Pausing Unit4 changes and cutoff dates for Unit4 processes

Unit4 Changes

As we move towards our Workday launch at the end of this calendar year, in late October we will be entering a phase of conversion while our implementation partner, Avaap, prepares our copy of Workday. One important implication is that any changes to people or financial structures made in Unit4 after October 24 will need to be repeated in Workday. This means that between October 24 and the end of the year, project staff will need to enter any such changes into Unit4 and track them separately, and then re-load them again in Workday after launch.

So we are asking the campus to wait on such changes until after January 4, 2027 (when the University is open again). Then we can use the new Workday processes to implement these changes only once. A list can be found here.

We understand that not everything can wait and HR and Finance have a process in place to record these changes. You should follow our existing processes for any such changes you need to make. But to the extent possible, we should assume it’s not business as usual from October 24–January 4 and we’re slowing down changes as much as possible.

Unit4 Cutoff Dates

When moving enterprise systems, there is a period of time where some activity in the old system (Unit4) is stopped before using the new system (Workday). For a University of our size the system change cannot happen overnight. This is a multiple week process.

Augsburg will be stopping certain changes in Unit4 on different days depending on the activity. Any of these tasks will need to be done in Unit4 before the listed date otherwise they will be done in Workday starting Jan 4, 2027 (when the University is open after the holiday). Between the two dates a specific task will need to wait for Workday. For example, any new job postings need to be done by 11/30/2026 or else they have to wait until 1/4/2027. A full list of end dates can be found here

Internet Maintenance – Overnight 4/16-4/17

One of our redundant Internet Service Providers will be performing emergency maintenance on Internet fiber circuits.

During this time, there will be two brief 2-5 minute period where some internet traffic may reroute to secondary internet providers.

Maintenance Window:
4/16/2019 – 4/17/2019
11:00pm – 4:00am

Estimated Downtime within Maint. Window:
Internet Traffic: two separate 2-5 minutes windows while internet traffic reroutes to redundant providers.
If on campus, you may see a short 2-5 minute disruption in your ability to get to some web sites or streaming services.
If off campus, you may experience a short 2-5 minute disruption in your ability to get to some Augsburg services.

If you have questions, contact the TechDesk, your LFC, or Matt Schornstein, Associate Director IT Systems

Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities

Posted on Categories Notification
The latest computer vulnerabilities, being called Meltdown and Spectre, relate to how the CPU (brain) of computers operates. The major software vendors are releasing patches to their software (Windows, MacOS, linux) to deal with the vulnerabilities.
We are updating servers as the updates are made available by vendors. We may have to schedule some off-hours downtime for major services to complete the patching.
For institutional PCs we’ll be pushing out updates once they are available.  For Macs those will be pushed by Apple through the App Store under the Apple Menu. On your personal computers be sure to run your system updates.
Early news reports suggest computers may become slower after the patching though whether that will be noticeable will likely depend on how old the computer is.
We’ll be monitoring this as it continues to unfold.

Scheduled Maintenance 4/26

As a part of utility relocation preparation for Hagfors Center construction, Information Technology is required to perform maintenance on one of our redundant fiber internet connections.

Maintenance Window:
4/26/2016
9:00pm – 11:00pm

Estimated Downtime within Maint. Window:
Internet Traffic: 1-2 minutes
Augsburg Network Services at Luther Seminary (PA Program): 30-60 minutes

 

Description:

On Tuesday, April 26, beginning at 9:00pm and lasting until approximately 11:00pm, our redundant fiber connection will be reconfigured potentially causing a 1-2 minute network outage while Internet traffic flows to our other internet connection.
  • If on campus during this time, you may experience a 1-2 minute of issues contacting some web pages before resolving correctly.  Simply refresh the page and it should resolve shortly.  Access to Moodle on-campus will be uninterrupted.
  • If off campus during this time, you may experience a 1-2 minute period where you are unable to access Augsburg web sites (moodle, etc) before resolving correctly.  Simply refresh the page and it should resolve shortly.
Also, Augsburg network services at Luther Seminary for the PA Program will be unavailable for the duration of the reconfiguration.