GeorgiaFIRST Financials Customer Toolkit

Donna Wooddell, Assistant DirectorITS - Administrative Services

Agenda

• GeorgiaFIRST Financials Production Support• Communication Methods• 9.2 Training Resources• Additional Resources

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

• How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk• Tips for Getting Tickets Worked• Securing Sensitive Information• ITS Service Level Guidelines

Production Support Tickets

• Average number of tickets last three years– GeorgiaFIRST Financials– iStrategy– Application Integration

Calendar Year Tickets Submitted

2013 3,130

2014 2,928

2015 (9/14) 3,656

Submitting Tickets to ITS Helpdesk• Methods for contacting ITS Helpdesk:– By phone• 706-583-2001 or 888-875-3697 toll free within Georgia

– By Email• helpdesk@usg.edu

– Self-service Support• Requires a User ID and password

http://www.usg.edu/customer_services/

Helpdesk Ticket System

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

• How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk Tips for Getting Tickets Worked• Securing Sensitive Information• ITS Service Level Guidelines

From the famous lines of Jerry Maguire

• Things you can do to help us…help you!

Production Support Tips1. Ticket Summary should be specific– Rather than “Question” say “Why has my pay cycle

been in a queued status for 30 minutes?”

This assists ITS with assigning the tickets correctly, monitoring for possible production issues, etc.

Production Support Tips2. Provide details in your ticket– Include transaction ID numbers– Error messages– Page name/navigation where error occurred– Send supporting attachments:• Print screens, log files from process monitor, excel

spreadsheets, etc.

– Name of query or report & parameters used to run it

– Sequence of events

Production Support Tips3. Select appropriate priority– Urgent (Emergency/Production down)• Unable to log into PeopleSoft, unable to issue student

refunds and comply with Federal guidelines, etc.

– High• At risk of not meeting statutory or regulatory reporting

requirements, etc.

– Medium• Standard/Production Normal

– Low• No time sensitivity, general question

The Infamous “DBI”• DBI - Database Intervention– Definition of a DBI

• Functional steps cannot be taken to resolve the issue and a SQL script must be applied– DBIs should always be a last resort

• Most commonly used to reset the status of a transaction

– Institutional Responsibilities• Review and provide authorization• Always validate DBIs and complete any follow-up steps as quickly

as possible.

– ITS Goal• Now that we are back on a supported version of the application,

we plan to work with Oracle and reduce DBIs

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

• How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk• Tips for Getting Tickets Worked Securing Sensitive Information• ITS Service Level Guidelines

Securing Sensitive Information• Check for sensitive information when

submitting tickets – Examples: • SSNs• Employee bank accounts• Student IDs

– If providing print screens, reports or log files 1. Mask the sensitive data in print screens2. Use the ITS Managed File Transfer (MFT) Utility to

securely send files.

ITS Production Support• Job Aid - Managed File Transfer (MFT) Utility is

available on our website

PRODUCTION SUPPORT

• How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk• Tips for Getting Tickets Worked• Securing Sensitive Information ITS Service Level Guidelines

Service Level Guidelines• The GeorgiaFIRST team strives to meet our

established SLGs– SLGs may be impacted by:• Ticket Volume• Strategic Project Deadlines (Institutional consolidations,

release testing deadlines, third party assistance, etc.)

Communication Methods and Tools• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS• GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Emergency Communication Service (ECS)

• GeorgiaFIRST utilizes multiple e-mail lists to communicate with our users.

• LISTSERVS are typically our most common method of communication.

• Users may subscribe or unsubscribe to these lists at any time.

• Types of information that are distributed:– Announcements, known issues, upgrade and

maintenance schedules, etc.

GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS

GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS

1. First-LF (first-lf@listserv.uga.edu)– Open to all GeorgiaFIRST Financials users

2. First-LB (first-lb@listserv.uga.edu)– Open to all Budget Prep users

3. GaFirst-FS-Reps (gafirst-fs-reps@listserv.uga.edu)– Reserved for current and future Upgrade

Coordinators (v9.2)

4. GaFirst-FS-Tech (gafirst-fs-tech@listserv.uga.edu)– Reserved for Technical contacts (v.9.2)• PSQST, Banner links, workstation installations

5. SCIQUEST-PT-L (sciquest-pt-l@listserv.uga.edu)– Open to all GeorgiaFIRST Marketplace users

GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS

• A Job Aid is available on our website:

GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS

Communication Methods and Tools• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERV GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Emergency Communication Service (ECS)

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• www.usg.edu/gafirst-fin/documentation

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Documentation– Contains proprietary information and is restricted to USG

personnel – Contact ITS Helpdesk for User Name & Password

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Announcements– Includes all announcements sent to our

GeorgiaFIRST LISTSERVS.

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Known Issues– A Known Issue is generated whenever a “bug” or

system issue is identified.

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Releases

GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website• Training– Resources for previous and upcoming training

events

Communication Methods and Tools• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERV• GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website Emergency Communication Service (ECS)

Emergency Communication Service (ECS)

Emergency Communication Service (ECS)

• Urgent notifications about unplanned events that result in loss of access to ITS services.

• Sent to mobile communication devices such as cell phones and pagers.

• This optional service is for key USG functional and technical staff.

• Following these announcements, ITS provides subsequent status updates through SIM and USG Services Status website (http://status.usg.edu).– To subscribe: helpdesk@usg.edu

9.2 Training Resources(Training Page of Website)

• Online GeorgiaFIRST Training • New User Resources• Super User Training Resources

Online GeorgiaFIRST Training• Download the Flyer for a list of online courses

and to enroll

Online GeorgiaFIRST Training

9.2 Training Resources(Training Page of Website)

• Online GeorgiaFIRST Training New User Resources• Super User Training Resources

New User Resources• Videos Available:

1. Getting Started in PeopleSoft Financials v9.22. GeorgiaFIRST PeopleSoft Module Overview3. Basic Process Flow of PeopleSoft Financials

• Job Aid– GeorgiaFIRST LISTSRV subscription information

9.2 Training Resources(Training Page of Website)

• Online Courses• New User Resources Super User Training Resources

9.2 Super User Training Resources• V9.2 Training Resources link:– Training Participant Guides by module– 9.2 WebEx Training Videos• Delta changes from 8.9 to 9.2

– End User Training Toolkits• Institutions can download and customize for their

training needs

– Upgrade Preview Training Videos by module

Additional Resources

• Non-Production Database

Non-Production Database• FPLAY (fplay.gafirst.usg.edu)– Used by both ITS and institutional end users– Purposes: • Transaction and query prototyping• AP Bank testing (new signatures, new bank, new

payment methods, implementing positive payment)• GeorgiaFIRST Marketplace and Expense Module:

– Implementation testing and ongoing institutional training

• Banner integration testing (target necessary for compiling Banner forms)

Non-Production Database• FPLAY Refresh Schedule– Is typically refreshed following significant releases

or once a new fiscal year begins– Downtime for a refresh is approximately three

business days– Security protocol same as production• Security Admins may need to add/update security in

FPLAY as production changes are made until next refresh of FPLAY

– Institutions may need to Open Periods

Questions Comments Requests