Approved Maintenance Windows

Objective

The primary goals are to streamline the process of requesting a maintenance window across teams in the IT and secure 12 maintenance windows dedicated to major infrastructure maintenance work in the production environment. This process aims to minimize disruption to functional offices and prevent interference with major business cycle events.

Approved Maintenance Windows for 2024

  •  January
    • First Saturday and Sunday - January 13th
  • February
    • First Saturday and Sunday - February 24th and 25th
  • March
    • Saturday and Sunday at the end of Spring Break Week - March 16th and 17th
  • April
    • First Saturday and Sunday - April 6th and 7th
  • May
    • Fourth Saturday and Sunday - May 25th and 26th
  • June
    • Third Saturday and Sunday - June 15th and 16th
  • July
    • Sunday in July after Finance Year End Processing and Before Final Grade Entry - July 20th and 21st
  • August
    •  First Saturday and Sunday - August 3rd and 4th
  • September
    • Third Saturday and Sunday - September 21st and 22nd
  • October
    • Saturday and Sunday of Fall Break weekend - October 12th and 13th
  • November
    • First Saturday and Sunday - November 2nd and 3rd
  • December
    • First Saturday and Sunday - December 7th and 8th

Exceptions to the Process

  1. Standard infrastructure maintenance work.
  2. Work done by teams other than IT, such as Facility Management.
  3. Unplanned emergency work to address production issues.
  4. Work that needs the vendor's help during weekdays. 
  5. Pre-approved Windows for Penetration testing that fall outside the approved windows

Considerations

  • The announcement of pre-approved windows for upcoming years will take place on the last Saturday through Sunday of January.
  • January timing preferences are to avoid a moratorium or the weekend prior to classes starting.
  • The proposed week to approve 2025 windows is the Last Saturday-Sunday of January.
  • The network team prefers mid-month timing for planning.
  • Allow at least two weeks between each maintenance window.
  • Security patches need to be in production from the release date.
  • The Bursar's request to add proposes preventing the student access to registration on specific dates to avoid billing issues.
  • Adhering to the new moratorium guidelines.
  • Avoid any maintenance work on the 10th of every month due to the student billing run.