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Transition to AWS is in Final Phase |
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Although the transition has taken several more months to complete than planned, the final phase has arrived. At the end of March, the data center will close down, and our servers removed from the facility. There were a few bumps along the way, but we have overcome the majority of them and are working on the others. With the time spent on data center no longer splitting our attention, we can now fully focus on several projects, including:
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Send Email Changes Improve Usability and Performance |
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Over the past several release updates, some changes and additions have been made to the XenDirect send email processes. These modifications were all made to improve performance and usability. Tools > Send Email: The biggest change here is the move of email processing into the background. This change not only prevents the timeouts some users experienced, but allows the user to return to their work faster and without waiting for the email process to complete. Section > Send Email: The Send Email for Clients and Instructors was modified to add embed codes to these options.(Note: These convenient methods of single or small batch emails do not require the user to save an Advanced Search.) In the next several releases, you will also see these email features added:
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New Partnership Targets Security Certifications |
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One of the most time consuming and overwhelming efforts we experience every day is the increasing requirements related to security. At times, the demand and requirements change so fast some modifications change before we even complete them. It can be confusing and at the same time frustrating. In an effort to make this process more efficient, we have partnered with StateRAMP.org. Over the next several years, StateRAMP will guide us through an organized and structured process that will focus on all the required security elements with an emphasis on those with the highest benefits first. During this time, we are granted a provisional StateRAMP certification. In some areas, that certification is required just to be able to offer our services. Our efforts are working toward a full StateRAMP certification. However, that is not the end. With the security demands ever growing, we will continue our efforts to maintain the progress made and change as security demands change. |
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Staggered InSight Schedules Improve Performance |
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The causes of performance degradation often hide in the shadows and can come from unexpected places. One of those is a location where preventive efforts on the behalf of users can make some dramatic difference: Scheduled InSight reports. When scheduling multiple InSight reports, it is best to stagger the email send times. This prevents InSight from having to prepare and send multiple reports at about the same time. This is especially true when the report may result in a larger output. Here are some tips for the best results:
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Notification of Security Scans Prevents Unexpected Outcomes |
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It is not uncommon that some customers perform data scans on their XenDirect sites as part of the security requirements of their organization. Xenegrade fully supports those efforts. However, some of the side effects of scans can cause issues related to database access and server performance. Most scanning processes intentionally perform actions that test known possible vulnerabilities. Some of those actions may be interpreted as efforts by bad actors attempting to hack into a database. These actions may trigger security applications or server engineers to react accordingly. To prevent unnecessary reactions, we highly suggest informing us when a scheduled scan will take place. With that, we can prevent any over reactions that could result. |
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Custom Questions Deadline Approaching |
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One of the improvements made during the development of Release 3 was to the Custom Questions feature. However, in order to use the Release 3 version of Custom Questions, a system setting must be enabled. Without this setting change, the prior Custom Questions still operate but are not available to edit. Now that all sites have moved to Release 3, the date is fast approaching when all sites will be automatically set to the release 3 version of custom questions. That date is May 31, 2024. After that date, all sites will be set to for the new versions. When that happens, the prior Release 2 custom questions will no longer display on the WebReg module. What do you need to do? If you do not use Custom Questions or have XenDirect Basic, there is nothing you need to do. For others that have not enabled the new version and have not yet converted their Release 2 questions, Xenegrade can manually convert your prior questions to the new version. Just submit a support ticket with that request. Click here for details about the new version of Custom Questions. |
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TIP: Four Ways to Improve Support Tickets |
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We take pride in our efforts to reply to support tickets as quickly and timely as possible. Compared to the 24-48 hour support times posted by some other registration systems, Xenegrade's support response is much faster. There are some things users can do to help us improve that time even more.
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2024 Holiday Office Closures |
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Xenegrade will be closed on the following days during 2024 so that employees can observe the holiday with their families. Memorial Day May 27 - reopen May 28 Independence Day July 4-5 - reopen July 8 Labor Day Sep. 2 - reopen Sep. 3 Thanksgiving Nov. 28-29 - reopen Nov. 27 Christmas Dec. 24-25 - reopen Dec. 26 New Years Dec 31-Jan. 1 - reopen Jan. 2 If there is an emergency where accessing XenDirect is unavailable during a time when the office is closed, submit a support ticket via the support center using the predefined emergency process. |
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HELPFUL REMINDERS |
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News - March 6, 2024
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Rick Stern
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