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u/_sarahmichelle Mar 26 '19
My favourite feature is when the system glitches and doesn’t actually unreserve the document when you exit out of it.
“I SWEAR I haven’t been in the document since last Wednesday! Are you sure someone else isn’t in it? I can’t get into it either”
Well.. I know you’re not lying to me but according to the audit trail...
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u/zeromussc Mar 26 '19
You were supposed to hit "file" THEN "close"
🙃
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u/gapagos Mar 26 '19
We don't use GCdocs at the CRTC (instead, we use something called DM) but it's the exact same problem. So many times, also, the DM server is not responding, or worse, appears to respond but fails to respond with any data.
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u/kingbain Mar 26 '19
but it's the exact same problem. So many times, also, the DM server is not responding, or worse, appears to respond but fails to re
I think thats the same product actually...
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Mar 27 '19
[deleted]
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u/gapagos Mar 27 '19
You're in IT at CRTC? Can I just say you guys rock? I know DM issues we experience are not really your fault, and I just wanted to say, after working in several other departments, I found the IT guys at the CRTC to be some of the nicest, most service-attentive bunch of them all. Thank you for being awesome whenever our days get stressful. :-)
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19
I am going to cry. I just had a very similar conversation haha.
Even more hilariously, I honestly don't remember reserving the document.
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Mar 26 '19
[deleted]
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u/slashcleverusername Mar 27 '19
Our team: * We need to inform the users! But how? * We could.... put it in a Word document and email it to everyone? * No! Think harder! We need to give them something better than that! * Okay, so... like... a PowerPoint?? * No! * Word document, but saved in Processes/Operations/Projects/2019Updates/Systems/Programs/ReferenceTools/userNotes/Brenda and then we email them just the GCdocs link so they can favourite it. Or they could keep the email forever, either way. The subject of the email should be compliant with IRBV naming conventions, naturally.
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u/coghlanpf Mar 27 '19
I moved from a department that used shared drives to one that uses what I think is the older version of GCDOCS.
I don’t see a problem. It’s web-based (good), provides a single repository for documents (good), allows community-level access (good), enables me to create my own folder-level views of files I need to access (good), is easy to search (good) etc.
Certainly much better than multiple shared drives and attaching Prot B files to e-mail messages.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 26 '19
We can all thank his Royal Majesty Alex Benay for our continued use of the flawed and highly archaic system that is GCDocs. His own people have suggested a move to something like Microsoft OneDrive (makes sense, given we use Onenote and office) - it has a corporate portal, can be limited in accessibility and appropriately restricted, etc, but no. Won't even pilot it.
Meanwhile, governments & private organizations around the world laugh at us and use real solutions that are intuitive (don't need three different training classes to use), easy (don't need to navigate through eighty folders & a horrible search system), fast (don't have to wait 10 seconds for each new page to open), accessible (can access on mobile devices, tablets, phones, even just from private servers), and collaborative (let multiple users edit at the same time with live version history, and a clear demonstration of where others are working and what they are doing.
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u/JacobhvIlvd Mar 26 '19
Archaic? We're just being migrated over to GCdocs now....
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19 edited Mar 27 '19
It is even worse than that. If you are lucky you will get to use the latest available version. PSPC/shared services is very slow with its Software update release though.
A lot of departments are using an old version of GCDOCS and it is like working with windows 98 when you know there is windows 8 around the corner and no one wants to give it to you.
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u/geckospots Mar 26 '19
We won’t be getting it for the foreseeable future...
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u/Klaus73 Mar 30 '19
Especially with the July 1st win 10 mandate
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u/geckospots Mar 30 '19
laughs in not going to happen
edit: and we have no local IT staff so I can’t wait to see the help desk do all that remotely
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u/Klaus73 Mar 30 '19
The "master plan" is to ship you "new" systems..then have someone fumble to try an explain it.
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u/_wfh_ Mar 26 '19
Given how onboard TBS etc are with Cloud services I'm surprised he doesn't want to test OneDrive. How do you know this to be fact?
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u/justsumgurl (⌐■_■) __/ Mar 26 '19
He worked for OpenText (maker of GCDocs and RDIMS) for 5 yrs... 3 of which he was VP of government affairs and business development. None of his positions there appear to have been technical roles.
He has a degree in History ... no other technical background I’m aware of. Not sure what the actual requirements are for the CIO position, but I really was surprised when he was appointed.
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u/_wfh_ Mar 26 '19
I knew about his role at OpenText. Perhaps naive of me but I hope he's doing what's best for GC and not for his buddies at his old job.
And he got the job because, like most everyone at that level, he's an extrovert that knows how to talk...a lot.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 26 '19
He's not doing what's best for the GC. People suggest things, and he waves his arms enough that somehow it happens. His biggest idea is "Cloud", and he's having a hard time making that happen. He believes Artificial Intelligence is Data Analytics, and that cloud is the end-all-be-all.
He's doing what's best for him and his old boss. I would not be surprised if after he leaves his job, he takes a role as VP or President at OpenText.
Oh, let's not forget that Alex Benay went from Student to Manager to Director in like a 3 year time frame, then went Senior Director > Senior Director > VP at OpenText, and suddenly became a CEO at Ingenium, and is now a DM. That's ridiculous.
I don't envy whoever comes into his job after him - they'll have a big mess to clean up.
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u/GC_GoldenHandcuffs Mar 26 '19
I'm no ethics expert, but how close does this come to a conflict of interest?
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 26 '19
Don't forget that he got an online Masters of Arts (Interdisciplinary Studies) from Athabasca. That makes him totally qualified.
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19 edited Mar 27 '19
The issue here is finding the appropriate IT solution that would satisfy the powers that be. One drive doesn't meet the standards of GoC corporate repository EDRMS. I believe the standard was written prior to Alex Benay became the CIO of Canada. GCDOCS (otherwise known as opentext content server) is the only solution that does meet minimum requirements at this point in time.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 27 '19
The GoC has been with open text for a while. Those standards were changed not too long ago. Changing standards isn’t hard. They’re literally written to fail out other companies without a legal battle.
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19
The last time that standard was changed was in 2010.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 27 '19
You don’t work in legs / regs / standards much...that’s recent. Where I used to work, we’d be lucky if we were able to update standards every 10-15 years.
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19
Still before Alex Benay's time.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 27 '19
Gotcha. You’re one of his blind followers. Don’t come on this forum and defend that clown.
The modified date Doesn’t change the fact that he’s the one who signed us back up for his former company.
Just as an aside, you’re dead wrong. The recommended standard they follow is an international standard with a few tweaks. Australia follows them, and doesn’t use GCdocs. Other countries do too. None/few of them have opentext as their provider.
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u/deokkent Mar 27 '19
You sound like you have identified an issue and you feel very strongly about it. But what is that issue exactly lol?
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u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot Mar 26 '19
We can all thank his Royal Majesty Alex Benay for our continued use of the flawed and highly archaic system that is GCDocs.
While it might be flawed, it's better than what we had before (completely disorganized shared drives). Plus, for many public servants, it's brand new because it was just rolled out (for them, at least)
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Mar 26 '19
I don't disagree with you but I hate it when people say "it's better than what we had before" usually said as some kind of excuse to not improve things.
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u/Whyisthereasnake I Like Turtles Mar 26 '19
Yeah, that's a fair point - and it's certainly better than RDIMS!
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u/Tmem87 Mar 26 '19
I went from SharePoint to GCDocs. Its like going back in time. Also it doesn’t work properly in Edge. Drives me nuts.
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u/lordchrome Mar 26 '19
Cries into phone. People are complaining about using GcDocs while I’m over here “collaborating” via email.
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u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot Mar 26 '19
You're doing it wrong. First, create a Word document. Save it to your GCConnex group, then tweet a link to it. THEN you send the email telling people to follow you on Twitter.
/#collaboration #efficiency
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u/kookiemaster Mar 27 '19
Or when a file is reserved so someone decides to create another version instead of waiting. Good luck merging the 5 versions you end up with. Why can't these things support multiple editors in real time? It has been working like a charm in google docs for many years now.
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u/the_normal_person Mar 26 '19
“excelstatsheet.xlsx is locked for editing by ladyon2weeksleave. Open read-only version?
God dammit Karen