This section provides additional context and practical considerations for applying the Core, Common, and Unique (CCU) framework. While not required to understand the categories themselves, these notes are useful for service owners, IT leadership, and governance teams when aligning services across OneIT.

Background and evolution

• The CCU concept was originally adapted from models used at institutions like The Ohio State University (circa 2018) and influenced by Gartner frameworks.
• Variants of the model exist, including "Core, Consumable, Unique," but the CCU structure used here aligns best with the diversity of service delivery at a large research institution.
• The model is designed to support communication, governance, and service classification—not to replace formal frameworks like ITIL.

Service transitions over time

While CCU categories are based on a service’s current role, some services may shift between categories over time as adoption grows, funding structures change, or technical scope evolves. For example:

• Salesforce was a Common service in 2025 but could become Core if it is more broadly adopted and centrally supported.
• MyWeb transitioned from Core to Unique before being deprecated.

These transitions are context-specific and should be reviewed periodically.

Visualization and communication aids

To help reinforce the conceptual distinctions across the CCU categories, OneIT uses informal iconography:

• Core: Often represented by infrastructure-related imagery (e.g., networks, shared campus tools).
• Common: May use academic or departmental visuals (e.g., mortarboards) to reflect shared but distributed use.
• Unique: Illustrated with tools such as microscopes or lab-specific devices, reflecting specialization.

This informal visual framework supports internal communication and stakeholder engagement when discussing service classification.

Complementing the criticality model

CCU classification works best when paired with service criticality, which describes how essential a service is to university operations. While CCU explains who provides and supports a service, criticality defines the operational or strategic importance of the service.

Criticality levels (as used in service review forms)

• Critical to university/UIHC operations
• Critical to departmental operations
• Critical to research or clinical operations
• Non-critical

Important note

A Core service is not always critical (e.g., LinkedIn Learning), and a Unique service can be critical (e.g., a research system necessary for grant-funded continuity). CCU and criticality should be evaluated independently but used in tandem to guide service prioritization.