Learn@UW/D2L - Recurring Service Issue - UPDATE (11:15a 9/10/12)
Posted: 2012-08-31 10:53:51 Expiration: 2012-09-14 17:00:00
UPDATE (11:15a 9/10/12): The Learn@UW/D2L service performance held steady throughout the weekend. D2L and the Learn@UW Utility continue to actively monitor the health of the service. A fix was applied at 5a this morning (9/10) to improve the performance of the application and we will assess the impact of this change.
Early signs indicate that the action taken last Friday (9/7) has improved the performance demonstrably. We remain cautiously optimistic that a significant cause of the issue has been addressed. We understand that you may have concerns due to the events of last week. We give you our assurance that we have not let down our guard and will continue to inform you about developments as they occur.
UPDATE (9a 9/9/12): On Friday, September 7, the Learn@UW Utility conducted a test and identified a potential cause of the recurring performance issues with the Learn@UW/Desire2Learn service. We conferred with the vendor (D2L) and have taken steps to mitigate the performance issues experienced within the UW System. We are cautiously optimistic this action has helped restore the performance of the service and we'll continue to vigilantly monitor the health of the service.</p>
UPDATE (Noon 9/7/12): DoIT technologists continue to work daily with experts from Desire2Learn (D2L) and Microsoft to address the issue of slow application response. We’re keenly aware of the problem and regret the impact on the UW educational community. We remain steadfast in our commitment to resolve this situation and provide regular progress updates on the status. Please note this situation has the attention of top leadership within DoIT and Desire2Learn.</p>
The Learn@UW Utility continues to work closely with the vendor, Desire2Learn (D2L), to identify and find resolution for the brief service interruptions. Users may experience relatively short periods (approximately 3-5 minutes) of slow response while using the application. Users should wait a few minutes and attempt the action again should an error occur.</p>
This issue is our top priority and providing a high quality service is of utmost importance and we have already deployed changes recommended by D2L that will improve over-all performance for the Learn@UW service. However, we still have not identified the root cause of the brief service interruptions. We will provide updates via the news item as developments continue.
Please read important message from the Learn@UW Executive Committee about the situation.</p>
Message to the UWS D2L User Community
Faculty, Staff and Students:
On behalf of our Learn@UW Executive Committee, I/we want you to know that we are taking steps now to improve the performance of Desire2Learn (D2L) systems at all UW campuses.
We are aware that many of you have experienced slow or delayed responses in D2L over the past few days. After D2L was upgraded to version 10 this summer, we noticed some occasional performance issues. Immediately, Learn@UW technical staff (the entity at UW-Madison’s Division of Information Technology that manages the D2L System) and D2L staff began working on solutions to improve performance. Later, Microsoft experts were engaged to help solve the problem. Numerous patches to the system have been applied. However, these efforts have yielded only temporary success, and the root cause of these performance problems has not yet been identified. This is not uncommon in a complex environment like ours, but it is still very, very frustrating.
We will not tolerate this level of performance. While technical experts continue around the clock to resolve the issues, the Learn@UW Executive Committee is exploring alternatives. We are consulting with top D2L executives to determine what assistance D2L can provide beyond finding the problem and what viable alternatives exist.
We are confident that we are receiving the best attention possible from both vendors. Top leadership at UW System, Learn@UW Utility and Desire2Learn are engaged in this process.
As we work through this we ask for your continued patience, and we will continue to keep you posted on our efforts to restore the level of performance that faculty, staff, and students deserve.
Thank you.
Chris Clements, Chair
Learn@UW Exec CommitteeLorna Wong
Director, Learning Technology Development
University of Wisconsin System Administration
-- Learn@UW Utility