Over the coming months, the SPHHS ITO will be focusing on (and gathering feedback about) rolling out of software and policy updates, that will each effect some to all of our users. The goal of this will be to provide a more stable, robust and secure computing environment with as little disruption as possible, and to help us provide more efficient support to everyone in SPHHS.
Because we are doing everything that we can to make sure that our work doesn’t negatively impact your work, we may occasionally send out school-wide surveys to gather additional information from all of you. While your response isn’t required, we hope that you will all help provide input to help with our planning process as we move forward.
In addition to the surveys, SPHHS ITO Manager Joe Pasquini will be setting up visits to each department during upcoming faculty meetings in order to elicit feedback and get input from faculty on potential upcoming policies.
We are testing the updated software and policies as much as we can before introducing them to your computers, but if any of these updates do create issues for you, we will work with you to resolve any issues that come up.
Our FAQ is below – if you have a question that isn’t listed, please open a helpdesk ticket and we will answer it and update this document so that other users can also obtain this information.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I already have Windows 10 installed, why do I need to be upgraded?
Windows 10 is not a single product, but rather a line of products. Within Windows 10, there are versions 1511, 1607, 1703, 1809, etc. Our baseline supported versions will be versions 1809 and 1909 with upgrades occurring on an annual basis thereafter.
What other software is being upgraded?
We are evaluating all of the software in our standard suite of applications for upgrade, including but not limited to Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud, Flash, VLC, 7Zip, Zoom, etc.
Anything else?
In addition to software updates, we will also be evaluating the need for continued use of software with known security issues, including Adobe Shockwave, Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime for Windows, and standalone versions of Java – where we encounter these applications on your computers, we will need to open conversations with you to determine if these are required for your work.
I have a Mac, how will I be affected?
Because Windows is the predominant OS used in our school, our first focus will be on Windows computers. By later this spring and early summer, we will be including Macs in our efforts
When will these upgrades occur?
In our effort to make sure that these upgrades impact our users as little as possible, most updates and upgrades will occur outside of our normal working hours. We have done many updates manually, and are now confident that the process can be automated and rolled out to the rest of our users. This is why you’ve been asked to leave your computer on when you leave for the day – if they are turned off at night, they will not receive updates when they are pushed out, which could interrupt your work flow when you turn on your computer the following day.
I am using specialized software or hardware that might not work with the latest operating system – can I be exempted?
YES. Our number one priority is to not disrupt the work, studies or research among anyone in our school. If your research depends on tools that aren’t compatible with the updated environment we are implementing, we can work with you to implement alternative solutions.
