[sims] CAPITA pull Autumn 2014 Release - Why???!!!

[tech_guy]

Hold fire on your planned Autumn 2014 Sims.NET / FMS upgrades!

 

I have just got the "Please note that we have withdrawn the Autumn release from both SOLUS 2 and SOLUS 3 for both SIMS and FMS. We will be issuing SIMS 2014 Autumn 2 shortly and will advise you when this is available. If you have already upgraded there is nothing further for you to do at this stage but we will provide information on the changes in the new release and advise on next steps" email to say the Autumn release has been pulled.

 

Any idea why? Glad I hadn't done mine yet.

Edited December 4, 2014 by tech_guy

[Atomic_Zombie]

Thanks for the heads up, we were going to deploy to ~20 schools tonight!

[vikpaw]

Woah! Any reason or assistance for those who already have it?

[webby74]

We updated last week. Our SIMS manager has reported some unusual behaviour/things not quite working as expected since update. I haven't heard anything else yet...

[timbo343]

Was going to go mine last week, im glad i didnt now.

[timbo343]

There is nothing on support.capitaes.com other than this:

 

http://support.capitaes.co.uk/user/detail.asp?params=%91%D5%CB%DD%E5%F3%9D%D7%E3%DE%D9%EF%99%C4%E6%E5%A0%C8%DD%E5%A9%B5%C7%E2%E6%D0%D6%D8

 

SIMS 2014 Autumn release update

Dear Colleagues,

 

Following on from the issue with scheduled tasks for B2B we have had feedback that some SOLUS2 customers would prefer a re-release of the Autumn release over running a patch to each SQL Server. As such we have agreed to produce an SIMS 2014 Autumn 2 release. We will evaluate other live issues to see if other fixes should be included in this.

 

I cannot confirm a timescale yet for this release but will provide an update by COB Thursday 4th of December.

[Dkeen94]

Glad i didnt do SIMS but they had to do it after i had done FMS

[synaesthesia]

I got that email 15 minutes after the completion of deployment. 2 weeks after it's release, and me telling the school "I'll give it a couple of weeks in case it gets pulled".

 

I swore a bit.

[Sylv3r]

We've got an issue with hiding / unhiding columns in Assessment Manager - this may be one of the other issues. Theres quite a few on the SupportNet forum with the same problem by the looks of it.

[Marshall_IT]

I was essentially forced into deploying it this week as we have hosted slg and intouch!

Sadface

[vikpaw]

We've got an issue with hiding / unhiding columns in Assessment Manager - this may be one of the other issues. Theres quite a few on the SupportNet forum with the same problem by the looks of it.

 

Oh I tht that was a roll back feature not a bug.

[PhilNeal]

A complete list of known issues is on SupportNet.

 

Every issue is patchable by SOLUS3 but there is one issue (B2B scheduled tasks I think) that can't be patched by SOLUS2. Support Units asked us to reissue as they either haven't rolled out S3 or have hardly started rolling out autumn and its easier for them if we re-issue.

[BKGarry]

I am waitin on a callback for a remote sessions to get SSM working for InTouch, cannot do the upgrade without it but at least this version allows us to run an older version of InTouch with the latest SIMS release (for once)

[Marshall_IT]

I had the same thing, it was a dot net thing that cause me problems. It installs as part of ssm.

[BKGarry]

Yeah that .net bit that requires a restart but the install was silent so it didn't notify you. Service just starts and then stops straight away (like performance logs and alerts when they are not active) very annoying, Capita now want to remote in. took them 3 days to decide that one :-(

[clockend25]

Brilliant.

[MrMat]

A complete list of known issues is on SupportNet.

 

Every issue is patchable by SOLUS3 but there is one issue (B2B scheduled tasks I think) that can't be patched by SOLUS2. Support Units asked us to reissue as they either haven't rolled out S3 or have hardly started rolling out autumn and its easier for them if we re-issue.

 

Hi Phil,

 

Are you able to confirm that the update has indeed been pulled? We haven't received an email and there is no mention of this on Supportnet. We are still able to authorise the release to Schools so will this simply fail once they try to deploy?

 

Some clarification is required i think.

 

Cheers,

Alex

[SHimmer45]

applied this a release at the beginning of the week havent had an reported issues yet

do i need to be concerned about the scheduled tasks as we are still running solus 2

[Adam-]

Hi Phil,

 

Are you able to confirm that the update has indeed been pulled? We haven't received an email and there is no mention of this on Supportnet. We are still able to authorise the release to Schools so will this simply fail once they try to deploy?

 

Some clarification is required i think.

 

Cheers,

Alex

 

Exactly the same here. It looks like I can still deploy via SOLUS 3, I expected to see the 'status' change from 'dowloaded' to something like 'withdrawn'. It lets me go as far as clicking the 'Deploy now' button, but i havent tried going any further.

 

Cheers,

Adam

[Nickfinn]

Hi,

I just thought I would jump on the forum to clarify the current situation. The re-release has been requested by some support units simply because they preferred this option to applying individual patches.

 

The full list of known issues is now available on SupportNet. If you have not been affected by these, then there is no need to apply the re-release. This is the reason why we have not pulled the initial Autumn release.

 

Nick Finnemore

Head of Product Management

[PhilNeal]

@MrMatt - sorry I've been out all day. Hopefully Nick's contribution has clarified things.

[apearson]

I drove to one of our schools yesterday afternoon to install this update only to find out at the last minute that it had been withdrawn. I have received no notification of this in advance. according to the helpdesk, they emailed headteachers. What is the point in emailing headteachers? They are not the ones that install these updates and are unlikely to be in a position to pass any emails on quickly enough. I have a login to supportnet. Why not email everybody with a supportnet login? They are more likely to need this information than headteachers.

To make matters worse, unless I have got things wrong, (quite likely), it appears that the update was withdrawn because a minority of people preferred a new release over a patch.

[vikpaw]

I've always said the notification system needs looking at. It ranges from non-existent to way too late.

 

The last Spring or Summer when there were 4 revisions. We got notice of version one being released after version 2 had been rolled out and withdrawn or something crazy like that.

 

A post on SupportNet should automatically trigger an email to all key users.

 

I'm hoping the new Capita portal has this feature.

[apearson]

The promised update on Supportnet by close of business on Thursday 4th never happened either! There is an update there now though. Apparently, release 2 will be out on Friday 12th. Marvellous!

[speckytecky]

I can't say that this, yet another foul up, on the SIMS updates does anything to bolster my fast reducing impression of the mighty CAPITA. My school has traditionally bought in their support on SIMS and we were pestered to allow this release to be applied. It duly was. The new SOLUS 3 interface came as the first huge surprise - why change what was a great looking interface and replace it unexplained with one that is SO difficult to find your way around?

 

This all takes me back to attending training when I was in the Royal Air Force when the instructor started by asking if anyone in the class had heard of the six P's. Surprisingly no one had and he went on to explain that:

 

Prior, Planning Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance! In this particular case the Planning without a doubt needs to involve extremely rigorous testing. This certainly seems to be a lesson applying in the case of some MIS operators doesn't it!