PowerSchool Update - Sept. 1 - Lynda Fuller
9/2/15 12:10 PM
PowerSchool Update 0 Sept. 1
North Carolina Public Schools <NCPublicSchools@public.govdelivery.com>
Tue 9/1/2015 8:24 PM
To: Lynda
Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>;
The$NCDPI$Support$Center$has$been$receiving$a$number$of$reports$that$users$are$being$unexpectedly$logged$out$of
PowerSchool$on$an$intermittent$basis.$The$NCDPI,$NCEd$Cloud,$PowerSchool$and$Identity$Automation$teams$are
actively$working$together$to$resolve$this$issue$as$quickly$as$possible.$We$have$been$applying$pressure$on$our$two
vendors$and$they$have$their$technical$teams$focused$on$the$issue$working$around$the$clock$for$nearly$a$week.$The
problem$has$proven$extremely$difficult$to$reproduce$in$test$environments$(for$both$companies),$but$nonetheless
we$are$confident$that$they$will$identify$the$cause$and$provide$a$solution.$$We$have$been$trying$to$isolate$the
problem$by$working$with$different$districts$on$multiple$potential$solutions$in$parallel.
$
We$sincerely$appreciate$your$patience$and$assistance$as$we$work$to$resolve$this$issue.$We$are$particularly$thankful
to$the$LEAs$who$have$volunteered$for$the$various$levels$of$testing$we$are$performing.$We$also$appreciate$the
feedback$we$received$from$the$field$from$many$LEAs$and$Charter$Schools$which$has$been$invaluable$in$our
analysis.$Please$continue$to$report$the$issues$you$face$to$the$support$center.$$If$you$are$having$these$issues$and
have$not$yet$reported$them,$please$do$so.$You$can$submit$tickets$by$emailing$homebase.incidents@its.nc.gov
$
We$will$continue$to$provide$updates$as$new$information$becomes$available.
$
For$those$interested$in$the$details,$here$are$some$of$the$actions$being$taken:
Identity$Automation$increased$the$assertion$timeMout$for$five$select$LEAs.
The$PowerSchool$engineering$team$has$identified$another$timeout$setting$in$PowerSchool
which$is$expected$to$have$a$positive$impact$on$this$issue.$They$will$be$adjusting$this$tonight$in
another$LEA$in$order$to$see$the$results$tomorrow.
The$PowerSchool$team$are$also$writing$a$change$into$the$application$modifying$how$sessions
are$handled.$This$is$currently$going$through$their$QA$process$and$it$is$expected$to$go$into
production$in$a$few$days.
At$the$same$time$NCDPI$staff$are$working$with$two$districts$to$temporarily$disable
authentication$through$IAM$for$administrators$in$PowerSchool.$These$administrators$will$be
able$to$login$directly$to$PowerSchool$which$will$provide$us$with$valuable$information$in$our
efforts$to$further$diagnose$and$isolate$the$problem.$Teachers$and$students$in$those$districts
will$continue$to$use$IAM.
The$NCEd$Cloud$team$at$MCNC$have$been$investigating$Cloud$products$such$as$Zscaler$Internet
Content$Filtering$to$rule$out$the$possibility$that$it$is$related$to$any$of$the$PowerSchool$logout
issues.
$
$
Michael Nicolaides
https://outlook.office365.com/owa/#viewmodel=ReadMessageItem&It…wLATFQbVDaoQShvuEAAHN53J8AAA%3D&IsPrintView=1&wid=23&ispopout=1
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PowerSchool Update - Sept. 1 - Lynda Fuller
9/2/15 12:10 PM
Chief$Information$Officer
NC Department of Public Instruction
Michael.Nicolaides@dpi.nc.gov
(919) 807-3606
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