SURVEY NOW CLOSED

Each year DTS carries out a short survey to make sure we are fulfilling our role in supporting the University staff and their digital requirements.

We are pleased to launch the 2022 annual DTS Survey today. In this year’s short survey, we hope to get an idea of what staff members would like from their DTS department, whilst gaining an idea of how we are performing in day-to-day support tasks.

Previous years’ feedback has allowed us to implement the popular Teaching and Learning priority phone line for those calling from teaching and learning environments, the IT Status Hub, the implementation of a new phone system with place in queue and call back functionality, a wider selection of Self-Help guides, and a campus-wide Wi-Fi refresh amongst other initiatives.

With the feedback received this year, we plan to use this input to implement further improvements as well as hosting roadshows, focus groups and workshops to allow you to help shape our way forward. Further details of this will be shared via the DTS website in 2023. 

The survey will remain open until the Christmas break, please encourage your colleagues to respond. We look forward to your responses and sharing the findings in the future.

What is happening?

The New Ways of Working (NWoW) Programme is an ambitious project including a sub-programme to replace all University devices with a standardised, easy to support-and-use, modern and portable device. The project to replace these aligns closely with the University’s strategic aims in terms of new ways of working, and this Programme will work closely with Estates, Health and Safety and HR to ensure consistency across each of these working areas, with a specific focus on digital flexibility and efficient working.

Alongside device replacement, there is an ongoing requirement to manage the entire lifecycle of the University devices, including disposal, maintenance and repair, and security and hardware activities. There are a number of projects and events across the University that also require devices to be set up, maintained and supported.

How will this work?

The Device Lifecycle team is responsible for the successful delivery of the Device Replacement Programme, working closely with colleagues in all schools and functions.

This includes:

• Help and advice in deciding the most appropriate device and peripherals to request
• Access to an envisioning centre to look at the devices available and the configuration options
• A dedicated manager to coordinate every aspect of the project for each function or school
• A dedicated engagement analyst to ensure support is available throughout the process with logistics and planning
• A dedicated team of four experienced User Support technicians to supply, configure, install and connect the new device ensuring it has the full functionality of the original
• A dedicated Teams chat channel for direct and immediate communications regarding any questions relating the project
• A fully audited delivery process ensuring every agreed expectation has been delivered before customer sign off
• A environmentally managed disposal process for old devices

DTS are gathering details about current devices and completing the recruitment process for a number of additional positions to support the existing team along with formalising a detailed, efficient and standard process to ensure consistency.

Do I need to do anything yet?

The DTS Device Lifecycle team will be publishing plans for 2022-23 by mid-November.

Viva Learning can now be found within student and staff Microsoft Teams.

Viva Learning creates a central hub for learning in Teams where people can share, recommend, and learn from content libraries across an organization to empower teams and individuals to make learning a natural part of their day. This includes access to content libraries from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 365 Training, and third-party content providers and learning management systems.

Guidance on getting started with Viva Learning and other how to documentation can be found here.

Digital Technology Services will be moving from Sophos antivirus protection to Microsoft Defender ATP from this month.

Microsoft Defender ATP will be automatically installed on your device and Sophos automatically uninstalled, all new devices and updated devices will no longer have Sophos installed as standard.

We have compiled some FAQs below, please check these before contacting the IT Service Desk.

Antivirus Transition: Frequently Asked Questions

You can also open Add or Remove Programs on your device and browse the list of installed programs to confirm that it has been removed.

You may see Sophos and Windows Security both installed on your device at the same time, this is fine and will be the case until Sophos is removed. At this point, Windows Security will take over.

What about Mac or Linux?

This information is currently for Windows only. Work is being undertaken for Mac and Linux and updates will follow.

How does Microsoft Defender ATP differ from Windows Defender?

Microsoft Defender ATP is actually two products in one. It includes Windows Defender, Microsoft’s antivirus solution that is included with recent versions of the Windows operating system. It also includes ATP, which is a cloud-based enterprise security solution that builds on Defender’s antivirus features and enhances its capabilities for managed computers.

Microsoft Defender ATP also provides antivirus services to macOS-based Apple devices when deployed with our installation package. Computers that are transitioned to Microsoft Defender ATP become centrally managed in order to take advantage of the features provided by this solution. The process of transitioning University-owned devices to Microsoft Defender ATP is not automatic, but it can be automated by Digital Technology Services.

Why do I see a yellow warning icon when I check my Windows Security settings?

Until the rollout is completed, the Microsoft Defender ATP icon may not always have a Green tick. A review of the non-AV features that represent many of these messages is currently in progress.

Eduroam: removal of TLS 1.1 protocol

What is TLS 1.1?

TLS is a method of encrypting data that “scrambles” data from one service to another, meaning any attempts to “read” it during the movement of the data are stopped.

Sometimes referred to as SSL,  TLS provides a means of keeping data safe, often used in financial systems but really anything that requires keeping secure. TLS 1.1 has been retired.

What’s happening?

In order to ensure the security of the University’s systems and services, we will be disabling the TLS 1.1 protocol on the eduroam Wi-Fi service on 31 August 2021. This change will affect any older devices that are not able to support TLS 1.2, including computers running Windows 7 and mobile devices running older versions of iOS and Android.

The TLS 1.1 protocol is not as secure as the newer TLS 1.2 and is no longer supported for connections to many services, including Microsoft’s Office 365. As Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft since January 2020, security patches are no longer available, and we advise that anyone using Windows 7 upgrades to Windows 10.

For instructions on updating your settings, please see this helpful guide.

On Tuesday 13 July 2021 – DTS will be retiring dfs.rdg.ac.uk – all shares will now redirect to rdg-home.ad.rdg.ac.uk (rdg-home). Our Operations team is carrying out this work to consolidate our systems and remove a layer of complexity, making it easier and quicker for you to access support in the future.

This change will impact your use of collaborative, home, research and research-nfs drives if not updated, please check and update any saved or “favourited” paths.

What do I need to do?

• Drive Mappings:
  • Any mapped drives will be updated on your behalf by DTS, any drives you have manually created will need to be changed now or replaced with Quick Access.

• Quick Access:
  • Please check and update your Quick access drives as they may also be pointed at dfs.rdg.ac.uk not rdg-home.
  • We would recommend using Quick Access to save and access your drives, and you may find these easier and quicker to use. Instructions to do so can be found on our Self Service Portal.

Why are DTS making this change?

Retiring dfs.rdg.ac.uk allows our DTS teams to consolidate space in our Data Centre; reducing the amount of cooling and power required which will subsequently reduce our carbon footprint further. This change will also allow out teams to continue working to consolidate systems and eventually retire the Lyle Building Data Centre.

Further to this, dfs.rdg.ac.uk is a “standalone solution” hosted on legacy hardware, rdg-home provides a “distributed solution” – meaning that in the event of a systems failure, service can be maintained. Using rdg-home will also allow us to utilise the cloud when it is the best option, providing greater flexibility for DTS systems and services.

If you have any questions about how to map your drives, please check out our helpful guides in the Self Service Portal. Please contact the Service Desk if you have any issues.

Returning to Campus: PC and Laptop checks

Connection to University Networks

We are aware of a number of devices across campus that are at risk of login issues due to time logged off the University’s network.

This will apply to:

• PCs on campus that have been switched off for more than 3 months
• University laptops that have not connected to the VPN for more than 3 months, and have not accessed Eduroam for more than 3 months

This is part of the University’s IT policies and ensures the safety and security of our community. It is  important to routinely connect to the University’s VPN when working off campus to allow vital security updates and configurations to be made to your device.

If your device has not connected to the network within this timeframe, you may see the error message “There are no logon servers available” when you next access the network on campus, and a technician will need to visit to fix this. Please note on-campus PCs at London Road and Greenlands campuses have been manually updated by our User Support team.

Details and further information on how to arrange a technician visit, as well as an app that can detect if your University laptop is affected, can be found here.

Laptops purchased during the period March 2020 – present: DTS will contact you

If you have received a University laptop between March 2020 and now, delivered to your home address, this will need to be configured with our University image. This ensures you have the correct access to University systems and services, and also ensures important security patching can take place.

DTS will be in touch with you directly if this applies to you, you do not need to log a ticket.

Health checks are available

If you are aware that your device has not been connected to the network for a long period of time, or you have rescheduled/not run any updates as requested by the device, please contact our User Support technicians via dts@reading.ac.uk or our Self Service Portal to request our help.

Adobe support for Flash Player ended on 31 December 2020.  Adobe have also blocked Flash content from running in the Player with effect from 12 January 2021.  Further information is available from Adobe, see https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

As the software is no longer being updated, it needs to be removed from University computers to ensure that it does not pose a security threat.

Where possible, DTS will remove the software automatically but it is possible that we will need to remotely connect to computers to remove it.

Please note the following advice from Adobe in the web page above and do not install third-party Flash players:

IF I FIND FLASH PLAYER AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON A THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE, SHOULD I USE IT?

No.  These versions of Flash Player are not authorised by Adobe. You should not use unauthorised versions of Flash Player.  Unauthorised downloads are a common source of malware and viruses.

If you use Flash content in your teaching, or have other requirements for Flash, please contact DTS via dts@reading.ac.uk.

PCs and laptops that have not connected to the University’s networks in over 3 months will be at risk of login issues.

We are aware of a number of devices across campus that are at risk of login issues due to time logged off the University’s network. This will apply to:

• PCs on campus that have been switched off for more than 3 months
• University laptops that have not connected to the VPN for more than 3 months, and have not accessed Eduroam for more than 3 months

You will see the error message “No Logon Servers Available” and will require a technician visit. Due to the numbers of our colleagues returning to campus over the next few months, we plan to contact individuals directly and arrange a bookable time for our User Support technicians to visit you and apply essential settings to your device.

If you expect to be on campus soon and believe your device belongs to the above categories, please let us know when you plan to return to site by emailing dts@reading.ac.uk and that you will require technician support.

On Tues 16 Feb, a change was made to the University’s email system so that email coming from outside the University now goes directly to Office 365.  This improves the availability of staff email – we have had a few instances where incoming email could not be delivered – and brings the benefit of additional malware checking from Microsoft.

Since the change, we have been made aware that some staff have had issues due to email being sent to “@rdg.ac.uk” instead of “@reading.ac.uk”.  The “@rdg.ac.uk” format addresses have been deprecated for many years and are no longer supported.  However, if you have a vital requirement for this format of address, please raise a TOPdesk ticket via the Self-Service Portal stating the details of this. Our team will investigate and liaise with you.