As we all know, one login credentials for the portal, another for the university email… As if we didn’t have enough accounts, passwords and PINs already. If you find yourself having to rack you brain over what your username and password are for the services related to your employment or studies at the UO, we have good news for you. Thanks to the upcoming unification of user identities, you will now only use one username and one password.

“The entire project to bring unification of user identities represents a significant milestone in the evolution and security of our university network. This initiative will help to strengthen the security of the entire system and protect the data of the university, its employees and students,” explains Břetislav Lišťák, director of the UO Centre for Information Technology.

All changes will be gradual and no user has to worry about losing their data, account, emails or anything else.

Do you share files via OneDrive? Beware, you’ll have to set up sharing again

The change of usernames will, however, bring with it some changes that you are better of preparing for in advance. If you share documents with your colleagues or classmates via the OneDrive cloud service, the links generated will soon stop working. Why? Because they contain the username that will be changed. It is important to note that the changes do not affect files shared via MS Teams or SharePoint.

If you’re sure you don’t share anything via OneDrive, or you do, but you don’t mind that the old links stop working, you don’t need to set anything up. In case you are actively using OneDrive, continue to the article that explains how to proceed. The article is posted on the OU Portal.

“All changes will be gradual and no user has to worry about losing their data, account, emails or anything else. Just follow the procedures or manuals in time and the changes won’t be difficult or incomprehensible,” adds Břetislav Lišťák. In case the user does not know how to proceed, they will be able to contact a faculty technician or send the question to the helpdesk.

The change in usernames and passwords will affect everyone

The event that will affect all students and staff is the change of username and later, password. You will start to use this new login gradually as each system is converted to IDM.

More information can be found in the article that deals with the issue in more detail, published on the OU Portal. More information can also be expected in your email inboxes. However, always pay close attention to who the sender of such a message is and whether it displays the characteristics of a security attack.