The Root Cause team in IT is tasked with finding the causes of significant IT issues that affect campus. In this news update we draw your attention to some of the problems we have handled in the last month.
Catamount Email (Office 365) – Missing options
Mid-September students started reporting missing menu options within the Catamount Mail/Office 365 system. Missing options included but were not limited to the Send, Drafts, and Attach Document options within the system. Initial reports appeared to be a result of a recent web browser update but upon further investigation it was determined the missing options were the result of a recent configuration change within Office 365. Microsoft released a patch to their Office 365 production environment on September 30, 2013 which resolved this issue.
Network Bandwidth
Bandwidth utilization is rising and at times hitting its maximum capacity especially in the afternoon and early evening hours due to the increase of devices used per person. Network Bandwidth refers to the amount or volume of data transmitted across the network at a given time. It is not uncommon for each individual accessing the network to have at least 2 devices reaching out to the wired or wireless network at any given time as most of us have some form of laptop/desktop computer, iPad or tablet equivalent along with a cell phone. It may be possible to make adjustments to the bandwidth management appliance with vendor support to make the traffic experience more “fair” and evenly distribute bandwidth availability. A project has been requested to review this option.
Resolved Global Problems
• CFC BlackBoard: 1
• Data Management: 1
• Email: 1
• Network/Telecommunications: 7
• Server: 5
• Web: 1
The Division of IT is committed to adopting a proactive, process-oriented approach to prevent problems before they arise. We will continue to keep you informed on our progress.