How Oregon Tech Modernized Communications, Security, and IT Governance
About This Project
Oregon Institute of Technology
Client
1947
Established in
Klamath Falls, OR
Location
Partner Technologies Used
Microsoft Teams Phone, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft 365 A5, Microsoft Copilot
Project Highlight
Oregon Institute of Technology partnered with eGroup for over a decade to modernize communications with Microsoft Teams Phone, strengthen security with Microsoft’s integrated security stack, and implement repeatable IT governance frameworks through Strategic Advisory services.
Overview
For over ten years, the IT leaders at Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) have partnered with eGroup Enabling Technologies to modernize communications, strengthen security, and build repeatable IT governance practices. What began as a Unified Communications deployment evolved into a longterm, strategic relationship that has made OIT more productive, more secure, and better aligned as an IT organization.
Two OIT IT leaders have led constant change at the university in Klamath Falls: Associate Vice President and CIO, Tony Richey and Microsoft Architect Woody Blackman. OIT puts the poly- in polytechnic, as Richey explains: “Being a Polytechnic university, we’re heavy on engineering and technology, but we also have a second side, which is our health and medical side with programs like medical imaging, nursing, and dental hygiene.”
Modernizing Communications with Microsoft Teams Phone
OIT’s modern collaboration journey began when the university replaced its aging Avaya PBX system with Microsoft-based Unified Communications.
The shift quickly proved its value.
Teams Phone delivered flexibility that the legacy system simply could not match.
“User acceptance was nearly 100% because it was a lot better than the old system.”
Allowing staff to choose the devices they preferred played a major role in adoption.
To ensure the rollout went smoothly, OIT leveraged Organizational Change Management support from eGroup.
“eGroup’s change management helped the whole process go a lot smoother,” Richey explained. “The transition of a whole phone system went a lot smoother than we thought it would.”
“eGroup’s change management helped the whole process go a lot smoother … the transition of a whole phone system went a lot smoother than we thought it would.”
Tony Richey (CIO, Oregon Institute of Technology)
Overall, the financial benefits were clear.
“Cost avoidance. It’s a beautiful thing!” Woody summarized.
Strengthening Security With Microsoft’s Integrated Stack
As cyber threats evolve, OIT has continued strengthening its protection, detection, and response capabilities using Microsoft’s integrated security platform.
“Security is part of the business,” said CIO Tony Richey.
Leadership at OIT understands that underinvesting in security ultimately creates greater long-term costs.
“Don’t be shy with security spending,” Richey advised.
“It's easier to justify the use of the tools being that we're heavily invested in Microsoft.”
By leveraging their Microsoft 365 A5 licenses, OIT deployed a unified security architecture that includes:
- Microsoft Defender
- Microsoft Sentinel
- Microsoft Intune
- Microsoft Purview
The team has enjoyed simplified visibility and response. Woody emphasized, “I like the fact that it’s one big stack,” said Blackman.
With Sentinel, automation, and structured triage, the team reduced alert noise and improved response efficiency:
“Sentinel is a big help… we have targets now, not just problems.”
Security tools and training will continue to be strategic investments, because as Richey said,
“You can pay more fixing what broke than buying what you need ahead of time.”
“You can pay more fixing what broke than buying what you need ahead of time.”
Tony Richey (CIO, Oregon Institute of Technology)
Balancing The Risk & Benefits Of AI
Enhancing Data Protection with Copilot and Purview
As Oregon Tech accelerates its use of AI, safeguarding institutional data has become a priority.
Microsoft Copilot gives faculty and staff powerful productivity capabilities, but OIT is choosing to do so safely.
That’s where Purview and the broader Microsoft security stack come in.
OIT has already established a strong culture of caution and shared responsibility around data. As Tony noted:
“They don’t want to be the person who causes the data to get exposed.”
That mindset aligns with the protections offered by Microsoft Purview. Its data classification, sensitivity labeling, and governance capabilities support exactly the challenges OIT is now prioritizing.
However, the technology is only part of the equation. Clearly identifying what data must be secured, and how it should flow across collaboration tools and AI systems, comes first.
Tony highlighted this challenge when he explained that the team’s “biggest hurdle” was classifying their data so users understand what data they should be exposing and what data they shouldn't be sharing.
To address this challenge, OIT engaged eGroup through a Microsoft-funded security workshop.
“We engaged eGroup for a Microsoft-funded security workshop to help us tighten down our security posture,” said Blackman, “and to start auditing the right information so that we feel more comfortable with Copilot.”
During this engagement, eGroup demonstrated how Microsoft Purview provides a structured, policy-driven approach to data governance, enabling organizations to define where data can go, who can access it, and how AI experiences like Copilot can interact with sensitive information.
Using Microsoft Purview, the team implemented capabilities including:
- Data classification
- Sensitivity labelin
- Data loss prevention
- Auditing and governance controls
Together, these tools help ensure that Copilot enhances productivity without exposing sensitive institutional information.
Richey described this balance as “very delicate.”
Tony noted that demand for shadow AI early on, saying users “ask about other things” in the AI landscape. Still, OIT keeps returning to a core principle… protecting institutional data by using Copilot and Purview.
Summing up the organization’s security mindset, Richey said:
“My advice is to communicate a lot with the users, let them know how critical data security is, and let them know their part in the security posture.”
“We engaged eGroup for a Microsoft-funded security workshop to help us tighten down our security posture,” said Blackman, “and to start auditing the right information so that we feel more comfortable with Copilot.”
Tony Richey (CIO, Oregon Institute of Technology)
Building IT Governance & Reducing Organizational Risk
A major turning point in the partnership came when OIT engaged eGroup’s Strategic Advisory Services team to address operational gaps, documentation challenges, and governance inconsistencies.
After more than two decades of constant change, CIO Tony Richey described one of the team’s biggest challenges:
“Documentation is probably one of the hardest things to get IT people to do. We needed to help someone to help us identify where we have gaps as far as in our knowledge base of our team.”
As a small IT team, cross-training opportunities were limited. Through the engagement with eGroup, the team began formalizing structured levels of support.
“One of the things in our work with eGroup that we identified is structured levels of support. So you know, Woody might be the primary on something, then we have somebody else who’s a secondary and then the third.”
This exercise quickly revealed operational gaps.
“We had a lot of people who were primaries and there were no secondaries,” said Richey, who added, “That that helped out a lot.”
The advisory effort helped OIT identify hidden dependencies, clarify responsibilities, and reveal critical risks tied to staffing and cross-training.
As Tony noted:
“Seeing it written down… opens your eyes to the gaps.”
eGroup’s Strategic Advisor guided the team through the creation of several foundational governance assets:
IT service catalog (list of applications and their RTOs / RPOs)
Personnel succession plans (ownership of critical services and applications)
RACI and role/responsibility matrices (defining relationships between service owners)
This clarity enabled OIT to justify additional staffing after years of operating with limited resources.
“We got a couple more bodies now that we could show where we needed them,” said Woody.
Richey agreed:
“It’s definitely helped that we can put somebody in those second and third positions so that we didn’t have before.”
The engagement also created a repeatable governance framework that the team could maintain over time.
Woody summarized the impact:
“It provided the scaffolding for us to update regularly. We have targets now, not just problems.”
Richey summarized this recent engagement saying:
“My advice would be to go through a process like eGroup’s Strategic Advisory Service just to get a better picture.
Most likely, a lot of these teams probably know what’s going on in some sense, but it hasn’t been written down. Seeing it written down helps out to open your eyes to the gaps.”
Modernized campus communications with Microsoft Teams Phone and near-universal user adoption
Strengthened cybersecurity with an integrated Microsoft Defender, Sentinel, and Purview security stack
Established repeatable IT governance with service catalogs, RACI ownership, and succession planning
A Trusted Strategic Partner for the Future
Through a decade of collaboration, OIT and eGroup have built:
- A modern, efficient, user-friendly communications environment
- A cohesive, integrated, and proactive security posture
- A living governance framework that reduces institutional risk
With every project, OIT is staying ahead of the demands of modern higher education, securely and confidently.
And as higher education faces more complexity, Woody made this observation about the importance of a trusted guide:
“Having a partner is significantly more important moving forward in the cloud first world.”
Tony reflected on the relationship, saying “We’ve been partnered with eGroup Enabling since it seems like forever. They’ve helped us a lot. It’s been a good relationship.”
“My advice would be to go through a process like eGroup’s Strategic Advisory Service just to get a better picture.
Tony Richey (CIO, Oregon Institute of Technology)
How eGroup Can Help You Too
Modernize Collaboration, Security, and IT Governance
If your organization is modernizing communications, strengthening cybersecurity, or preparing for AI-powered productivity tools like Microsoft Copilot, eGroup can help you design a secure, scalable roadmap.
Our experts combine deep Microsoft platform expertise with strategic advisory services to help IT teams improve collaboration, strengthen security posture, and implement governance frameworks that reduce operational risk.
