MEMO

April 3, 2014

Re: Portal Status Update

From:  Avi Hyman, Director, ACT
http://uoft.me/act

As many of you will note, the Portal returned to improved service after 01:00 this morning thanks to the efforts of our extended team.

We are now pursuing a strong hypothesis that the load on a particular piece of software was the cause of the sluggishness experienced yesterday.

Please note that our Learning Portal is a doorway to many different, increasingly interconnected pieces of software, from many different vendors. It is incorrect to equate the Portal only with software from Blackboard, although we do use many key products from that company. Our current hypothesis involves a piece of software not from Blackboard.

You will note that I am using the word hypothesis on purpose. Our team is working full out to continue to isolate the issues and fix them so that the use of the Portal can continue as needed. This is a high priority for us, especially at this time of year.

Our tests, and reports from various departments tell us that people can effectively use the Portal as I write this. We are committed to making sure that continues. If you have any problems, please contact the support team at portal.help@utoronto.ca

More updates will be provided as additional information is made available.