Hi all,
We are on RAMP and the various paths to save files from Tess are arduous. Is there a way for users to indicate a default location for files to be saved? Currently it's a very nested path of folders that is compounded by slow response.
Thanks,Megan
Ours is a bit more involved. We get back a formatted file from our NCOA vendor, then I run it through a python script to strip out uninteresting columns and unchanged addresses, then I (used to) place it on the RAMP servers and used BCP to pull it into first a staging table, but later changed that to a temp table. I still have a secondary staging table where I keep a historic record of imports and also make sure that type conversions have worked.
We use a custom process for three reasons:
1) We avoid making changes, as you mentioned above, to addresses updated between the NCOA export and the attempted import. Also we check to make sure that we aren't updating any accounts that have been merged in that time.
2) We don't want to delete any addresses. Instead we inactivate them and add a special Contact Point Purpose that explains why they were inactived.
3) We don't want to automatically update VIP customer accounts. Often our preferred addresses for communicating with them are not their Post Office official address, so we need to be able to review them before any changes are made. Tessitura's utility allows you to screen users based on a list, but it won't then let you know that they were recommended for a NCOA update or what the recommendation was.
Sounds fun. We do not delete any addresses either but also inactivate them. Instead of a contact point purpose, though, we have a specific NCOA address type we use for those.
Your #3 is not really a big issue for us, which helps, and usually our Development department is A) already on top of them before the NCOA is sent and/or already alerts me to the names which might be issues and I just remove them from the data.
We also do not store a historic record of imports in the database. I have thought about it but decided that it is not that big of a deal to me as I still have all the initial files (because I save everything), and no one else at my organization would care enough.
John A. Moskal II said:Sounds fun. We do not delete any addresses either but also inactivate them. Instead of a contact point purpose, though, we have a specific NCOA address type we use for those.
I did that initially, but later decided I wanted preserve the original address type.
John A. Moskal II said:We also do not store a historic record of imports in the database. I have thought about it but decided that it is not that big of a deal to me as I still have all the initial files (because I save everything), and no one else at my organization would care enough.
I make a point of deleting old files since they're full of PII, but it's probably stupid of me to save the old staging info.
I know too many other staff at the organization are saving that type of personal information to the shared drive, otherwise I would worry about that, too. Like you, I saved them as a "just in case" measure, but I have never once needed them thus far.
As for storing personal information on the shared drive, that is one of the many things on my list in terms of improving for the organization, but I am still working on senior staff buy in on a few things. Assuming I get there, I know exactly where I have saved it all, but I am sure there is going to have to be a massive search through everyone else's files anyway.
Hi John and Gawain --
I wanted to weigh in on this from a Hosting Services perspective. We understand that file saving isn’t as intuitive or friendly as in the past, and we really are taking this to heart. Our current architecture limits our ability to do some of these things (Gawain's NCOA import is another example), but we are continuing to look at ways to improve.
I appreciate both of you bringing up these concerns, and invite you to get in touch with me if there are others or if you want to talk this over in more detail.
Stacey Voigt Manager, Hosting Services Support
There is a way according to the Citrix support forums to set 'special folder redirection' to create a default location on the local client. I would recommend the desktop or document to simplify across all org. I do not have any knowledge of the RAMP architecture/setup, but something maybe RAMP can incorporate.