University IT
Overview and Vision
CardinalShield is a robust emergency management, IT disaster recovery, and mission continuity planning platform specifically tailored for use at Stanford University. The system facilitates planning by unit to more effectively respond to emergencies and minimize disruptions to teaching and research.
This is achieved by developing coping strategies and putting mitigation measures in place before a disruptive event occurs. CardinalShield represents Stanford’s vision and commitment to build and maintain the capacity, capability and digital tools needed to plan for and respond to emergencies.
If you've been provisioned to access CardinalShield, onboard by following the instructions to get started.
Solutions
Incident Management (IM)
CardinalShield IM enhances university emergency management by providing improved incident visibility and rapid information sharing. With incident reporting and digital mapping, emergency managers can better understand initial impacts and anticipate the needs of students, faculty, and staff. Continuous updates enable accurate and timely communication and efficient resource deployment, allowing university leaders to make informed decisions and prioritize responses based on a unified view of the situation.
IT Disaster Recovery (ITDR)
CardinalShield ITDR supports university resilience by helping distributed Stanford IT service teams prepare for technology-related disruptions. From cyberattacks to power failures, disaster recovery plans ensure that critical systems and data can be restored quickly and securely. With standardized tools, guided workflows, and regular testing, ITDR can empower your school or units to minimize downtime, protect information, and maintain the continuity of Stanford’s academic and administrative operations.
Mission Continuity (MC)
CardinalShield MC is a platform that helps local units plan for events that disrupt the continuity of teaching, research and administrative functions at Stanford. Whether dealing with a power outage, winter storm, or earthquake, schools, departments, and business units must plan ahead to recover promptly from disruptions, restore operations, and maintain the continuity of programs.
Research Continuity (RC)
During emergencies, the continued operation of Stanford’s complex research enterprise is critical. CardinalShield research continuity planning helps researchers identify vulnerabilities, mitigate loss, and maintain research data, samples and specialized equipment in emergencies.
Building Occupant Emergency Action Plan (EAP)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set standards for building emergency action plans (EAPs) including procedures for building emergency evacuation. Stanford’s EAP planning template will be available through a workflow in CardinalShield.
Exercises
Emergency response plans are most useful when procedures are tested. Response exercises improve understanding of the communications, coordination and resources needed in an emergency. CardinalShield will provide a platform to design, conduct and evaluate discussion-based and functional response exercises.
Partners
CardinalShield is a planning and response tool that reaches across schools and units to bring together effective incident management, mission continuity planning, and IT disaster recovery. To make this work, the university has provided the platform to all levels of our response organization. For an overview of the schools and departments using CardinalShield, as well as the designated local manager for each, refer to the list of partners.
FAQs
What types of emergencies can be reported through CardinalShield?
The CardinalShield platform is designed for use by Stanford staff involved in emergency planning, response, and recovery.
Stanford staff who have access to the program are able to report any incident or emergency with limited or extensive impact on the university and campus operations.
CardinalShield does not replace calling 911 to report medical and other emergencies. Calling 911 triggers dispatch from the Palo Alto fire, police and EMS resources.
Who can access and use CardinalShield?
Only Stanford staff with emergency planning, response, and recovery responsibilities can access CardinalShield. This includes those who are assigned to the Situation Triage and Assessment Team (STAT), the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and Department Operations Centers (DOCs). Facility Directors, Zone Managers, and other LBRE operations staff may also have access to the program, as needed.
CardinalShield Incident Management, Mission Continuity, and ITDR are accessed through single sign-on authentication. An individual has to be registered by a Stanford CardinalShield Administrator to access any component of the CardinalShield tool.
How do I access CardinalShield?
Before you can log in to CardinalShield, you must be provisioned within the system and granted access specific to your role. If you are unsure if this has already happened, please contact either your CardinalShield Coordinator or the Office of Emergency Management. Once you have been granted access, you can log in through Stanford single sign-on.
Is CardinalShield affiliated with Veoci?
CardinalShield is a custom Stanford-branded tool that runs on Veoci software. Veoci (pronounced V – O – see) is a comprehensive platform that streamlines risk assessments, emergency management, and daily operations through digital solutions.
What training will be provided to DOC coordinators and teams for using the CardinalShield platform?
To learn more about how CardinalShield training will be rolled out and developed for CardinalShield Incident Management, refer to IM Training Overview for DOC Coordinators and Teams.
CardinalShield MC will roll out in 2026. At that time, units will determine a strategy for developing continuity plans at different organizational levels. Each unit will designate a contact person to serve as their Cardinal Shield administrator. When CardinalShield MC is introduced to the university community, instructions will be provided to enable access to the platform. A variety of training tutorials will be provided for those units prepared to engage in the planning process.
Resources and Support
Resources
- Stanford Emergency Information
- IT Resilience Toolkit Stanford
- CardinalReady
- CardinalReady DOC Coordinator Toolkit (Stanford sign-on required)
- CardinalReady STAT Toolkit (restricted access)
Get Help
Please select Submit a Help request if you have a question or need to request a change or general support, such as:
- Add or remove a team member
- Onboarding assistance
- Training support
Please select Report a problem if you experience a technical issue or notice something not functioning correctly.
