VZ Annual Open System Prep Guide (From Archive to Go-Live)

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• 1. Process Overview

  Archive – Your current production system is archived to an offline URL.

  Clear & Refresh – Students, reservations, and events are cleared; production is refreshed into preproduction.

  Setup & Testing – Configure and test the upcoming season in preproduction.

  Push to Production – Preproduction is copied to production (system is ready, but not yet live to students).

  Go-Live – Once students are imported and the URL is open, students can begin using VZ.

  📌 Schedule your Archive & Push-to-Production dates: Scheduling Portal

  Additional Notes:

  • Avoid scheduling on Mondays or Fridays, as these are peak support and development days.

  • Schedule your push-to-production approximately one week before go-live to allow time for testing in production.

  • If desired, you can request VZ to lock student access before a specific go-live date/time. 

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  2. Guidelines

  Upgrades: Allow 16 weeks from full scope approval.

  Maintenance: Allow 4 weeks.

  If VZ assists with setup: Allow 4 weeks.

  Access Control & Communications

  • Delay student imports until you are ready to go live.

  • Coordinate with your IT team to pause automated imports during archive and resume only once ready.

  • Use Task List and Communication Configuration start dates to prevent early access.

  • Align orientation reservation start dates with your intended open date/time.

  • Announce access only when the system is ready and tested.

  • If using VZ’s lockout feature, submit a support ticket during preproduction setup to configure an unlock date/time for launch.

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  3. Chronological Checklist

  Immediately After Archive

  • Confirm with IT and Payment Processor if integration updates are needed.

  • Notify IT that imports must pause until production is back online.

  • Review and update student data tables (majors, colleges, campuses, etc.).

    • Confirm with your data team if any code changes are planned for majors, colleges, or student types.

    • Notify VZ of changes to data codes or file structure at least one month before opening.

    
    

    Verify archive access for all staff. If new users need archive access, an existing admin can add them as a user to that archive.  

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  Preproduction Setup – Content

  • Update email copy and test links (request new shells from VZ if needed).

  • Review FAQs, Help Pages, and Instructions for outdated references or branding.

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  Preproduction Setup – Events

  • Create events for orientation and sessions.

  • Ensure at least one filter value is selected under each filtering option when the filter is enabled.

  • Confirm student visibility and permissions for managing Optional Events.

  • Set event capacity and filter capacities (if applicable).

  • Enable guests and configure guest fees.

  • Add student fees by Student Type.
    
    

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  Preproduction Setup – Task List Items

  • Review task list items and verify Start Dates align with your intended go-live date/time.

  • Adjust End Dates per institutional policy.

  • Confirm visibility filters (student groups, types, colleges, etc.) are correct.

  • Update instructions and validate linked forms and files.

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  Preproduction Setup – Communication Configurations

  • Review last year’s configurations and update start/end dates, filters, types, and frequency.

  • Delete unused configurations.

  • Confirm that start dates align with your go-live date/time.

  • Run the canned report to review all active configurations.

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  Preproduction Setup – Test Students

  • Manually create test student records (never use live student data).

  • Or request VZ to add test students for your environment.

  • Complete reservations for all key variations (freshman, transfer, guest, etc.) to confirm setup.

  • After pushing to production, re-import one test student and confirm that the system behaves as expected.

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  Preproduction Setup – System Review

  • Review all reservation pages, fees, and forms for accuracy.

  • Validate custom programming and event logic.

  • Confirm that all dashboards and widgets load correctly.

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  Preproduction Setup – Module Review

  • Review Task List Items (start/end dates, content, assignment).

  • Update Event Grouping leaders in Users.

  • Review and update active modules as needed:

    • Optional Events

    • Housing

    • Course Preferences

    • E-Confirmation Packets

    • Online Orientation

    • Merchandise

    • Reservation Downloader

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  Preproduction Setup – Reports

  • Review and update reports.

  • Submit change requests if updates are needed (allow sufficient lead time).

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  Before Go-Live

  • Confirm push-to-production was completed successfully (usually 1 week prior).

  • Import or create test student in production to validate setup.

  • Ensure all start dates for Task List, Communications, and Events align with your intended opening time.

  • Coordinate with IT to confirm import restart timing (e.g., 2 a.m. on go-live day).

  • If using a VZ lockout, confirm the unlock time/date matches your official launch.

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  Go-Live

  • Unlock the system (if applicable).

  • Resume imports (if paused).

  • Verify students can access the system.

  • Monitor reservation activity and initial communications for the first 24–48 hours.

  • Notify VZ Support immediately if any errors appear after launch.

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  4. Request Timelines

  • Maintenance Requests: 4 weeks from scope approval

  • Upgrade Requests: 16 weeks from scope approval

  • If VZ assists with setup tasks: 4 weeks from scope approval