Description

A NetID service account is a CSU NetID that is owned by a department.

Most service accounts include a Microsoft 365 account (including Outlook for email, OneDrive for cloud storage, and other Microsoft Office applications), but some do not, including administrative service accounts.

Applicable to:

• Fort Collins and Pueblo staff and faculty

Acceptable Uses of Service Accounts

A NetID service account can be used by one CSU faculty and staff member, or multiple faculty and staff by securely sharing the username and password, if necessary.

Service accounts are subject to the CSU Information Technology policies, including Acceptable Use for Computing and Networking Resources and Information Technology Security.

Common uses include:

• A central email address for shared contact and support (for a department, unit or website). (Consider a shared mailbox for this purpose if this is the only requirement.)
• An email account with a short email address (such as depthelp@colostate.edu) that the owner might want to configure to serve as an alias and automatically forward all mail to a shared mailbox with a longer email address (such as dept_helpdesk@colostate.edu) so the service account password does not need to be shared.
• A secondary inbox for a single person to receive emails for specific purposes, such as a secondary job role or large student documents.
• Group access to CSU lab or facility resources where authentication from multiple individual CSU user accounts is not feasible or practical.
• Short-term access for non-CSU partners (e.g. training, conference or workshop attendees who need to be contacted via CSU email, or would be too constrained by the csu-guest Wi-Fi, and guest speakers who need to use computer labs). The password should be updated after each use.
• A true service account: a non-personal digital identity for machine-to-machine communication, application and data access, and running batch jobs, scripts or automated services.
• IT, PC, software or web development testing or logging.

Alternatives to Service Accounts

1. Shared Mailbox

You do not need a service account if you only need a shared mailbox or mailing list for your unit.

1. Review information about CSU Microsoft 365 resource management including:
   • shared mailboxes
   • email aliases
   • mailing lists
2. Look up and contact the CSU Microsoft 365/Exchange Resource Coordinator for your department.

2. Sharing Documents and Files

You do not need a service account if you only need to share documents and files within your unit. Some options include:

Shared Drives

• Microsoft 365 at CSU: OneDrive for Business (5 TB, can be extended): Share and Collaborate with OneDrive
• Google Workspace for Education at CSU: Google Drive (just 25 GB): Share files and other content with a group

Collaboration Tools and Websites

• Microsoft Teams at CSU: File Sharing
• Microsoft SharePoint sites at CSU
• Google Sites

3. Vendor Accounts

If a NetID account is needed for vendors and others not currently affiliated with CSU, request a guest associate NetID from your departmental Human Resources representative.

Additional information about associates from CSU Human Resources:

• Classification and Compensation: Associates
• Human Resource Management System User Guide: Unit 12: Associates

Related Articles

• How To Request a NetID Service Account
• How to Administer NetID Service Accounts