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December 24, 2003
Welcome to the December 24, 2003 edition of Forecast -
your electronic newsletter on SKIES (Services, Knowledge
& Information Exchange System). SKIES is the information
technology system developed to support case management,
labor exchange, management information and performance
measures for WorkSource Washington.
This edition presents:
SKIES Version 3 “Highs & Lows”
CITRIX Implemented in 7 Sites
New Schedule for SKIES Statewide Teleconferences
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Readers who know individuals interested in receiving
Forecast should contact Jeanette Nelson at (360)
438-3284 to have them added to the distribution list.
SKIES Version 3 Highs and Lows
The SKIES Change Control Board met by conference call on
December 17th to review the “High, Medium, and Low”
designations assigned by SKIES business and technical
staff to the V3 priorities. “This is a case where we did
make assumptions and listed those assumptions by
priority recommendation” said Rachel Johnston, SKIES
Business Manager. “In order to make an estimate of
effort, whether it would take High, Medium, or Low
effort and time, required staff to assume particular
scenarios related to each recommendation”. These
estimates will be used as “ballpark” and could change
once the business requirements are completed.
Before any requirements are written, the prioritized
recommendations, the assumptions, and the effort
estimates will be presented to the ESD Senior Leadership
and the WDC Executive Directors at their next quarterly
meeting scheduled for January 8th in Seattle. At that
time, the discussion will include what the new features
of the system will be and when they will be implemented.
One of the current assumptions is that V3 will be
programmed, tested, and implemented with NO new staff or
resources. Current staff will work on the priorities
along with the maintenance of the system. A project plan
will be developed which will include both the
maintenance and the development efforts so we are
realistic about how much time it will take to complete
V3. However; the staff will be looking for opportunities
to make V3 changes that can stand-alone and be
implemented as soon as they are tested. “This will
result in getting new features out sooner rather than
the “big Bang” approach and waiting until everything is
finished before it is implemented”, said Peggy
Zimmerman, Business Systems Support.
Citrix Implemented in 7 sites
Seven of the ten identified sites have had a visit from
the SKIES Citrix team where installation of the new
client server has been installed. "We have been looking
at Citrix users on a day to day basis to identify usage
and server capacity" states Jon Tran, Business Systems
Support. "We haven't seen a lot of activity when people
are logged into SKIES through Citrix" "It appears that
those individuals that have Citrix installed on their
computers are not utilizing it as much as anticipated"
replied Tran. The feedback from Citrix users have been
mixed with some sites noticing a faster response time
and others not having any noticeable affect. "We have
had some printing issues at first and have noticed some
unique issues" states Jon Tran. "Each site has a
different set up and will have different issues" "Our
plan is to take each site on a case by case basis to try
and troubleshoot each sites problems once installation
is complete" states Tran.
The SKIES Citrix team has been busy scheduling the
remaining sites and should complete this activity by the
end of January. Once all sites have installed Citrix the
team will continue to monitor usage and report results
to the management team. For more information contact
Rachel Johnston at rjohnston@esd.wa.gov <mailto:rjohnston@esd.wa.gov>.
New Schedule for SKIES Statewide Teleconferences
At the last SKIES statewide Teleconference a question
was asked of SKIES users. "Do you think we need to
continue with these teleconferences each month?" or
"Would it be better to continue to communicate through
the SKIES Forecast and schedule special teleconference
on an as-needed basis?" asked Rachel Johnston, SKIES
Business Systems Support. The overwhelming response was
to continue communicating through the SKIES Forecast and
have special teleconferences when necessary. "We will do
what the users ask, " replied Johnston. "SKIES users
want at least a couple of weeks notification prior to
any teleconferences to identify the right folks to be
involved" added Johnston. We will continue to
communicate through the SKIES Forecast and will provide
advance notice when a teleconference is scheduled.
Help Desk Tip of the Week - Finding SKIES Server Number
“When calls come in to the SKIES Help Desk from users
experiencing problems, we’re always interested in which
SKIES Production server you are logged into.” states Kay
Kaliman, SKIES Help Desk Supervisor. The server number
1, 2, or 3 is located after the title “SKIES Production”
in the color bar at the top of your SKIES screen. You
often can help to trouble shoot the problem by making
note of this number before you close or delete your
SKIES connection.
November 26, 2003
This edition presents:
Version 3 Priorities Proposed
SKIES Train the Trainer Hits the Road
Salary Interval and the Job Order
Subcontractor Report Update
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
Version 3 Priorities Proposed
The SKIES Change Control Board (CCB) met on November
19th to review the results of the votes for priorities
in Version 3. The result of the CCB votes is a
culmination of several months of effort at looking at
all the recommendations collected and processing them to
reveal the most critical changes necessary for the next
version.
The results have been posted on the SKIES website at
www.wa.gov/esd/skies under the topic of Version 3. Those
results are NOT final as the Executive Sponsors and WDA
Directors will have final approval.
“There’s something for everyone to love”, explained
Rachel Johnston, SKIES Business Manager. Many of the
recommendations pertain specifically to Labor Exchange,
many others pertain to WDA and most of the proposed
changes will benefit anyone who uses the system,
regardless of their primary program affiliation.
The next step in the process will be providing cost and
time estimates to the Executive Sponsors and the WDA
Directors. The technical staff has already begun looking
at the proposals to determine associated costs so those
can be presented to the policy makers. Since additional
funds were not allocated for Version 3, the current
staff will do the work while they continue to repair
incidents and provide maintenance of the system. Since
all fatal and critical incidents have been repaired, the
staff will be gearing up for writing the technical
specifications once approvals are in place.
Information on the progress of version 3 will continue
to be reported in future editions of the Forecast. If
you have questions or need additional information,
please contact Rachel Johnston rjohnston@esd.wa.gov or
Peggy Zimmerman at pzimmerman@esd.wa.gov .
Train the Trainer Hits the Road
Kris Moritz and Sarah C. Wilson delivered the first
Train-the-Trainer format using the new SKIES curriculum
the week of November 3 - 7, 2003 in Olympia and
delivered a second session in Spokane the week of
November 17 - 21, 2003. You can now access the new guide
on the SKIES website at www.wa.gov/esd/skies. The new
hard copy manual is used during the training and each
participant will recieve a CD containing the new
curriculum. "The new curriculum is a different way of
presenting the functionality of SKIES leaving local
business practices, policies and procedures up to each
local area," states Kris Moritz, SKIES State Training
Coordinator. Trainees are surprised at the amount of
material delivered in such a short period of time and
pleased with the new user friendly format." "It's
exciting to see the positive changes in the SKIES system
and reaction from the trainers has been very positive,"
added Sarah Wilson, co-trainer.
Kris and Sarah explore the SKIES website and share
"hints" on using the system. The training is not
required for current trainers although the new training
may be helpful. Train the trainer sessions have been
scheduled through the end of January. Newly designated
SKIES trainers needing certification are encouraged to
contact their local training coordinator to request a
training slot. For information regarding training or
training log on ID’s contact Moritz at kmoritz@esd.wa.gov.
The current train the trainer schedule is as follows:
Tacoma-Pierce Consortium 12/1 - 12/5/03
WorkSource Lynnwood 12/8 - 12/12/03
WorkSource Yakima 12/15 - 12/19/03
Benton-Franklin 1/12 - 1/16/04
Southwest Washington-Vancouver 1/26 - 1/30/04
Salary Interval and the Job Order
The SKIES application collects data on many items. One
such item is the Job Order Salary Interval. The "Salary
Interval" on the Job Order Description tab is used to
identify the minimum and maximum wage interval not the
interval that the employee will receive their paycheck,
i.e. bimonthly. For example, the employer states the
position will range in pay from $8.00 to $10.00 per
hour. "Per hour is the salary interval". If you have any
questions regarding the Job Order or just questions in
general contact the SKIES Help Desk at 360.438.4690.
Subcontractor Reports Update
"We have started the first phase of making
sub-contractor reports available to Workforce
Development Areas (WDA)" states Rachel Johnston,
Business Systems Support. "We have developed a new form
for those areas that choose to enter sub-contractor data
for their Workforce Development Areas" continues
Johnston. The new form was available for entering
sub-contractor data the second week of November. There
are four phases of implementing sub-contractor
information:
Phase one is to develop a form for entering
sub-contractor information for those areas that wish to
use it.
Phase two is to determine how many records will
potentially be touched by a data fix for each area.
Phase three is to introduce the available selection of
"contract" information on the Employment and Work
Readiness Plan/Services tab.
The last phase is to provide a report or reports on
sub-contractor activities.
"We had a meeting earlier this month with direct
business users to determine each Workforce Development
Area's need" stated Johnston. "This allowed our team to
start writing business requirements for the reports".
Once the business requirements are frozen, programming
of the reports will begin. For further information,
contact Rachel Johnston at rjohnston@esd.wa.gov .
Help Desk Tip of the Week - Finding Job Orders “By City”
“We often get calls to the SKIES Help Desk from users
wanting to know if it is possible to identify Job Orders
within a particular city” says Kay Kaliman, SKIES Help
Desk Supervisor. The answer is yes! Open job orders can
be found using the Binocular Search feature in SKIES.
You can search for job orders in a particular city, or
by several other characteristics. You can make your
search broad or very specific. Or try several different
combinations until you find just what you want. The SKY
is the limit.
October 31, 2003
This edition presents:
¨ Version 3 Makes Progress
¨ SKIES Forecast Goes to Monthly Distribution
¨ Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
V3 Makes Progress
The SKIES Change Control
Board met on October 22nd and finalized the
recommendations that would be included in the
prioritization process. Each representative had 20 votes
for MUST HAVE and 10 votes for GOOD to HAVE. Those votes
are due today, October 31, 2003. “Wow, it is amazing how
many areas think alike”, said Peggy Zimmerman, Business
Systems Support. “We haven’t received all of the ballots
yet but those we have received have lots of overlap.”
The overlap emphasizes the need for the highest priority
changes. Once the balloting is done and validated, the
results will be sent to Change Control Members for one
last “once over” before a cost analysis is done and
forwarded to the Senior Leadership of ESD and WDA for
final approval. For questions regarding Version 3
contact Peggy Zimmerman at
pzimmerman@esd.wa.gov .
SKIES Forecast
Publication Takes a…Spooky Turn!
"The SKIES Forecast writers have been hexed, the
publication will now be sent only once a month!" states
Rachel Johnston, Business Nervous System Support. "This
is not a trick! Our
ghostwriters have had the skeleton removed from their
articles," continued Johnston. The eerie event will
start in the month of November and will be sent out the
last Friday of each month. "We have published the SKIES
Forecast before, during and after we implemented SKIES
and feel that a Newsletter once a month will now be
sufficient" states Peggy Zimmerman, Business Nervous
System Support. "If there is information that is
necessary to communicate in addition to the regular
monthly newsletter, we will send out Special Editions"
Zimmerman added. We, Business Nervous System Support,
wish to you and yours that a full harvest moon glows on
your nightly activities!
HELP Desk Tip of the
Week
Sometimes users experience what we call a slow response
time (transactions take 10 or more seconds). When this
happens, we suggest that you try to access another
Internet site outside our government network such as
Microsoft network (www.msn.com) and click on links to
other information. When other Internet transactions are
slow, you can expect transactions to be slow in SKIES
too.
October 17, 2003
Welcome to the October
17, 2003 edition of Forecast - your electronic
newsletter on SKIES (Services, Knowledge & Information
Exchange System). SKIES is the information technology
system developed to support case management, labor
exchange, management information and performance
measures for WorkSource Washington.
This edition presents:
¨ Version 3 Priority Process Proceeding
¨ WSMI Reports in SKIES
¨ SKIES Training Ready to Go
¨ Citrix Terminal Services Piloted in Two Local Offices
¨ Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
Version 3 Priority
Process Proceeding
“At the last Change Control Board Meeting, members began
the review of the 400 plus recommendations for changes
in SKIES”, stated Peggy Zimmerman, Business Systems
Support. One of the members, Terry Westmark of Pacific
Mountain WDA has developed a website that has the
recommendations listed. To view the progress of the
Change Control Board subgroups please go to
www.pmwdc.com/skiesv3 . You will see the five subgroups
and the topics they were assigned. If you click on a
topic section you may view the rating assigned by the
subgroup. At our meeting on October 22nd, all the “Must
Haves” and “Good to Haves” will be reviewed added
Zimmerman. If a member, who was not on the subgroup that
assigned a rating, has an opinion or wishes a
recommendation to have a higher ranking, that suggestion
will be discussed.
As you view the
rankings, if you have a different opinion than the group
or would like to offer an opinion, please contact your
Change Control Board representative. Please do this
before the October 22nd meeting. It will help facilitate
the discussion on the 22nd.
Once the Change Control
Board reaches agreement on the top priorities, those
recommendations will be made available for comment
before the final recommendations are given to the ESD
Senior Leadership and the WDA Directors. Questions?
Please contact Peggy Zimmerman at
pzimmerman@esd.wa.gov .
WSMI Reports in SKIES
“The WorkSource Management Indicators Reports available
through the SKIES Reports Menu are not actually SKIES
Reports” states Judy Barney, Business Systems Support,
Special Reports & Projects. Some of the data used to
calculate the reports are obtained from other data
sources. The WorkSource Operations Division (WSOD)
produces these reports and makes them available through
SKIES. The contact person is Deanna Bures (360) 438-
4614 dbures@esd.wa.gov . Full descriptions of these
reports and how the data is counted, calculated and
where it is derived from are available through the HELP
button on the Reports menu. Click on the HELP button and
select Management Indicators (double click). The
selection box then opens up and provides you with HELP
for the Services Matrix, the Excluded Office Listing,
and for each of the WSMI Reports 01 - 04
SKIES Training Ready To
Go…
“The new curriculum will be delivered to local trainers
in a train-the-trainer format beginning in November”,
stated Kris Moritz, SKIES State Training Coordinator.
"The training will cover the functionality of SKIES
leaving local business practices, policies and
procedures up to each local area" added Moritz. The new
manual is written in a different format that is more
user and trainer friendly. In addition to the new
manual, the train-the-trainer training will incorporate
training styles and facilitation of training. "Newly
designated trainers are encouraged to contact their
local training coordinator to request a training slot at
one of the sessions. Previously trained trainers are not
required to attend, but may find the training helpful”
states Moritz. At the completion of the training, each
attendee will receive a hard copy of the new manual and
a copy of the manual on a CD. The training schedule so
far is as follows:
Olympia ESD Annex,
Office of Quality & Organizational Performance, November
3 - 7, 2003
Spokane WorkSource, November 17 - 21, 2003
Tacoma-Pierce County Consortium, December 1 - 5, 2003
Yakima WorkSource, December 15 - 19, 2003.
Each training site has
at least 12 slots available while we are currently
working to find a training site north of Seattle,
hopefully for the week of December 8 - 12, 2003.
The new manual will be
on the SKIES Home Page soon. We are also looking forward
to working on an on-line, self-directed training
tutorial. For more information or question please
contact Kris Moritz at 360.438.4114 or at kmoritz@
esd.wa.gov.
Citrix Terminal Servers
Piloted in Two Local Offices
Citrix sites have been determined by a review of the
Help Desk log and local site visits. Local areas that
have a high rate of response problems and connectivity
problems were determined to need a different connection
to successfully use SKIES with customers. Citrix
requires special licensing per computer user. All
licenses have been allocated.
Two offices that use
SKIES are currently piloting the Citrix terminal servers
as an access point into SKIES. In this application, the
terminal servers are used to increase the speed of data
transmissions over the Internet. “What the Citrix
terminal servers do is compile and compress the data
before it is sent over the Internet. The speed of the
forms loading and execution of the commands are faster
with terminal servers because Citrix does the processing
and the local machine just displays it,” stated Rachel
Johnston, SKIES Business Manager.
The purpose of these
pilots is to identify and solve installation issues,
monitor the Citrix servers and work the “bugs” out
before installing Citrix in other identified offices. It
is expected to take at least until the end of the month
before the pilot sites have all the kinks worked out.
"The technical team has learned quite a bit since we
started the pilots last week and they continue to tweak
and solve issues and monitor the servers" states
Johnston. Information regarding the outcome of these
pilots will be provided in additional articles.
HELP Desk Tip of the
Week
Since the implementation of SKIES Version 2, you may
notice that the cursor will now navigate to data fields
that did not accept manual entry with Version 1. These
are the same fields that have been “view only” fields
and previously bypassed by the cursor. In order for
Assistive Technology software to read or speak these
fields, it was necessary for the cursor to navigate to
all fields. The Assistive Technology software programs
are tools that assist persons with disabilities to
utilize SKIES more effectively.
October
3, 2003
This edition presents:
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
Server Rewiring Delayed
Business Systems Support send out a message on Thursday,
Oct 2nd to let you know that due to rewiring issues, the
SKIES server would be down on Friday, October 3, 2003
beginning at 6PM. We received word late yesterday that
this has been postponed. The next date given was Friday,
October 10, 2003 at 6PM. Please watch your e-mail for
confirmation.
What’s Up with Version 2?
Eleven Incidents have been recorded since the
implementation of Version 2 on September 22, 2003. "We
have currently repaired all but one incident and we
expect that repair to happen soon" states Rachel
Johnston, Business Systems Support. "Implementation went
rather smoothly, we appreciate staff calling in
immediately when they experienced problems" continued
Johnston.
The next step with Version
2 is the final reports from the users who are testing
the assistive technology compatibility. “We very much
appreciate their help with this critical phase”, said
Peggy Zimmerman, Business Systems Support. We will be
able to provide an update of their results within the
next month.
Subcontractor Reports
This is the first phase of making reports available via
sub-contractor to Workforce Development Areas (WDA).
Once we have detailed questions answered, the form will
be available for those that chose to use it to enter
sub-contractor data for their Workforce Development
Area. Once the information is entered for each
sub-contractor, SKIES staff will be able to provide a
detail count of records that is attached to each
sub-contractor.
"We plan on having another meeting in October to final
the business requirements and to review a mock up of
sub-contractor reports", states Rachel Johnston,
Business Systems Support. "Not every WDA will use this
form, however, it will provide information to those
areas that need this kind of information" continued
Johnston.
Pop-up Screen "killers" Can Cause Issues
There are literally hundreds of popup killer programs
currently available that can simply be downloaded from
the Internet and they all react a little differently. If
you have these installed on your PC, you may experience
problems producing reports from the SKIES Menu System.
Technically speaking, this
is due to the fact that reports are brought up as a PDF
file in a separate Internet browser window! Many of
these popup killer programs cannot distinguish this
reporting window from the advertising browser popups
they are designed to kill, and as a result, kill your
report viewer instead. If you have this software on your
desktop it is strongly suggested you remove it.
If you don’t know whether you have these popup killer
programs, check your program list it, it would have been
downloaded from the Internet by the PC user - it is not
standard agency software. You can remove it by: There
may be options for disabling the popup killer for
certain types of windows screens or a hotkey for
bypassing the popup killer on certain sites you don't
want it to affect. To remove the software or set up
options for disabling or bypassing the popup killer re
provider, follow the instructions from the software
provider for the particular type of popup killer or
anti-popup software you have installed.
Version 3 Update
The Change Control Board Members are working diligently
to review all 400 plus suggestions for changes to SKIES.
At the last meeting on September 24th, the members began
the process of identifying the items deemed, “must
haves” or “good to have”. At the meeting on October
22nd, we hope to have completed that process and be
ready to begin the next step of sorting the “must haves”
and “good to haves” into the highest priority items.
Once these recommendations of set up in priority format,
we will get ballpark estimates on time and cost. That
completed package will be presented to the WDA Directors
and the Senior Leadership of ESD to make the final
determination of what will be included in Version 3. We
are very excited about moving to this next step in the
evolution of SKIES.
SKIES Teleconference October 10, 2003 "All about
Training"
Save the date! Due to the limited number of ports, WDC
areas are encouraged to select representatives to
participate in a group setting rather than having
individuals call in. Central Office and Lacey Building
staff for ESD must participate via a group call from the
First Floor Large WorkSource Conference Room in Lacey.
The number to call in to is 360 - 709-4800 (Enter in PIN
NUMBER 5161#)
September 19, 2003
This edition presents:
SKIES Version 2
“Assistive Technology” Implementation
SKIES Glossary of
Terms Now on Line
Referrals and Hires
- Who Gets the “Credit”?
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
VERSION 2 It's A GO!
"As you know,
Version 2 (Assistive Technology) of SKIES allows
complete navigation and access to all functions without
a mouse" states Peggy Zimmerman, E&T Business Systems
Support. We have been waiting a long time for this piece
and have looked forward to the implementation.
"Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Version 2 will
be moved into production on September 22, 2003!"
The user will have the
choice of using the keyboard, mouse or a combination of
both. To help staff with the transition to Version 2,
there are two documents on the SKIES Website, Keyboard
Navigation and Keyboard Quick Reference. Another
resource available to assist users is the Viewlets,
developed by Terry Westmark, Pacific Mountain WDA.
“Terry has once again, gone the extra mile and provided
users with an additional tool”, states Rachel Johnston,
Business Systems Support. “These veiwlets provide a
quick tour of what to expect” added Johnston. Many
thanks to Terry for his assistance.
The Viewlets are a
demonstration of new keyboard strokes and can be
accessed through the SKIES Website, <http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/>
(click on Screen Viewlets) or through www.pmwdc.com/skies
(click on SKIES Version 2 in the upper left corner).
SKIES Glossary - Defining a Term Just Got Easier
“A new ‘Google’
type search is now available for the recently updated
SKIES Glossary”, stated Joe Racek, Business Systems
Support. Joe added “this makes it easy to find the
current definition for terms used in the SKIES system”.
The new glossary includes over 850 definitions and
provides additional information for each term such as
relevant SKIES screens, programs affected, references,
and related reports. The SKIES Glossary can be accessed
from the Help Menu in SKIES, or from the Inside SKIES
web site at <<http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/>>in the right
hand column.
Referrals and Hires - Who Gets The
“CREDIT”?
Many staff have been confused since the inception of
SKIES and universal access, (according to the “Labor
Exchange News Flash #6”) as to how job referrals and
hires entered into SKIES are attributed to particular
offices. All staff is assigned to particular offices
when first provided SKIES log-on access. Once logged
into SKIES, all data entries are attributed to that
staff person's assigned office. When a referral is
provided and entered, it is 'credited' to that staff
person's office as a Service. The Hire is a result of
that Service, which provides a 'credit' to the referring
staff person, regardless of which staff person or office
records the actual Hire. Questions can be directed to
Kaye Clark, Labor Exchange Unit, at kclark@esd.wa.gov
SKIES Help Desk Tip “Did You Know”
People visiting the Inside SKIES web site can easily
locate many helpful resources. Guides and Desk Aids,
Seeker Programs and What's New are located on the front
page for easy reference, as well as indexes to each
section, so the user can easily locate what they need
and want.
The Inside SKIES web
site provides quick, easy access to many helpful
resources. "Answers to many of the questions we receive
from callers can be found on the Inside SKIES web site"
states Steve Cheek, SKIES Help Desk. The most commonly
requested resources on Inside SKIES at <http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies>
are the Guides & Desk Aides for "Seeker Programs",
"Exception Reports" and "Record a Hire". These can be
found at the top of the home page, and are also located
in the User Support section. The Screen Viewlets for
"Create Correspondence" in the Training Section; and
Frequently Asked Questions on "Duplicate Records",
"Cache" and "Printing" in the User Support FAQs Section
are also very popular. He added "Many Log-In problems
can often be avoided by always using the SKIES Logon
buttons in the upper right corner of the Home Page". The
SKIES Help Desk is available Monday through Friday, 8AM
to 5PM at 360-438-4690 or 800-331-5650.
We always welcome
feedback about the Inside SKIES web site. Please send
your comments and suggestions to Linda DuPertuis (:ldupertuis@esd.wa.gov>).
September 5, 2003
This edition presents:
SKIES Change Control
Board Update
SKIES Training Update
SKIES Power User “Helpful Hint”
Version 2 – Assistive Technology Implementation
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
SKIES Change Control
Board Members Busy narrowing down "Must Haves" for
Version 3
The August 27th, 2003 meeting started the first stage of
narrowing down Version 3 Enhancement suggestions. The
board members were assigned to 5 groups and given
approximately 5 main categories with features under each
category. Their task is to prioritize each feature as a
“Must Have”, “Good to Have”, “Nice to Have”, “Not
Applicable”, or “Already Identified”. These features
(recommendations) came from the Version 3 Enhancement
document that has the compiled recommendations from
focus groups, the on-line SKIES, local on-site visits
and Help Desk calls.
"There's a lot of work
to be done in the next couple of months. Our members
have hit the pavement running and I don't expect
anything less than excellent recommendations from the
group" states Peggy Zimmerman, Business Systems Support.
The board will be discussing the "Must Haves" at the
next meeting scheduled for September 24, 2003. At that
time, decisions will be made as to which features will
be recommended to the Executive Technology Oversight
Board.
SKIES Training
Curriculum Takes a Test Drive
A group of SKIES users with various backgrounds met last
week for a mini-training session to test and edit the
new staff profile curriculum for train-the-trainer and
front line users. "These dedicated people arrived early
and left late each day and covered a great amount of
material," stated Kris Moritz, State Training
Coordinator. "The group dynamics was incredible. Their
hard work is helping to create a new manual which will
be located on the SKIES Home Page." After completion of
the “Mock Training” session participants commented:
"I found it a great
learning experience as well as rewarding to know that we
will provide an updated, useful tool!"
"I found the
format to be easily understood and quite user friendly.
The summaries and quick tips were very helpful. I
believe the SKIES reporting tool, in particular, will
help our unit determine claimant's reemployment needs
and customize service offerings."
For questions regarding
specific training issues, suggestions, or assignment of
STU numbers contact Kris Moritz at
kmoritz@esd.wa.gov.
SKIES Power Users
Helpful Hint
Placement is, as a rule, not a good place to go for
counting entered employments. An entered employment for
federal purposes is a result of a person having been
registered, received a service and subsequently has
wages in the UI wage file. “Those are the only ones that
count”. Washington State Management Indicators Report (WSMI)
uses the “New_Hire” Table in DWUSER schema to try to
predict the ones that will eventually have wages and
will count on the federal report.
Sometimes a manager
wants to know the results of a job order and the best
way to get that information is to look at Referral
results in the “Job_Referrals” table. The placement
table is filled from the “SKIES NEW JOB” screen as a
result of filling out the information on a job order,
this however is not consistently done statewide. Unless
you know how it is used in your office, you may not get
good data. Talk to your manager and make sure you have
his/her definition of an “entered employment” this will
ensure you get accurate data.
Version 2
Implementation Plans Underway
“The SKIES Assistive Technology (ADA) implementation has
been set for Monday September 15th” states SKIES
Business Manager, Rachel Johnston. “We have awaited this
day a long time and this will make navigation in SKIES
smoother for all users!” We are holding a Teleconference
on Friday, September 12, 2003 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. to
discuss navigational changes, documents we will be using
for discussion can be found on the SKIES webpage. The
access link is http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies about half
way down in the center column under the title Version 2
Resources, Navigation. The documents are listed
"Keyboard Navigation" and "Keyboard Quick Reference".
Due to the limited
number of ports, WDC areas are encouraged to select
representatives to participate in a group setting rather
than having individuals call in. Central Office and
Lacey Building staff for ESD must participate via a
group call from the First Floor Large WorkSource
Conference Room in Lacey. The number to call in to is
360 - 709-4800 (Enter in PIN NUMBER 5161#)
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Communications are sent out regularly as repairs are
made to the SKIES system, if you have missed one of the
communications or just want to look at what has been
happening you can click on “What’s New on the Inside
SKIES web page,” says Kay Kaliman, SKIES Help Desk.
“Then check the weekly Incident Status report.” Look for
the link to the Incident Status report on the left side
of the Inside SKIES web page at http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies
under the title System Reports.
August
22, 2003
This edition presents:
§ Mock Training Session Scheduled
§ Coming Soon……User Acceptance Testing for Version 2
§ Worms, Viruses and Other Creepy Things
§ “New” Power User Orientation
§ SKIES Help Desk Tip
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
“Mock” Training Session Scheduled
A new version of the SKIES training manual will be
tested by field and administrative staff in a "mock"
training and editing workshop Monday, August 25th
through Wednesday August 27th. Several partner and ESD
staff volunteered their expertise to experiment with the
curriculum and to edit the new material for readability
and functionality. "We want the new material to be user
friendly and to be easily accessed. We are getting
closer to replacing the old manual with the new, "states
Kris Moritz, SKIES State training Coordinator. A new
feature of the material is profile specific. In other
words, depending upon the assigned role, these sections
can be used for content specific to that role i.e. read
only.
For questions regarding specific training issues or
suggestions contact Kris Moritz at <mailto:kmoritz@esd.wa.gov>
Coming Soon……User Acceptance Testing for Version 2
Previous SKIES Forecast articles have been about the
Version Two keyboard navigation updates in SKIES and how
keyboard strokes will be available to move through the
application. The keyboard navigation programming is a
large step towards universal access since assistive
technology software requires the ability to recognize
individual data fields. This recognition is able to
occur when a cursor lands on a field. This includes
“view only” fields and title fields for menus or tabs
within the SKIES screens. People who have and use Dragon
Dictate, Zoom text, and JAWS assistive technology
software have been contacted to perform an organized
“walk through” test of the system. Commonly referred to
as User Acceptance Testing, or UAT, this phase will
demonstrate how compatible SKIES operates in combination
with these other software. The main goal of the UAT will
be to test the compatibility of the software and make
sure that people can move around the SKIES system. An
additional benefit will be the user perspective and
input for Version Three, SKIES enhancements. The results
of the UAT testing portion is expected to last two
weeks. Within this time period, volunteer testers should
be able to recognize whether the software is compatible
and have major bugs identified. Identified system bugs
will have the analysis, prioritization, and programming
steps as is currently applied to SKIES.
SKIES Help Desk Tip
Many users access SKIES through desktop shortcuts and
occasionally experience difficulty connecting. When they
can’t connect, we advise them to use the link buttons
for SKIES located on our Inside SKIES web page at
www.wa.gov/esd/skies. “We ensure these links are always
maintained,” says Joe Racek, SKIES State Security
Administrator. Once the web page is open, look for the
buttons located in the upper right corner to link to
SKIES. They are labeled SKIES or Training from inside or
outside the firewall (government security filter).
Worms, Viruses, and Other Creepy Things
As you all know, the Internet system has been under
attack over the last week from worms and viruses and
Spam creating programs. Tuesday and Wednesday were
particularly difficult in the Employment Security
Department. The Department of Information Services, at
one point on Tuesday and at least part of Wednesday,
disabled e-mail from outside the firewall. Although
shutting e-mail down, does not affect SKIES, it does
inconvenience and frustrate everyone. It is necessary in
order to halt the spread of the “nasties” and there is
no other way to adequately “cleanse” the system without
taking the servers down. Unfortunately, we are being
told that we can expect more attacks in the future.
It’s always a good idea to report difficulties to the
Help Desk in order to confirm the reason for any
problems with SKIES even if you suspect it is related to
a virus or worm. The Help Desk phone number is
360.438.4690.
Orientation for New SKIES Power Users Scheduled
“An orientation for new SKIES power users will be held
on August 26th in Seattle”, stated Ina Schmidt, SKIES
Data Warehouse. The orientation is geared to cover SKIES
data warehouse, SKIES data, data security, restricted
data, consolidated tables, data dictionary, ODBC (in a
nutshell), passwords, and connecting and using the
database noted Schmidt. She added “ this orientation is
not geared to teach anyone how to use Access or any
other reporting tool, but may be useful in other ways”.
For information regarding the orientation contact Ina
Schmidt at <mailto:ischmidt@esd.wa.gov>
August
8, 2003
This
edition presents:
-
Change Control Board
Reviews Version 3 Summary
-
CDs Instead of
Teleconference for Version 2
-
Contractor
Reports-We Ask the Experts!
-
SKIES Help Desk Tip
-
Local Services Added
to SKIES and Reporting
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 or jcnelson@esd.wa.gov
to have them added to the distribution list.
Change Control Board Reviews Version 3 Summary
One report detailing suggestions for Version 3 of SKIES
was one hundred and forty nine pages long and the other
report was a summary. The Change Control Board received
both of these reports at their last meeting. Members
will be reviewing the suggestions and ideas and at the
August 27th meeting will focus on the most critical
changes needed. The suggestions have been categorized
into 30 topical areas. Overall, the suggestions are
primarily focused on streamlining the application,
making fewer entries and being able to more efficiently
input information and locate specific job seekers.
All of the ideas
gathered will be reviewed and considered. Once the
priorities are established by the Change Control Board
and the Executive Sponsors, those suggestions not
included will be kept for consideration in future
versions. “Our budget for SKIES has been cut”, said
Peggy Zimmerman, “which means we will want to be very
clear and in consensus on those items that must be
included in Version 3”.
“Wow, lots of excellent
ideas from the users”, said Rachel Johnston, SKIES
Business Manager, “I knew we could count on the field to
come up with creative and efficient recommendations”.
“The hardest part will be deciding which ones go in
first”.
Because the document is
so large, we aren’t planning on posting it on the SKIES
website unless we heard from you. If you would like to
have it posted, please let Peggy Zimmerman know at
pzimmerman@esd.wa.gov.
Compact Discs instead
of Teleconferences for Version 2
The first phase of SKIES Version 2 software upgrades
will allow people to use the keyboard to navigate
through SKIES software. When this phase is implemented,
the keyboard navigation will be more consistent from
screen to screen. Navigating by keyboard only will be an
option that is available to people who do not use the
mouse. A decision was made at the Change Control Board
meeting on Wednesday 7-30-03 to provide a succinct
document stating the key strokes for the commands and a
more descriptive document that includes screen prints as
examples rather than a series of teleconferences. The
documents will be available on the SKIES web site and
there will be also be CD’s for distribution. There will
be an opportunity to chat and clarify these documents
during the next regular SKIES teleconference scheduled
for September 12, 2003.
Contractor Reports: We Asked the Experts!
"There have been a lot of frustration among several
Workforce Development Area's in regards to accessing
data for their contracted staff" states Rachel Johnston,
SKIES Business Systems Support. "Current reports provide
information via offices. However, information also needs
to be gathered via contracted staff and there just isn't
a clean way to do this". "We recently conducted a very
informative meeting by asking those folks who know
exactly what is needed to eliminate the frustration"
said Johnston.
This meeting assisted
SKIES staff with enough detail to begin business
requirements, provide a mock up screen sample and table
content. There was representation from several Workforce
Development Areas where accessing contracted staff data
is a necessity.
"We look forward to
making this possible and having this available within
the next couple of months" states Rachel Johnston, SKIES
Business Systems Support. "I want to thank those
individuals that participated in this meeting because
without their expert knowledge we wouldn't be able to
accomplish a positive outcome" said Johnston. More
information will be provided on this topic in subsequent
articles.
SKIES Help Desk Tip - Recording Seeker Services
Did you know that whenever you use SKIES to list a job,
search for an applicant, make a referral or conduct an
assessment, the system automatically records the
appropriate service to the seeker or employer record?
Since the system does it for you, it is not necessary to
add the service manually on the Seeker or Employer
Services form for the following services: Job Listings,
Search for Applicant, Job Referrals, Referral to Other
Services, Comprehensive Assessment, Initial Assessment,
Skills Assessment, Job Matching, and Pending List
Referrals. If you have any questions, contact the SKIES
Help Desk at (360) 438-4690 or (800) 331-5650.
Local Services Added to SKIES and
Reporting:
Services that are added at the local level are not
included in DOL Federal Reports for Labor Exchange. They
are, however, counted in WIA based on the Group Type
those services are attached to. Labor Exchange does not
report to DOL on Service Group Types (Core, Intensive,
Training, etc); but does report on Service Descriptions
that are identified as Statewide in SKIES. Only SKIES
Business Systems Support can identify new “Statewide”
reporting elements. The reason these local services
cannot be “counted” in Labor Exchange reports is that
the “definitions” for those services may or may not meet
the Federal Definition for that reporting element. If
you believe a local service should meet the federal
definitions, you may contact Judy Barney at jbarney@esd.wa.gov
to discuss the possibility of adding the service to the
statewide list. Offices that have added local services
need to be aware of this information when reviewing
federal reports, the numbers may not be as high as
expected.
July
25, 2003
This edition presents:
§ Training Update
§ Program Enrollment Changes Implemented
§ Progress on Local Management Reports
§ Update on Assistive Technology
§ New Process on Opt Outs
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
SKIES Training
Update
“With all the changes and incident repairs since the
implementation of SKIES there is much work to be done to
update the training curriculum” stated Rachel Johnston,
SKIES Business Manager. Several months ago we brought
Kris Moritz on board to head up that endeavor as the new
State SKIES Training Coordinator. “We are very pleased
to have her on board with us and Kris has been working
relentlessly toward the goal of a new updated version of
the curriculum”.
“I am looking forward
to meeting you in the near future. Yes . . . the near
future!”, commented Kris Moritz. I am updating the SKIES
Training and Reference Manual (2001) and developing new
curriculum for train-the-trainer and SKIES users. We are
also currently looking in to the development of an
on-line tutorial program to assist in training.
In addition I will be
conducting a mini-training session to experiment with
the new curriculum using the updated manual near the end
of August. The next step is to replace the old manual
with the new on the Inside SKIES Home Page and
coordinate train-the-trainer training.
For questions regarding
specific training issues or suggestions contact Kris
Moritz at kmoritz@esd.wa.gov <mailto:kmoritz@esd.wa.gov>.
Program Enrollment
Changes Implemented
“Changes to the Program Enrollment table, the Seeker
Program Screen and the Program Validation Screen were
implemented on the weekend of July 12, 2003” stated
Nancy Burkhart, Business Systems Support. The Seeker
Program-Program Enrollment screen has been enhanced to
gather and "freeze" specific demographic data at the
time of "Enrollment" for WIA, WTW, TAA and NAFTA
programs. She added the biggest change is the
requirement for the user to complete the Program
Validation process before saving a new record as a
"Participant".
Also created was a new
role in SKIES the "Program Editor". “The role, commented Burkhart, was
established to allow a limited number of users the
ability to correct the demographic data (if necessary),
saved to Program Enrollment records at the time of
enrollment”. The selection of which users will be
assigned the "Program Editor" roll is at the discretion
of each WDA and will follow the same procedures
established when assigning roles within the application.
Documents outlining the changes that were implemented
can be found on the SKIES Website at <http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies>.
Progress on Local
Management Reports Continues
“The business requirements for three sets of the Local
Management Reports (LMR) have been drafted, and a fourth
is under development”, reported Judy Barney, Business
Systems Support. She added a request was received from
the Executive Sponsors to combine the Employer Services
and the Services By Employer reports into one report.
That has been accomplished by providing a selection item
that provides the report requestor with the option of a
“detail” or “count” report.
Ä The detail report
will provide users with a list of employers with
services within specified time periods, and other
selection criteria
Ä The “Count” report would provide the report requestor
with a count of employer activities within a specified
period of time.
The draft business requirements and a new sample of the
report format will be made available on the web site by
August 10, 2003. The Website url is: <http://www.pmwdc.com/skiesreportideas/index.htm>
A monthly progress
report will also be established and made available at
that time. The development of the requirements has been
adversely impacted as the staff preparing these business
requirements have been dedicating their time and efforts
toward submitting the Program-Year-End data to DOL and
supporting requests from the local level for year-end
information. Full-time dedication to the Local
Management Reports will be reinstated by August 1.
For questions or
comments, contact Judy Barney jbarney@esd.wa.gov <mailto:jbarney@esd.wa.gov>
or Elise McKnight emckight@esd.wa.gov <mailto:emckight@esd.wa.gov>.
SKIES Technology
Reaches a New Level Towards Universal Access
SKIES programming and test staff are now in the second
iteration of testing the SKIES Application for keyboard
navigation. “Each completed iteration means less
programming bugs and more consistency in the
application” stated Bob Lencioni, SKIES Software
Architect. He added “Our most important goal is for
people who will be using the keyboard to navigate
through SKIES to have a consistent result from screen to
screen. Where the cursor lands and what field it lands
on should not be a mystery.” SKIES Administration has
been working with the Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation on communicating with staff for the User
Acceptance Testing (UAT) stage. “When the bugs are few
enough, the UAT testers will play a critical role in the
determination of how well we did in our updates” states
Rachel Johnston, SKIES Business Manager. “This level of
accessibility for everyone is very exciting!”
Go2 begins new
Process on Opt Outs
“We now have a new Opt-Out notification procedure being
used here in Central Office” noted Joe Racek, Business
Systems Support. Case Managers were experiencing
difficulties with the Opt-Out process and requested a
solution be identified. The process begins when filing
an Unemployment Insurance claim, WIA program
participants are notified of their option to “Opt Out”
of sharing their confidential personal information. If
the claimant chooses to Opt Out, WIA case managers who
are not ESD employees may be blocked from accessing the
SKIES record for that seeker.
A new notification
procedure has been implemented to notify case managers
when this happens. The e-mail notice will say: “If the
opt-out restricts your access to this seeker’s SKIES
record, you may want to contact him/her to explain that
you are no longer able to access the SKIES record. If
the seeker should reconsider, please obtain his/her
permission to change the data sharing status to YES (Opt
In) and return this message, changing the subject line
to “Opt-in request”.
SKIES system
administrative staff will then be able to change the
SKIES Data Sharing flag back to YES, allowing the case
manager to access the record. When sending an Opt-In
request using this new process, please be sure to
document the client’s permission to share data in the
seeker’s case notes and follow any other required local
WDA “Opt Out” procedures.”
For more information,
contact Joe Racek at jracek@esd.wa.gov <mailto:jracek@esd.wa.gov>
July
11, 2003
This edition presents:
§ Demographic Report
§ Version 7 Go2worksource Requirements Frozen
§ SKIES Tip of the Month
§ Final Local Management Reports
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
Demographic Report
"WE ARE ALMOST THERE, IT'S REALLY CLOSE!" states Rachel
Johnston, Business Systems Support. "User Acceptance
Testing started July 11, 2003. The following week will
really provide us with how well the report is working".
Several users from different Workforce Development Areas
will be testing the Demographic Report the week of July
14th. "We are really exited about getting this report
tested and we are
looking forward to making this report available for
users" states Johnston.
As you know, changes to
the Seeker Programs and Program Validation screens will
be implemented the weekend of July 12, 2003. The changes
to the system will provide the information necessary to
run the Demographic Report. If User Acceptance Testing
goes well, implementation of the report will soon
follow. Notification of the availability of the
Demographic Report will be communicated through the
normal notification process.
Requirements Frozen
for Version 7 go2worksource
Business Requirements for Version 7.0 of
Go2WorkSource.com have been signed off and development
for the new web site features has begun. The
Go2WorkSource Web Site has not significantly changed
since July, 2000, with only minor modifications
introduced along the way. Since then, requests for
enhancements from staff and other users have been
compiled to form the basis for this new version.
Implementation is planned for Spring, 2004.
The enhancements
contained in Version 7.0 support the goals of
Accountability, Efficiency, Usability, and meeting or
exceeding Industry Standards, as well as addressing many
customer requests received over the last three years.
For details about the new features to be included, see
Highlights of Version 7.0 at <<http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/v7summary.htm>>
or review the entire Business Requirements Document at
<http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/v7requirements.htm>
<<http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/v7requirements.doc>>. For
more information, contact Sherry Kerrihard <<mailto:skerrihard@esd.wa.gov>>.
Help Desk Tip of the
month!
The end of Program Year ’02 for Department of Labor
reporting purposes was June 30, 2003. Beginning July 1,
2003, staff will be unable to enter Labor Exchange
services dated prior to July 1, 2003 in the Seeker
Services screen. If attempted, an error message will
display stating, “You cannot enter a service date less
than 07/01/03 program year start date.”
As an exception for
Program Year ’02 only, Labor Exchange services provided
for Program Year ’02 that were not entered prior to July
1, 2003 may be entered, as needed and necessary, by
entering the service date of July 1, 2003. These
services will be included as a Program Year 03 service.
The actual service date, along with an explanation of
why the service was not entered timely, would need to be
documented in the ‘Notes’ section of the Seeker Services
screen.
The only services that
can be backdated are those associated with a WIA Program
Participant and reported in the Employment Plan or Work
Readiness Plan that includes the Goals & Objectives and
Services tab.
Final Local
Management Reports
The top five Local Management Reports (LMR) have been
selected! They are a combination of two employer reports
that are for Employer Services, New Employer, Job Seeker
Services and Activities, Job Seeker Demographics and
Case Management Youth Skills and Goals Status by Staff.
These reports were selected by the Executive Sponsors,
Dwight Wood, Peggy Zimmerman and Larry Sanchez. Business
analysis has been completed on two of the selected
reports, with the First Draft of the Business
Requirements Specifications completed for one. Judy
Barney and Elise McKnight, Business Systems Support,
will continue analysis and preparation of the Business
Requirements over the next several weeks.
The Reports
Workgroup Website at <<http://www.pmwdc.com/skiesreportideas/index.htm>>
will display the Business Requirements and the Business
Specifications for each report as they are completed.
Updates will be available through the Progress Update
selection on the menu. The detailed requirements and
specifications are attached to each report under the
name of the report. To open the new documents, select
either Business Requirements or Business Specifications
and the documents will appear. If you have questions,
please direct them to Judy Barney jbarney@esd.wa.gov <mailto:jbarney@esd.wa.gov>
<<mailto:jbarney@esd.wa.gov>> or Elise McKnight
emcknight@esd.wa.gov <mailto:emcknight@esd.wa.gov> <<mailto:emcknight@esd.wa.gov>>
June
27, 2003
This edition
presents:
Version 2 testing
started
Version 3 Focus Groups Provide Insights
Lightning is Up!
SKIES Help Desk - Tip of the month
July 11th Teleconference Scheduled
Version 2 testing
started
"We have started testing Version 2 of SKIES," states
Rachel Johnston, SKIES Business Manager. This version
will enable assistive technology applications to be
compatible with SKIES.
Through our testing
efforts, we have been able to identify several incidents
thus far. These include twelve fatal, eight critical,
and fourteen incidents that range from mild to serious.
We will continue to test for functionality throughout
the month of July.
At this point, the more
incidents that are discovered and fixed prior to User
Acceptance Testing the more smooth the transition will
become. That means that testers will completely go
through the SKIES application in multiple iterations.
Version 3 Focus Groups
Provide Insights
“This was a great way to make sure SKIES works for
everyone”, commented a focus group participant. Eight
focus groups with representation from all areas of the
state were held beginning the end of May and concluding
in Mid June. All suggestions and recommendations were
catalogued and sorted. The topics used for the sorting
are:
New Service or Feature
Navigation
Accountability/Access/Security
Reports/Queries
Efficiencies
Incidents
Other
Doug Edison, Focus
Group Contractor, provided the preliminary summary of
information to the Change Control Board on June 25th. At
that time Doug said the combining of Navigation and
Efficiencies into one category may be useful. Those two
categories combined represent about half of all the
recommendations provided.
Doug is now in the
process of folding the local user group recommendations,
the existing enhancement list and the recommendations
from the SKIES link into one document which is due by
the end of July.
“Wow, what a great
group of people. They are on time, focused on the task,
and genuinely interested in making SKIES a better
product” said Doug. The information that has been
collected will be invaluable as decisions are made for
changes to the application. Special thanks to all who
participated or provided information to those people who
did participate. We expect to share the combined
information sometime in August.
Lightning is Up!
The new IBM M80 Production Database (Lightning) is up
and running. It was placed into production on June 12th.
This now provides us with the old M80 (Thunder) as a
“fail back” in the event that something happens to the
new M80. “This is sound technology redundancy”, said Jim
DeBlasio, Acting Assistant Commissioner for the
Information Technology Services Division. “You should
always have at least one fall-back in the case of
failure on a mission critical system. Now we do with the
new Lightning Production box.
In addition, the old
Thunder will serve as a reports server and allow extra
capacity for testing of new features in the application.
The planning and
testing and finally installation of Lightning took weeks
of time for the staff . “It was worth every minute we
invested, said Peggy Zimmerman, the switchover happened
without a hitch”.
Help Desk Tip of the
month!
Question: I can't find skills associated with O*Net Code
in Desired Employment. What to do?
Click on the down arrow
next to the O*Net Code field to get a blank O*Net search
screen. In the Code field, put in the first three or
four digits of the O*Net code that has no skill attached
with a % (wild card). Click on Find to get a list of
similar occupations. Pick the one closest to what you
are looking for and there should be skills associated
with it. Often the O*Net Code that says “All Others” at
the end of the job title will not have a skill set with
it.
July Teleconference
Scheduled
The next SKIES teleconference is scheduled for Friday,
July 11, 2003 from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. The topic for
discussion will be:
Changes to “Program
Enrollment”
The number to call is 360-709-4800, PIN 5161#. Due to
the limited number of ports, local areas are encouraged
to select representatives to participate in a group
setting rather than having individuals call in. Central
Office and Lacey Building staff for ESD must participate
via a group call from the First Floor Conference room in
the Lacey building.
June
13, 2003
Welcome to the June 13,
2003 edition of Forecast - your electronic newsletter on
SKIES (Services, Knowledge & Information Exchange
System). SKIES is the information technology system
developed to support case management, labor exchange,
management information and performance measures for
WorkSource Washington.
This edition presents:
§ SKIES Questionnaire Available On-line
§ When Are Wages Posted On The Wage Information Screen?
§ Frequently Asked Question’s, SKIES Help Desk Responds
§ Local Reports Workgroup Wraps Up
Readers who know
individuals interested in receiving Forecast should
contact Jeanette Nelson at (360) 438-3284 to have them
added to the distribution list.
Have you seen the SKIES
Questionnaire now available on-line?
"The SKIES
Questionnaire is now available on-line. This is just
another way of gathering information of how we can
improve the SKIES application" states Rachel Johnston,
SKIES Business Systems Support. Users can access this
questionnaire by clicking on the "Help" Menu Option in
SKIES and selecting "SKIES Questionnaire". Documentation
on how to use the questionnaire is available through the
SKIES web site or by right clicking within the SKIES
questionnaire on-line form and selecting "help". The
questionnaire will be available to SKIES users for
approximately one month.
The information that is
gathered from the questionnaire will be compiled with
the information from focus groups and prior enhancement
suggestions. For more information on how to access the
questionnaire go to the SKIES web site at <http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies>
or contact the SKIES Help Desk at 360.438.4690.
When Are Wages Posted
On The Wage Information Screen?
Users want to know when wage amounts are updated in the
Taxis Interface Wage Information screen. This data is
needed to report and monitor wage increases to meet
established Wage Progression Performance goals. The
TAXIS interface posts wage information on the 27th day
in the second month after a completed quarter. Those
months are May, August, November and February. In
addition, a “catch-up” interface runs on the 4th of
every month to report new and/or updated wages that were
reported late by employers.
Local Reports Workgroup
Completes Charge
“The Local Reports Workgroup has completed the charge!”
states Judy Barney, Employment & Training, Business
Systems Support. The group submitted approximately 30
reports for review, out of the thirty reports submitted
the workgroup voted on the top ten to submit to the
Executive Sponsors for prioritization into the top five.
Once the decision is made they will begin writing
business requirements, development of reports, testing
and finally implementation. The actual voting process
resulted in a tie for the last 3 slots which increased
the total number of reports submitted to the Sponsors
for a priority decision. This increased the number of
reports submitted to the Sponsors from ten to twelve.
Sponsors need to recommend the top five priorities by
June 20. On June 21, Business Systems Support staff will
begin development of the business requirements with the
assistance of some of the report originators to
facilitate the actual programming of the reports. “With
the assistance of Terry Westmark from Pacific Mountain
future status reports will be available on the website
along with the voting results and continuous progress”
states Judy Barney. “The group is to be commended for a
job well done. The project lasted a total of 7 months,
and there were 30 to 34 participants on the workgroup
from beginning to end” added Barney. The website address
for these status reports is <http://www.pmwdc.com/skiesreportideas/index.htm>
May 30, 2003
Welcome to the May 30, 2003 edition of Forecast - your
electronic newsletter on SKIES (Services, Knowledge &
Information Exchange System). SKIES is the information
technology system developed to support case management,
labor exchange, management information and performance
measures for WorkSource Washington.
This
edition presents:
Local Management Reports Group Prioritization
Local Visits
SKIES Version 3 Focus Groups are Underway
Version 2 Assistive Technology Compatibility
June Teleconference Scheduled
Readers who know individuals interested in receiving
Forecast should contact Jeanette Nelson at (360)
438-3284 to have them added to the distribution list.
Local
Management Reports Group Prioritization
The 30+ members of the Local Management Reports Task
Group from across the state will vote for the ten
reports most important for them. The voting starts today
and will conclude next week. Once the votes are
tabulated, they will then go to the Executive Sponsors
for prioritization into the top 5 reports to be
programmed right away. The other reports will be placed
on a prioritized list to be developed as soon as
possible. When the business requirements have been
developed and approved, programming begins. Once
programming is completed, the reports go into TEST
phase. After testing the reports will be given to a
select group of Field Testers to ensure that
accessibility, usability and functionality meet business
needs. When
successfully completed, the reports will be moved into
production.
The
Local Management Reports Task Group will have completed
their assignment and charge by July 1, with the
exception of a few team members being called upon to
“test” developed reports between July 1 and December 31,
2003. Special thanks go to the representatives from
every area for engaging in the process and for final
recommendations which will go to the Executive Sponsors.
The Task Group had two statewide meetings along with
Conference Calls, e-mails and electronic access to a
website to get the work done. Thank you and
congratulations on a job well done.
Local
Visits
In the last edition of Forecast, an article appeared
about the local visits being conducted by Peggy
Zimmerman and Rachel Johnston. The purpose of those
visits was to learn what in SKIES works for people and
what gets in the way. To date 36 offices have been
visited with four additional locations scheduled.
In
general, people are pleased with the changes that have
been made to SKIES and feel that it has improved since
implementation. The Job Order Button has been especially
appreciated in the field.
Changes that need to be done range from the very complex
to the very simple. Many people would like to see:
Job
Seeker results include a middle initial and/or a local
identifier
Cleaning of the Employer Database
Record multiple seeker services either seeker to several
services or groups of seekers to services such a
workshop or mass recruitment
Streamline the employment plan
Consistent defaults
Use of function keys instead of always using the mouse
Reports
Printing
improvements
Suggestions and comments are currently being compiled
into a report that will be presented at the next
Executive Technology Oversight Board meeting scheduled
for June 20, 2003.
SKIES
Version 3 Focus Groups Are Underway
The first focus group meeting was held in Tacoma on
Thursday, May 22nd with a round representation from
local offices. The second focus group session was held
in SW Washington on Thursday, May 29th. There will be a
total of eight focus group meetings statewide to
represent local areas facilitated by an independent
contractor. Focus group participants are selected by
each local area leadership. These groups constitute one
aspect of the information gathering process for
enhancement areas of SKIES. SKIES help desk staff have
been and will continue to list enhancement suggestions
directly from users and there will be a bonus feature of
SKIES screens coming soon that will allow a pop up
suggestion form. There
will be smaller user groups formed and facilitated by
the local areas that will also provide a conduit of
information for SKIES enhancements. The remaining six
groups are scheduled throughout the month of June and
the information gathered will be summarized by the
facilitator and submitted to the Change Control Board.
Version 2 to begin testing in June
June is the targeted month to begin functional testing
of the SKIES Application. "As you know, Version 2 of
SKIES allows complete navigation and access to all
functions without a mouse. Being able to tab throughout
the whole application will make SKIES work for Assistive
Technology Applications,” states Rachel Johnston, SKIES
Business Manager.
"We
have anticipated the start of testing and look forward
to completing the testing in a timely manner" states
Rachel. We will continue to keep users apprised of our
testing progress and anticipate an added benefit for all
users of the system. In our next “Forecast” we will have
a better estimate of when Version 2 will be introduced
into production.
June
Teleconference Scheduled
The next SKIES teleconference is scheduled for Friday,
June 13, 2003 from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. The topics to be
discussed include:
Focus
Groups
Local Visits
Local Management Reports priorities
SKIES “link” to version 3 suggestions
The
number to call is 360-709-4800, PIN 5161#. Due to the
limited number of ports, local areas are encouraged to
select representatives to participate in a group setting
rather than having individuals call in. Central Office
and Lacey Building staff for ESD must participate via a
group call from the First Floor Conference room in the
Lacey building.
May 16, 2003
Welcome to the May 16, 2003 edition of Forecast - your
electronic newsletter on SKIES (Services, Knowledge &
Information Exchange System). SKIES is the information
technology system developed to support case management,
labor exchange, management information and performance
measures for WorkSource Washington.
This edition presents:
Readers who know individuals interested in receiving
Forecast should contact Jeanette Nelson at (360)
438-3284 to have them added to the distribution list.
SKIES Staff Go Visiting
Information from the source is always the best. To
gather that information, Peggy Zimmerman and Rachel
Johnston have been visiting with SKIES users around the
state. To date 36 offices have had a visit. The purpose
of the visits is to learn about users general reaction
to where SKIES is today. “We have heard the good, the
bad, and the ugly”, says Peggy Zimmerman. In some cases
staff feel good about SKIES and their ability to use the
system as a tool to support their work and in other
cases design issues hamper the users ability to enter
and extract information that is needed. At least 4
additional offices will be visited with the final visit
scheduled for June 4th.
The
information gathered will be compiled into a report that
will be presented to the Executive Technology Oversight
Board on June 5th. In addition, this information will be
added to the Version 3 list for review.
A
very special thanks, to those offices that took the time
and effort to provide information to Peggy and Rachel.
In spite of their busy schedules, they were
accommodating and very, very helpful with their
feedback.
Version 3 Focus Groups
SKIES has officially launched the information gathering
phase for Version 3 of SKIES. A contractor, Douglas
Edison, has been hired to work with local areas in
setting up focus groups and getting the participants
lined up. The first focus group will be held on May 22nd
in Pierce County with the remaining seven sessions
scheduled in June.
The
biggest challenge will be setting the right framework to
collect the specific information needed without getting
“stuck” in the same complaints that have already been
recorded for the enhancement list. “We will finalize the
approach for the information gathering today. We want a
structure that will gather as much information as
possible, and we want to minimize the redundant data at
the same time. I am excited and looking forward to
working with the focus groups” said Doug Edison.
ETOB Information Technology Policy Link
At the last Executive Technology Oversight Board the
WorkSource System Information Technology Policy was
finalized. This policy lays out the procedures and the
ethically standards related to use of the state internet
system and the use of state resources generally. It was
crafted as a policy that can be used by both Employment
Security staff as well as Workforce Boards, local
contractors, and local partners. The policy is available
on the SKIES website at <http://www.wa.gov/esd/skies/>
For additional information, contact Peggy Zimmerman at
pzimmerman@esd.wa.gov.
Upcoming Meetings
The next Change Control Board meeting will be held May
21st at SeaTac airport. The fo | 
WorkSource
Offices
News
2003
