GeorgiaFIRST Financials
Customer Toolkit
Donna Wooddell, Assistant Director
ITS - Administrative Services
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Agenda
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Production Support
Communication Methods
9.2 Training Resources
Additional Resources
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PRODUCTION SUPPORT
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How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk
Tips for Getting Tickets Worked
Securing Sensitive Information
ITS Service Level Guidelines
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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
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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
• [email protected]
– Self-service Support
• Requires a User ID and password
http://www.usg.edu/customer_services/
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Helpdesk Ticket System
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PRODUCTION SUPPORT
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
•
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How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk
Tips for Getting Tickets Worked
Securing Sensitive Information
ITS Service Level Guidelines
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From the famous lines of Jerry
Maguire
• Things you can do to help us…help you!
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Production Support Tips
1. 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.
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Production Support Tips
2. 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
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Production Support Tips
3. 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
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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
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PRODUCTION SUPPORT
•
•

•
How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk
Tips for Getting Tickets Worked
Securing Sensitive Information
ITS Service Level Guidelines
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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 screens
2. Use the ITS Managed File Transfer (MFT) Utility to
securely send files.
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ITS Production Support
• Job Aid - Managed File Transfer (MFT) Utility is
available on our website
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PRODUCTION SUPPORT
•
•
•

How to Submit Tickets to ITS Helpdesk
Tips for Getting Tickets Worked
Securing Sensitive Information
ITS Service Level Guidelines
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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.)
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Communication Methods and
Tools
• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS
• GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Emergency Communication Service (ECS)
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS
• 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.
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS
1. First-LF ([email protected])
– Open to all GeorgiaFIRST Financials users
2. First-LB ([email protected])
– Open to all Budget Prep users
3. GaFirst-FS-Reps ([email protected])
– Reserved for current and future Upgrade
Coordinators (v9.2)
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS
4. GaFirst-FS-Tech ([email protected])
– Reserved for Technical contacts (v.9.2)
• PSQST, Banner links, workstation installations
5. SCIQUEST-PT-L ([email protected])
– Open to all GeorgiaFIRST Marketplace users
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERVS
• A Job Aid is available on our website:
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Communication Methods and
Tools
• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERV
 GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Emergency Communication Service (ECS)
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• www.usg.edu/gafirst-fin/documentation
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Documentation
– Contains proprietary information and is restricted to USG
personnel
– Contact ITS Helpdesk for User Name & Password
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Announcements
– Includes all announcements sent to our
GeorgiaFIRST LISTSERVS.
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Known Issues
– A Known Issue is generated whenever a “bug” or
system issue is identified.
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Releases
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GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
• Training
– Resources for previous and upcoming training
events
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Communication Methods and
Tools
• GeorgiaFIRST Financials LISTSERV
• GeorgiaFIRST Financials Website
 Emergency Communication Service (ECS)
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Emergency Communication Service (ECS)
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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: [email protected]
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9.2 Training Resources
(Training Page of Website)
• Online GeorgiaFIRST Training
• New User Resources
• Super User Training Resources
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Online GeorgiaFIRST Training
• Download the Flyer for a list of online courses
and to enroll
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Online GeorgiaFIRST Training
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9.2 Training Resources
(Training Page of Website)
• Online GeorgiaFIRST Training
 New User Resources
• Super User Training Resources
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New User Resources
• Videos Available:
1. Getting Started in PeopleSoft Financials v9.2
2. GeorgiaFIRST PeopleSoft Module Overview
3. Basic Process Flow of PeopleSoft Financials
• Job Aid
– GeorgiaFIRST LISTSRV subscription information
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9.2 Training Resources
(Training Page of Website)
• Online Courses
• New User Resources
 Super User Training Resources
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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
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Additional Resources
• Non-Production Database
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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)
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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
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