environment , empowering the students and staff
In the South Central region of the United States , bordered by Texas , Kansas , Missouri , Arkansas , New Mexico and Colorado , lies the tornado-prone land of Oklahoma . This proud state is home to a University with big ambitions and no small amount of competitiveness . But to truly compete at a higher level , they needed to undergo a digital transformation three years ago , which was triggered by new leadership and the desire to modernise , centralise and standardise their technology environment .
To help achieve this , Aaron Baillio , Chief Information Security Officer , primarily responsible for IT risk and security for the institution , had to transform into more of a “ Chief Security Evangelist ,” in his words .
Having spent 11 years in the Department of Defense , it ’ s no surprise that Baillio is a man who likes to protect and serve .
“ What drives me on a day to day basis is the fact that we ' re stopping bad guys . Despite the military and academia being vastly different , those intrinsic values are the same and are part of the reward of being in this profession . Our teams are doing their job ; we ' re legitimately stopping bad things from happening to other people ,” he says .
Issues from a distributed IT environment In his current role as CISO for two years , but with the University for seven , Baillio was aware the institution had multiple campuses that operated very independently , in a
68 May 2022