A Message to Colleges

CCC Technology Center Shuts Down QA Environment and Releases New PILOT (Beta) Environment for OpenCCCApply

July 16, 2015

On Wednesday, July 22, 2015, the CCC Technology Center will be shutting down the OpenCCCApply QA development environment currently used for implementation and testing for the CCCApply applications and staff tools (Administrator and Report Center).  A new testing environment called PILOT will replace the QA site beginning Thursday, July 23, 2015.   

The new PILOT site will launch fully functional and fully loaded. No changes will be made to your existing QA data, artifacts, user accounts, Report Center reports, and other Administrator settings.

However, you will need to update your QA URL addresses for testing Applications and downloads to point to the new PILOT environment.  
 

The PILOT environment contains production-level code, which means it mirrors the student application exactly for the following OpenCCCApply applications:

• • OpenCCC Student Account System

  • CCCApply Standard & International Applications

  • Board of Governor’s (BOG) Fee Waiver Application

  • CCCApply Administrator

  • CCC Report Center

What does this mean for colleges that are Live on OpenCCCApply?

Colleges that have already adopted OpenCCCApply will continue to have access to a testing environment (beta site) that mirrors the Production student applications and tools, for testing and implementing additional OpenCCCApply applications (including the BOG and International applications).

What WILL NOT Change?

The URLs you are currently using to access the QA Administrator and Report Center WILL NOT CHANGE when we stand up the new PILOT environment. In addition, your current user accounts will not change and you will continue to Sign In to the Administrator and Report Center with these credentials. All of your existing QA Administrator settings and artifacts, and Report Center ad hoc views and reports, will be migrated over to the new PILOT environment for you. The entire process should be seamless for college users.  

NOTE:  If you encounter any problems accessing the new PILOT URLs, please visit www.ccctechnology.info and navigate to CCCApply System Alerts category for FAQs or to submit a request for technical support.

What WILL Change?

On Thursday, July 23 at 9:00 AM PST, colleges will need to update their test URL addresses to access the new PILOT OpenCCCApply applications and downloads URL attributes.  

Remember:  NO changes have been made to the student-facing (Production) CCCApply applications, staff tools, or downloads servers. The only change being made to your existing OpenCCCApply implementation is we've retired an outdated testing environment (QA) and replaced it with a new and improved test site (PILOT) to allow colleges a stable and secure test environment for ongoing testing and implementation of future applications.  Please see 
 

CCCApply Applications URLs

Remember to include your college's MIS code to the end of each application URL. (See below for an example of how Butte College will update their QA CCCApply application URL to the new PILOT CCCApply application URL.)  

How will this affect colleges implementing now?

Again, the move from the old QA to the new PILOT site for testing and implementation will be seamless for colleges. The CCCApply college support team will work with you to ensure the transition of URLs and IP addresses are handled immediately. Any artifacts such as your email rule messages, supplemental question XML files, and custom reports will be moved over to the new site for you. Staff and Administrator User accounts will not change and you will be able to log in to the staff tools on the PILOT site with the same username and password.  

Colleges who are in the middle of implementing OpenCCCApply, the BOG Fee Waiver application, or plan to adopt the International application, should contact the CCCApply Implementation team to ensure your transition is smooth.  

Terms of Use

Lou - do we want to take this opportunity to define some Terms for use and support of the new PILOT site?  Do we offer support to colleges that have already deployed to OpenCCCApply and no longer implementing (using the PILOT site for setting up and testing)?

Contact Us

For questions related to the QA > PILOT site cutover transition, please contact Patty Donohue, Project Manager, pdonohue@ccctechcenter.org.

For 24/7 online documentation and support, visit www.ccctechnology.info > CCCApply System Alerts   

CCCApply System Alerts Post

Title:  CCC Technology Center Releases New PILOT Test Environment for OpenCCCApply;  Existing QA Site Reaches End of Life

Post:  On July 23, 2015, a new OpenCCCApply test environment will retire and colleges live on OpenCCCApply will no longer have access to the OpenCCCApply QA environment. Colleges should transition seamlessly to the new PILOT environment, including all college test artifacts and user accounts. The process of migrating users from QA to the new PILOT test environment is available on the CCCApply Project Site > Development.  

CCCApply Category Page Posts

TBD

FAQs for GS Site

• • Question: “I am trying to test a new email rule for CCCApply and I can’t access the QA Administrator site.  I’m getting the following error message:  XYZ.  Is there a problem with the site?
    
    Answer:  On Wednesday, July 22, 2015, the OpenCCCApply QA environment will retire and will be taken off-line.  On Thursday, July 23, 2015, colleges will be directed to the new PILOT environment for the student applications, Administrator & Report Center.  
    
    For more information about the new OpenCCCApply PILOT cutover process and timeline, see A Message to Colleges…”  

PILOT Environment Benefits:

• • Will match Production after a new Production release

  • Will be used to demonstrate upcoming release features and functionality prior to a release to Production

  • Secure, stable environment for testing and onboarding new colleges

  • ?  Load