Gudrun Oevel has been head of the Centre for Information and Media Technology Services (ZIM) at the Paderborn University as an adjunct professor since 2004 and has been advising the Executive Board on the development and implementation of the Paderborn University's digitisation strategy in the role of CIO since 2012. Since 2020, she has also been appointed as Information Security Officer.

The ZIM is the central service provider for information and media technologies at the Paderborn University with the additional mandate of providing practical training for the degree programmes in media studies. Furthermore, the ZIM is a partner in various research projects with a current focus on digital humanities, the development of repositories and digital editions. The CERT and the PKI of Paderborn University are anchored at the ZIM; corresponding services, documentation and measures are therefore also part of the ZIM's mission.

In terms of content, Prof. Dr. Oevel is interested in the technical-organisational implementation and sustainable anchoring of e-science and e-learning with regard to personnel and organisational development at infrastructural institutions. She is a member of the NFDI expert panel of the DFG, which accompanies the implementation process of the NFDI.