New IS Alerts system improves user experience.

The shift from old technologies to Python has introduced a number of improvements for users of the IS Alerts system.

The IS Alerts system allows users to create alerts to report any issues for any supported IT service throughout the University. For instance, when systems need to be brought down for maintenance updates and will therefore be unavailable for use. Most people will use IS Alerts to check if a system is down and how long it is likely down to be for. They would do that in conjunction with monitoring UniDesk system, to check if a change to a system has been raised.

The previous IS Alerts system ran on Coldfusion (old technology), becoming increasingly inefficient and nearing its end of life. As a result, the IS Alerts system has been rewritten into Python (new technology). As a result, there a number of improvements and benefits:

• The addition of EASE authentication improves security
• The new role-based system improves operational efficiency
• The updating of documentation to help users understand the system
• Being based on Python now the system is more future proof now and is easier to maintain and develop

Service Management have now taken ownership of managing the technicalities behind the service. Prior to this, there was no formal ownership, so this new management will improve the communications and organisation of the IS Alerts system.

To find out about current, past, and future IS Alerts, click here.