February 7, 2017 - Themes  problem in SaaS.
I first posted about this a week ago and didn't want to update it until we have a fix.  Even though we are "running" okay for now, we are not where I want us to be.

I have always kept our Blackboard system very "vanilla".  When it came to branding, all I did was change the colors of the 2012 theme to use Saint Mary's colors, added the 1x1 transparency image to get rid of the pixeled plus sign Blackboard icons and a banner image file for the top frame so users knew they were at Saint Mary's.

We have been experiencing periods of slowness. Like 20 to 45 seconds to open a link, tool, etc.  For a cloud environment, that shouldn't happen.  

I put in a ticket and it was discovered that my 2 little image files are living on a part of the SaaS environment that is then populating, deploying every time someone clicks on something in a course.  So, the more users on the system, the more areas navigated in a course, the slower the system gets!

Moving my 2 files to a different location appears not to be a quick fix so.... I am having to use a Bb default 2012 theme and I cannot brand the theme to look the way I want.

So, I had to send yet another email to the faculty explaining I have to make the visual change, reassure them, nothing content-wise will be touched and say yet again, I am so sorry.

I do trust Blackboard will find a way to give me my branding back but how this wasn't discovered until now I do not understand.

This post will be one I will update as needed...

 I am testing a couple of issues so far.  
1. Left menu drag and drop not always working
2. Cannot change the text color of the left menu.  (This is a known issue.)
.

I am classification issues in 3 categories
I. Annoying but Have Options to Achieve Goal
II. Pain Point
III. Deal Breaker

For the issues we have found so far with SaaS

I. Annoying but Have Options to Achieve Goal
1. In System Admin > Courses > Show All does not work.  
        Have shared this issue with our BBPM.  Apparently it is a known issue.
2. Cannot change the text color of the left menu.  (This is a known issue.)
3. Left menu drag and drop not always working.  Had a ticket in with Support but they could not make it fail so we are monitoring for now.
   

II. Pain Point
1. My Media module keeps disappearing from the institution tab.  Blackboard Support has teams working on this one.  We asked Kaltura to help and their response is it is a Blackboard problem.

2. My custom theme, my 2 small image files for "Brand" our environment so users know they are at Saint Mary's cannot be used because of there the files live in the cloud and slows down performance, way, way down!  
Support is trying to find a safe location to move the files but they tell me it will take time like weeks!
For now, I have to use a generic 2012 theme.  No banners.  This is a visual change that I have to make my users aware of it.  I do not understand how this has not been discovered before.


III. Deal Breaker
1. Kaltura videos inside of courses will not display.  The thumbnail will,display, but when one
    clicks the button to Play video, it would not.  
    RESOLVED!
    Tier II Support found the problem and within 2 hours, had a script to fix the problem.

2. Math Editor is not working #02439227
  RESOLVED!
    Tier II Support resolved the problem with 24 hours.  

This post last updated on January 31, 2017

January 19, 2017 - We are still struggling with the My Media module not operating as it should in Blackboard.  Bb Support has had teams researching the problem and asked me to ask Kaltura to help.  It took a long time to get a response to my tickets with Kaltura and today the "customer care" person from Kaltura reported back it was a problem with Blackboard.  

I had to ask that the focus please be placed on resolving the issue and not on pointing fingers.  Not very professional when you are supposed to be company partners.

January 17, 2017 - The Cloud Clogged
It is the 2nd day of our semester and many courses are meeting for the first time this semester.  I starting receiving complaints that Blackboard was running slower and slower.
I sat and watched as the system got slower and slower.  I reached out to Support and found out that Amazon Web Services was jammed up.  Who would ever think AWS would have such as issue!

I email the faculty with the subject line "The Cloud is Clogged".  At some point you just have to laugh.  I placed an announcement on the log-in page to Blackboard.  

Bb Support did a great job of keeping up up-to-date on the issue.  We were back operational within a couple of hours but the system was still slow.  By 6:15 PM that evening it was fast and steady.  

It is interesting to note even the might Cloud can jam up.

January 16, 2017 - First Day of Classes
Our SaaS servers were flying all day.  For a school of one 1,500 students and a faculty of 180, it seemed everyone was on the system.  

Bb Support continues to work on the My Media module.  I got a report this afternoon that they have found the problem.  Kaltura Support responded but didn't have anything of value to offer.  I asked for a conversation with one of their engineers but so far, no response.

One other issue we have discovered is when a rolling restart is performed, content areas throw an error.  This worries our users very much.  We are working with Support to figure that one out too.

For now, if we need to change anything on our services we will schedule down time so no one is caught off guard.

January 15, 2017 - The weekend before classes started was not fun.  Kaltura's integration with SaaS has been a challenge in the migration.  Lessons learned by Blackboard and us but now, every time we do a restart, the My Media module disappears from the institution tab.  Blackboard's Web Services and a representative from Support has worked the case all weekend.   I have 2 tickets in with Kaltura Support... so far, no response.

It was a very long weekend at the computer and on the phone.  I shared emails with faculty keeping them up-to-date and letting them know I was "on it".  I invited faculty members to email me if they noticed anything not working correctly.  Most of the emails I got were notes of support and appreciation.  

"Knowledge is Power" and faculty will handle anything if you keep them in the loop.

January 13, 2017 (Friday, January 13th, 3 days before the start of the semester)
I should have never gone out to dinner.  On the way home saw emails coming in saying Content areas were throwing errors.
I got home and called Support and we had to work the problem.  Turns out a process for basic SaaS clients was being run and our installation got caught in it by mistake.

It is good to know that there is an email address *support managers at blackboard.com*
The email goes to the Support managers on duty after hours.

* Not listing the actual email in this message to avoid the address being virtually spammed.