The KAUST Information Technology Department blog
25 November, 2025
A quick look at how KAUST IT plans changes, manages downtime, and keeps the community informed each week.
Every time an IT system is upgraded, patched, or improved, the goal is to keep the University running smoothly with as little disruption as possible. To do that, KAUST IT uses a structured process to review and schedule changes, and we keep the community updated through regular IT Alerts.
This article gives a quick, behind the scenes look at how that works.
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a cross functional group within KAUST IT that reviews and evaluates proposed changes to the University IT environment. CAB ensures that updates and improvements are:
CAB meets on a weekly basis. During these meetings, IT teams present their upcoming changes, whether routine upgrades, patches, infrastructure enhancements, or security work. CAB reviews each change to determine:
Some downtime is unavoidable when critical systems are improved or secured, but CAB ensures these interruptions are intentional, controlled, and communicated in advance.
To reduce impact on the community, most changes happen during the standard IT change window:
Thursdays at 5 PM to Saturdays at 8 PM
Within this window, IT schedules impactful activities during:
This approach helps avoid disrupting:
CAB planning ensures essential work can be completed safely without surprising the community.
Once changes are reviewed and scheduled, IT Alerts help ensure everyone knows what is planned.
A summary of planned activities delivered to your inbox each Thursday.
Each week, an IT Alert email is sent on Thursday mornings from:
IT-Alerts <IT-Alerts@KAUST.EDU.SA>
These emails summarize work happening during the upcoming change window, including:
A central place to review current and past Alerts from any device.
IT Alerts are also published on the IT website:
https://it.kaust.edu.sa/news---updates/it-alerts
This helps:
Some disruptions cannot be predicted. Many University systems rely on cloud providers such as Microsoft, Google, and SAP, which means global outages can affect KAUST services.
When unplanned issues occur, KAUST IT sends additional IT Alerts to:
Scheduling work at these times helps avoid impact on business operations, classes, research activities, and daily residential life.
The Thursday to Saturday window minimizes disruption during peak University activity while allowing enough time for IT teams to complete and verify changes.
You can check your weekly IT Alert email or visit the IT Alerts page. If the work is not listed there, IT will usually send an additional alert for unplanned outages.
All Alerts are archived on the IT website at it.kaust.edu.sa/news---updates/it-alerts .
CAB reviews proposed work, assesses the impact and risks, and determines the safest and least disruptive timing for any required downtime.
CAB and IT Alerts work together to:
If you ever want to check the status of upcoming or ongoing IT work, you can review your latest IT Alert email or visit the IT Alerts page on the IT website. KAUST IT will continue improving these processes to support a smooth, transparent, and community centered experience.
