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Action required to preserve content in UW Google Shared Drives

A version of this message was sent to affected audiences on 2/14/2023. Additional audiences will receive this message on 2/28/2023.

Please note: These changes affect only Shared Drives. These changes do not affect personal UW Google Drives. 

What is happening and when  

UW Google Shared Drives (Shared Drives) that do not have a current UW employee with a UW email address in the Manager role will be restricted beginning in March 2023. (The Manager role is the highest level of permissions in a Shared Drive.) 

You will still be able to view and download existing files in restricted Shared Drives, but you will be unable to add new files to restricted Shared Drives.  

Any Shared Drives that are still restricted in August 2023, including all files within, will be permanently deleted beginning in August 2023.   

Important Dates 

  • March 22, 2023: Shared Drives without a current UW employee’s UW Google account in the Manager role will be restricted 
  • Files in a restricted Shared Drive can still be accessed and the content downloaded, but the Shared Drive will not accept any further uploads or file updates  
  • Restricted Shared Drive names will be changed on March 22 to indicate that they are now restricted 
  • August 29, 2023: Restricted Shared Drives and all files within them will be permanently deleted, with no option for recovery 

What you need to do 

Review the Shared Drives you have access to and look for Shared Drives without a Manager. 

If you do not want the restricted Shared Drives deleted, submit a request to have your current UW employee UW Google account (associated with a UW NetID) promoted to the Manager role. 

If you no longer need the Shared Drive, download the files you wish to keep from a Shared Drive. 

Shared Drive policies 

The Shared Drive lifecycle policy now requires that all Shared Drives must have at least one current UW employee’s UW Google account in the Manager role. For more information regarding related UW policies, please see the following resources: 

What to do if you need help 

UW Google Changes project is the best resource for more information on the status, milestone and details of the project. 

We recommend that you consult first with your local IT support group, as they are the experts on your data and technology needs. If this is not an option for you, reach out to UW-IT at help@uw.edu or 206-221-5000. 

Thank you for your understanding and support as the University of Washington adjusts to these significant changes. 

UW-IT 

Redesigned Knowledge Navigator launches with enhancements

UW-IT’s Information Management team members, in collaboration with the Program Management Office, successfully launched the redesigned Knowledge Navigator (KN) application. Over the course of the past six months, development, interface refinement, testing and debugging have resulted in backend efficiencies and a streamlined experience for users. 

Redesign launch and enhancements

Knowledge Navigator’s redesign launched on Feb. 14 and while most of the work affected the backend of the application, KN users benefit from some enhancements: 

  • Streamlined home page 
  • Improved search features 
  • Better Help functionality 
  • Infrastructure improvements and efficiencies 
  • Increased security 

Updated Home page

Knowledge Navigator’s new Home page boasts a clean, contemporary interface. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expanded Help page

Knowledge Navigator’s redesigned Help page includes a variety of topics to support KN customers’ experience. 

  • Getting started – links to a user guide and video 
  • Resources – information on where data terms come from 
  • Search Tips – ways to improve your search results 
  • Support – how to get the help you need 
  • FAQ – answers to your questions

TAKE NOTE:  

  • Throughout the redesigned application the word “visualizations” has been replaced with the word “dashboards.” 
  • Check your favorites and/or bookmarks; they may have changed during the redesign. 

Recent work leading up to launch  

  • Code refactoring to leverage AuraDB (cloud-based Database-as-a-Service solution)  
  • Implementing a new search engine using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Search 
  • Help functionality 
  • Testing and debugging  

Why is Knowledge Navigator important?

Knowledge Navigator displays business terms, their definitions, and data relationships in a web-based application that’s accessible to all staff, researchers and administrators at the UW. KN provides context to data used across the University and is its one source for finding and understanding information across critical subject areas (Student/Academic, Human Resources, Financial, Research Administration).  

Knowledge Navigator helps decision makers across the UW speak the same language, which makes collaboration and decision-making easier and smarter. 

LEARN MORE

For information about the team who worked on the KN redesign and the work involved, refer to the IT Connect Service News article from Jan. 23.  

Get a live demo of the redesigned KN on March 27

Attend the March 27 BI (Business Intelligence) webinar where you’ll learn about the redesigned Knowledge Navigator and new FT definitions. Use the button below to register or paste the following URL in your browser. https://www.trumba.com/calendars/sea_uwit-im-era?eventid=165028478 

REGISTER NOW

Questions?

If you need more information or have questions, please contact us at help@uw.edu with “KN Redesign” in the subject line.

 

Major changes coming to UW Google Shared Drives

A version of this message was sent to users of UW Google Shared Drives on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

What is happening and when

UW Google Shared Drives (Shared Drives) that do not have a current UW employee with a UW email address in the Manager role will be restricted beginning in March 2023. (The Manager role is the highest level of permissions in a Shared Drive.) You will still be able to view and download existing files in restricted Shared Drives, but you will be unable to add new files to restricted Shared Drives.

Any Shared Drives that are still restricted in August 2023, including all files within, will be permanently deleted beginning in August 2023.

Please note: These changes affect only Shared Drives that do not have a current UW employee in the Manager role. These changes do not affect your personal UW Google Drive.

Next steps

If you have an account that will be affected by this change, you will receive instructions in the next two or three weeks for next steps you can take.

Why these changes are happening

The UW requires that all Shared Drives have at least one UW employee as the responsible party (Manager), for risk management, records management, data privacy and budget approval reasons. Additionally, UW employees must use their UW email address (@uw.edu) in the Manager role.

For more information regarding these policies, please see the following resources:

The future of Shared Drives

Due to changes implemented by Google, Shared Drives will become a fee-based service beginning in July 2024.

Storage tiers, quotas, and rates for Shared Drives will be announced later in 2023. We hope to provide this information in advance for departments to budget the costs for the upcoming year.

Help

UW Google Changes project has more information on the status, milestone and details of the project.

We recommend that you consult first with your local IT support group, as they are the experts on your data and technology needs. If this is not an option for you, reach out to UW-IT at help@uw.edu or 206-221-5000.

Thank you for your understanding and support as the University of Washington adjusts to these significant changes.

UW-IT

EDW for Finance Transformation Release 17 is Now Available

Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) has released an update in UWODS and WDFinDataMart in support of UW Finance Transformation (UWFT). For an overview of how EDW is adapting to support UWFT, refer to EDW for Finance Transformation.

Monthly Scheduled Releases

Updates to UWODS and WDFinDataMart are released on the same monthly schedule. This allows us to better synchronize with Enterprise Data Platform’s release schedule for Finance Transformation. For more information, refer to the Data Availability Timeline.

What’s New in EDW Release 17

Database
Overview of Release
UWODS
  • This release includes 9 new tables, 2 new views, and 22 columns were added to existing tables.
  • Introduced Breaking Changes by renaming and removing fields in multiple tables. Breaking Changes also includes Worktag tables that have been redesigned and replaced with a new set of tables.
    • UWODS.sec.RelatedWorktag
    • UWODS.sec.RelatedWorktagAllowedWorktag
    • UWODS.sec.RelatedWorktagDefaultWorktag
    • UWODS.sec.RelatedWorktagWorktagType

Known Data Issues are as follows:

  • Some Tables are missing data. See: UWODS Tables Missing Data
  • Truncated data due to bad test data not following expected standards
  • Some definitions are unknown

For more information, refer to UWODS EDW Release 17. For support, refer to Support l UWODS.
WDFinDataMart
  • This release includes 1 new table.
  • There were no breaking changes for Release 17.

Known Data Issues

For more information, refer to WDFinDataMart EDW Release 17. For Support, refer to Support l WDFinDataMart

EDW Release Schedule

We have already started working on next month’s release. Bookmark Release Notes | UWODS and Release Notes | WDFinDataMart to follow our progress.

Support Available to Transition Human Resource/Payroll Data from ODS to UWODS

When UW Finance Transformation (UWFT) goes live, the current state ODS database will be frozen and the UWODS database will be introduced. For more information, refer to Transitioning HR Data from ODS to UWODS.

New Emerging Guidance for Writing Code using Finance Data in the WDFinDataMart and UWODS

We have provided a link on the UWODS and WDFinDataMart Sample Queries pages that take you to a resource where you can find sample queries for common finance related questions. This resource is under construction and restricted to current EDW and BI Portal finance data viewers. Use at your own risk.

You will find this link under the Finance Data Concepts and Queries section on these pages:

EDW Data Load Status for Production and Test Environments

Based on our requests from customers, we have published a new stand alone EDW Data Load Status page for both EDW Production and Test environments. This replaces the Data Load Status information that was previously embedded in the EDW help page. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

EWS EVAL Release 17 is Now Available

Enterprise Web Services (EWS) has released an update in EVAL for multiple web services in support of UW Finance Transformation (UWFT). For an overview of how EWS is adapting to support UWFT, refer to EWS for Finance Transformation.

Monthly Scheduled Releases

  • EVAL: Updates to EVAL environments for all EWS services are released on the same monthly schedule. This allows us to better synchronize with Enterprise Data Platform’s release schedule for Finance Transformation. For more information, refer to the Data Availability Timeline.
  • PROD: Updates to PROD environments for all EWS services now reflect changes from the previous month’s EVAL release (for example, if EVAL reflects Release R17, then PROD will reflect Release R16).

What’s New in EWS Release 17

Web Service Overview of Release
FWS v2 (Outbound)
  • Introduced Breaking Changes by replacing the following resources:
    • /RelatedWorktags/{RefID|WID} (Replaced with ‘entity’/{RefID|WID}/relatedworktag)
  • Introduced Breaking Changes by renaming and/or removing fields in the following resources:
    • /CustomerInvoice
    • /Sponsor
  • Introduced Breaking Changes by changing how data is returned for the following resources:
    • /CustomerInvoice (transactional resource)
    • /CustomerDeposit (transactional resource)
    • /CustomerPayment (transactional resource)
  • Added the following resources:
    • /CustomerInvoiceAdjustment (transactional resource)
    • /CustomerRefund (transactional resource)
    • /LedgerYear
  • Added fields and/or endpoints to the following resources:
    • /CustomerInvoice
    • /Journal
    • /LedgerAccount
    • /PayrollJournal
    • /Reference
  • Updated the /SearchID search parameter to allow for a prefix-based ID search.
  • Fixed HREFs in the /Person and /PayComponentGroup resources.

For more information, refer to FWS Reference Data (Outbound) – Release 17. For support, refer to Support | FWS.

Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) available! This release includes changes to how some transactional resources return data. For more information, refer the following questions on the FAQ | FWS page:

  • Why does the query parameter search only return a summary of the data for certain resources?
  • Why does GetByID only return JSON for certain resources?
FWS v2 (Inbound) There were no customer-facing changes for FWS v2 (Inbound) introduced in this release. However, there is an Upcoming UWFT Technical Event for FWS v2 Inbound Users. For more information, refer to the following section.
HRPWS v3
  • Updated the /Person, /JobProfile, /JobFamily, and /JobFamilyGroup resources to allow “03 Job Families” to be accessible by the HR Baseline security role.

For more information, refer to HRPWS v3 – Release 17. For support, refer to Support | HRPWS.

Upcoming UWFT Technical Event for FWS v2 Inbound Users

Topic: Posting common transactions to Workday via Secure File Transfer (sFTP) Workshop

When: Friday, February 3, 2023 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am

Description: In this meeting, we’ll provide information on how to securely post common transactions using sFTP.

Objectives:

  1. Orientation to the Financial Web Service (FWS) and Enterprise Data Platform (EDP)
  2. Roles and responsibilities of supporting accounting submissions within Workday
  3. How to utilize the FWS sFTP service to submit transactions to Workday

 You can view this event and add it to your calendar from the FTT Event Calendar.

UWSDBDataStore Reorgs on January 28, 2023

UWSDBDataStore Reorgs on January 28, 2023

The student database (SDB) will go through a reorganization on January 28, 2023 which will cause changes in the Enterprise Data Warehouse database, UWSDBDataStore. These changes to the objects will be available in the UWSDBDataStore on January 30, 2023.
However, data on the new objects will be available as soon as the Data Custodians submit the security role definitions and the SIS team loads the data.

Last Updated – 01.23.2023

Column Adds to Existing Tables:

Table Column DataType
STUDENT_2 IMM_CON_ID CHAR(12)
STUDENT_2_UW_DEGREE_INFO DEG_GRANT_DATE DATETIME
SF_EVALUATION INCARC_APP_FLG CHAR(1)

Columns to be Removed:

Table Column
STUDENT_2 IMM_ID (not in use yet)

Knowledge Navigator gets a refresh, modernizes for information and business excellence

— Data freeze starting Feb 6 — 

What is Knowledge Navigator? 

Knowledge Navigator (KN) is the University of Washington’s web-based application that displays business terms, their definitions, and data relationships used by everyone at UW. KN provides context to data used across the University and is UW’s one source for finding and understanding information across critical subject areas (Student/Academic, Human Resources, Financial, Research Administration) which enables informed decision-making. 

Knowledge Navigator

Why is Knowledge Navigator being redesigned? 

Since 2015, when Knowledge Navigator first launched, it has run in Microsoft Azure using a classic virtual machine. This virtual machine will no longer be supported by Microsoft after March 2023, so KN’s infrastructure is being redesigned and upgraded to use a cloud-based, database-as-a-service platform known as AuraDB by Neo4J, which provides expanded capabilities, minimizes costs and increases security. 

Bart Pietrzak, director for Enterprise Reporting & Analytics, notes, “To use and make decisions with data, it needs to be discoverable and understood. A centralized repository for the University’s data terms and definitions is essential to its decision-making capabilities. This redesign work ensures that Knowledge Navigator continues to be the University’s most critical and comprehensive tool that empowers end users to make informed decisions.” 

What changes will customers experience? 

Much of the redesign work won’t be visible on customer-facing pages; it’s the unseen critical infrastructure that will be upgraded and refactored, but which provides users with background benefits like maintenance efficiencies and increased security. And KN users will experience a new streamlined home page, while favorite and familiar features remain intact and run exactly as you expect. 

  • Streamlined home page 
  • Maintenance efficiencies 
  • Increased security 

Who’s working on the KN redesign? 

KN redesign work started in late September 2022 with experts from UW-IT’s Information Management division and the Program Management Office. The team includes:  

  • Developers: Moon Koslowsky, Tech Project Lead, Andrew Nelson, Senior Full-Stack Engineer and Indra Narayan, Data Engineer 
  • Business SME: Keith A. Van Eaton, Metadata Manager  
  • Quality Assurance: Jean Darlington, Tester 
  • Product Owner: Katayoon Moazzami, Business Systems Analyst 
  • Key Stakeholder: Bart Pietrzak, Director, IM: Enterprise Reporting and Analytics 
  • Sponsor: Anja Canfield-Budde, Associate Vice President, Information Management   
  • Project Manager: Colleen Butler, Project Manager, UW-IT Research Computing & Strategy, Program Management Office 

What’s happened so far? 

  • Home page modernization – a reveal will be coming soon!  
  • Upgrade of KN application with latest .NET and Neo4J client frameworks 
  • Migration of data to AuraDB 

 What’s happening now? 

  • Code refactoring to leverage AuraDB 
  • Implementing a new search engine using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Search 
  • Testing and debugging 

When will the redesigned KN go live?

The team is on track to launch the redesigned application in mid-February 2023. 

NOTE: Data Freeze starting Feb 6

In preparation for the Knowledge Navigator redesign launch in mid–February, there will be a data freeze starting Feb 6. Please keep the following in mind: 

  • Favorites created during the freeze may not be available after the launch. 
  • Some of your current bookmarks may change after the launch.  

Questions? 

If you need more information or have questions, please contact us at help@uw.edu with “KN Redesign” in the subject line. 

Knowledge Navigator: Autumn Quarter 2022 Metadata Update

UW Metadata Manager, Keith A. Van Eaton, from Information Management’s Enterprise Reporting & Analytics team, has added or updated metadata objects in Knowledge Navigator.

In their ongoing partnership, the UW’s data domain stewards, subject matter experts, and metadata manager ensure metadata objects are vetted and approved so that UW data users have a common understanding around UW data.

New terms added

New structured objects or reports or other added

UW Metadata Objects

The Tableau visualization below shows, over time, all objects brought into Knowledge Navigator. Hover over any graphic element to get more info. https://bitools.uw.edu/t/Transitional/views/UWMetadataObjects/UWMetadataObjects?:showAppBanner=false&:display_count=n&:showVizHome=n&:origin=viz_share_link

UW Metadata Objects Visualization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UW Metadata Engagement

The Tableau visualization below shows, over time, the Subject Matter Expert who drafted a business definition and the Data Steward who approved the definition for any given data. Hover over any graphic element to get more information. https://bitools.uw.edu/t/Transitional/views/UWMetadataEngagement/UWMetadataEngagement?:showAppBanner=false&:display_count=n&:showVizHome=n&:origin=viz_share_link

UW Metadata Engagement Visualization

 

 

 

 

 

 

To access these links from an off-site location, please do one of the following:

  • Remote into your work computer.
  • Use the F5/Big VPN (not UW MWS VPN) with your personal computer.

Knowledge Navigator is the UW’s metadata repository which contains information about the following collections and object types:

  • Glossaries of business terms
  • Database tables and columns
  • Web Service resources and fields
  • Cube dimensions and measures
  • Enterprise reports and dashboards

Terms and objects are updated regularly. To learn more about Knowledge Navigator, where terms come from, and how they get included in Knowledge Navigator, visit the information page at https://it.uw.edu/work/data/understand-data/data-definitions/.

If you’d like a demo of Knowledge Navigator for your department, or if you have questions, please contact help@uw.edu with “Knowledge Navigator” in the subject line.

EDW for Finance Transformation Release 16 is Now Available


Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) has released an update in UWODS and WDFinDataMart in support of UW Finance Transformation (UWFT). For an overview of how EDW is adapting to support UWFT, refer to EDW for Finance Transformation.

Monthly Scheduled Releases

Updates to UWODS and WDFinDataMart are released on the same monthly schedule. This allows us to better synchronize with Enterprise Data Platform’s release schedule for Finance Transformation. For more information, refer to the Data Availability Timeline.

What’s New in EDW Release 16

Database

Overview of Release
UWODS
  • This release includes 16 new tables. An additional 41 columns were added to existing tables.
  • Introduced Breaking changes by renaming and removing fields in multiple tables. 

Known Data Issues are as follows:

    • Some Tables are missing data. See: UWODS Tables Missing Data
    • Truncated data due to bad test data not following expected standards 
    • Some definitions are unknown

New Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) available – See UWODS’s FAQs to learn more about this updated FAQ!

  • I use several ODS tables (for example, Person, JobProfile, etc.). Where should I look for comparable data in the future?
  • What is the new/future version of the ODS table currently called BudgetActivityDetail? Is that table continuing?
  • What’s the difference between a WID and a RefID?

For more information, refer to UWODS EDW Release 16. For support, refer to Support l UWODS. 
WDFinDataMart
  • No new tables were added in R16.
  • A breaking change was introduced by removing a single field from an existing table in R16.

Known Data Issues

For more information, refer to WDFinDataMart EDW Release 16. For Support, refer to Support l WDFinDataMart 

 

EDW Release Schedule

We have already started working on next month’s release. Bookmark Release Notes | UWODS and Release Notes | WDFinDataMart to follow our progress.

Support Available to Transition Human Resource/Payroll Data from ODS to UWODS

When UW Finance Transformation (UWFT) goes live, the current state ODS database will be frozen and the UWODS database will be introduced. For more information, refer to Transitioning HR Data from ODS to UWODS.

New EDW Data Load Status for Production and Test Environments

Based on our requests from customers, we have published a new stand alone EDW Data Load Status page for both EDW Production and Test environments. This replaces the Data Load Status information that was previously embedded in the EDW help page. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

Winter 2023 Content Manager Update

Hello IT Connect Content Managers,

This is the Winter 2023 edition of the quarterly IT Connect Content Manager Update.

WHAT’S NEW?

Reviews needed for top 100 most viewed pages on IT Connect

A recent Google Analytics analysis showed that 49.5 percent of the top 100 most viewed web pages on IT Connect had not been reviewed in the last year.

Regular content review is important for keeping information accurate, up-to-date and relevant to users.

Toward ensuring that IT Connect is up to date and accurate for our customers, content managers for pages that need to be reviewed will receive UW Connect request tickets.These content managers will be asked to do a comprehensive review of the content to ensure it is accurate, up to date, and clear. This process will be done quarterly moving forward, to ensure that the most viewed content on IT Connect is kept up to date.

This need for regular reviews is spurred by findings from the 2021 customer experience survey, which found IT Connect content as one of the critical areas that UW-IT needed improvement.

We strongly recommend that you review your content a minimum of once per year. Information about these Strategic Leadership Team-approved guidelines and how to manage content review can be found in IT Connect’s documentation for content managers.

Technical Writer support for IT Connect content

During the past quarter, a student technical writer intern supported several service teams and helped update dozens of pages of content for more than three services.

We are hoping to bring on another student technical writer to help support service teams with creating and updating documentation on IT Connect, and want to know which teams would like support with their content. The UW-IT Communications team can also help you with your IT Connect content through brainstorming, working sessions, and editing support. If you need help with your content and/or need technical writing support, then please fill out this form to let us know.

Web content best practices: User experience testing

User experience testing can help you understand how well your web content works for your target audiences, and help you improve your content. Creating a great user experience is worth the investment of time and resources because your content will be more useful to end users, reduce frustrating user experiences, and reduce the need for users to contact UW-IT for support.

Start simple.

  1. Identify a set of common tasks that your target audience typically does, such as set up a tool, download a product or request a service.
  2. Solicit a small set of your audience to participate..
  3. Set up a time to meet with these individuals and ask them to walk through each of these common tasks using your content on IT Connect.
  4. Listen to their feedback, and use it to learn where there are issues or alternatives that might improve your content.

UW Information Technology also offers online resources and consultations to help you create a great user experience.

DOCUMENTATION, TRAINING & CONSULTATIONS

Do you need some help creating IT Connect content, another head to brainstorm content organization and layout, or want to learn how to use the features available in IT Connect? There are several ways to get help:

  • Content Manager Documentation: Extensive documentation ranging from the basics of WordPress to advanced features for pages is available on the IT Connect Content Manager Documentation.
  • Guide to writing documentation: Use the Getting started with documentation guide to help you start writing documentation. The guide breaks down a process you can use to help you get information to your end users in documentation.
  • Training: One-on-one training for managing content on IT Connect is available from the IT Connect product manager, Nick Rohde, over Zoom or in person (once normal operations continue after the coronavirus pandemic). Get tips on correctly formatting content using the tools in IT Connect or learn how to organize your content. To arrange training, fill out this intake form.
  • Consultation: Consultation sessions for individuals or teams are available from the IT Connect product manager, Nick Rohde. To schedule a consultation, fill out this intake form.