University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Establishing a Business Continuity Foundation

UNLV’s first major pilot focused on its Student Information System (SIS). SIS was selected as a starting point based on its critical role in supporting student success, regulatory compliance, and the management of sensitive data, as well as existing familiarity with the system’s architecture.

As a core platform for student and financial operations, SIS underpins essential services including:

• Admissions
• Course registration
• Tuition management
• Financial aid processing
• Student records

Using Fusion’s Guided Workflow, Ereka conducts structured workshops with leaders from Student Accounts, Enrollment Management (Registrar, Financial Aid, Admissions), and OIT Administrative Services (HR, IT Operations, Budget & Accounting), simplifying data collection and making continuity planning more accessible for non-technical users.

“Guided Workflow is huge. It’s the easiest way for people to digest what information we need.”

Through Business Impact Analyses (BIAs), Student Accounts, Enrollment Management, and OIT Admin Servicesdepartments now:

• Identify critical services
• Assess financial and operational impact
• Define recovery priorities
• Document dependencies

The Visual Relationship Browser has been particularly impactful in demonstrating interdependencies. For example, UNLV mapped its MyUNLV application to more than a dozen supporting business processes, each with their own dependencies across applications, vendors, and facilities. By visualizing these relationships in a single view, teams can clearly see how a disruption to one system could cascade across the university.

“When people visually see how many downstream systems one application touches, it really shows the value of what we’re doing.”

Rather than focusing solely on compliance metrics, the program prioritizes meaningful data, information that adds operational value.

“It’s all about the data, but data that adds value, not just data for compliance.”

Breaking Down Silos Across Campus

As a university, UNLV operates across diverse functional groups. Early engagements during the Student Information System pilot focused on:

• Enrollment Management (Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid)
• Student Financial Services
• IT Administrative Services (includes IT HR and operations)

Historically, many of these groups operated independently, with minimal cross-functional continuity planning.

Fusion has enabled structured conversations that previously did not occur.

“If I’m in IT and they’re in Financial Aid, there’s not a lot of talking going on. Fusion creates those conversations.”

These conversations are not about day-to-day operations, but about how the organization prepares for and responds to disruption. By bringing IT and business teams together, Fusion helps departments define their critical processes, priorities, and recovery expectations, such as how quickly systems need to be restored.

This, in turn, informs IT’s ability to assess whether those expectations can be met, where additional support or resources may be required, and where gaps exist between current capabilities and business needs. The result is a more aligned, realistic view of what recovery looks like across the organization.

Departments have responded positively to the collaborative approach.

“People like hearing that we care about what they do and want to make sure they can keep doing it.”

Beyond planning, the program has strengthened interdepartmental trust, an outcome leadership values as much as operational readiness.

Transitioning from Business Continuity to Disaster Recovery

With foundational BC work underway, UNLV is now expanding into Disaster Recovery (DR), an initiative led directly by Ereka under the CISO.

Efforts are underway to centralize disaster recovery documentation and enhance system inventory and configuration management capabilities. Recovery knowledge exists within OIT teams, but not in a unified system. The goals over the next year include:

• Build a comprehensive application inventory
• Document system ownership and dependencies
• Capture hardware, software, and vendor relationships
• Define RTOs and RPOs
• Integrate DR with existing BC data

“We need this application up within this amount of time. Is it possible? Have we tested it?”

For leadership, the goal is to move beyond assumptions and provide a clear, evidence-based view of readiness. For example, if a critical system needs to be restored within 24 hours, teams can assess whether that timeline is achievable based on current infrastructure, data recovery processes, and prior testing.

This creates a more accurate picture of resilience across the organization and highlights where gaps exist between expected recovery timelines and what can realistically be delivered today.

Leveraging the Fusion Community and Consulting

As UNLV developed its resilience framework, peer collaboration became a strategic advantage. Ereka regularly participates in Fusion’s Community Exchanges and higher education roundtables. Conversations with universities that have used Fusion for over a decade helped UNLV avoid common pitfalls.

“Being able to pick their minds and not reinvent the wheel has been beneficial tenfold.”

UNLV also worked with Fusion consulting during optimization engagements to tailor modules to university-specific language and workflows.

This collaborative approach accelerated maturity without requiring full-scale implementation services.

Looking Ahead: Testing, Visualization, and Leadership Reporting

As the business continuity and resiliency program matures, UNLV plans to expand into: program matures, UNLV plans to expand into:

• Incident and Exercise Management
• Integrated BC/DR testing
• RTO/RPO executive reporting
• Geospatial mapping for campus risk scenarios
• Crisis management capabilities

Geographic visualization is particularly compelling for leadership. Mapping buildings, infrastructure, and data centers against potential disruption zones allows executives to see impact scenarios clearly.

This level of visibility can directly improve how decisions are made during disruption. For example, in a wildfire scenario, mapping can show which dorms, classrooms, or critical facilities are within the impact zone, along with their proximity to key resources. This type of insight helps leaders make more informed decisions around response, resource allocation, and prioritization when it matters most.

The next milestone is shifting from foundational planning to measurable resilience performance.

A Program Built for the Long Term

UNLV’s business continuity and resiliency program is still early in its journey. But it has been built deliberately, with sustainability and scalability in mind.

Ereka brings a unique perspective, having previously served as an end user executing disaster recovery plans in a research university environment. That experience informs how she engages departments today.

“I know what it feels like to be the person filling out the plan, and why it matters.”

 What began as a strategic initiative to strengthen resilience has evolved into a structured, data-driven resilience strategy embedded within IT leadership.

With direct access to the CISO, growing executive visibility, and a clear roadmap toward integrated BC and DR, UNLV is transforming from reactive response to intentional resilience.