[SharePoint] Help User Lisa G. with EZSHARE PIR Request SharePoint

[KaroEngstrom]

Thu 6/13/24

• via email forwarded by Peggy, we became aware of an EZSHARE SharePoint being used for PIR response sharing.

From a call with Lisa G. :

• Patrick D. gets PIRs from anyone requesting any plans
• He retired and Lisa is taking over
• Lisa has access to the EZSHARE SharePoint folder being used to share
• One folder per PIR, easy to share with a specific requester via named email (external INTERNAL requester share)
• Power Automate deletes the folder after 30 days
• Michael G. from CTM has given Lisa access
• Monika was supposed to be working on this but now it looks like it will be Ariel, who doesn’t even have permissions yet

NOTE: City's PIR system GovQA is where files are uploaded that are given to the public. It is unclear why SharePoint is currently being used in this process.

Next steps:

• [x] Sync with Diana and Peggy M 6/17 for course of action

[maccallump]

@KaroEngstrom can you include me in your sync with Diana? Susan Delgado presented on PIR's yesterday at the Division Managers meeting.

[KaroEngstrom]

Internal huddle scheduled for Mon 6/17

• reaching out to PIR people in our dept, Susan D.
• Susan responded by looping in Rebecca F. who came from the Public Work side and would know better; need to keep everyone looped in once we know more

[KaroEngstrom]

Tue 7/2/24

• reaching out to Rebecca F. via email to see if she has anything that might help

[KaroEngstrom]

Wed 7/3/24 - Call w/ Stephanie

• used to be a PIR SPOC at PWD, now at TPW that is Susan and Joana
• she used to get a folder set up by Patrick, where he'd add items; this would expire within a week and sometimes she needed to request them again
• none of the SharePoint stuff was shared externally! This was solely internal share to SPOC who would then transfer items to Law
• this seems like an internal process set up by OCE, with help of CTM - but nothing is shared out, just to internal requester: SPOC communicated to Law, and the content is transferred into GovQA where it's reviewed and then released by Law (only Law connects with the external requester)
• Floyd should be the PIR SPOC at OCE

The remaining questions:

• why would this SharePoint need to be rebuilt?
• do we need to just transfer it to DTS ownership?
• would we want it in DTS ownership?
• are there any issues with using OCE's SharePoint library for this, vs. the more common practice (per Stephanie) of the requester like Stephanie/dept SPOC creating the folder where the content can be added?

[KaroEngstrom]

Tue 7/9/24

Call with Joana:

• this SharePoint has been in use with Patrick before he retired
• most TPW content is shared to a G: drive folder so the PIR SPOCs have easier time accessing and processing the files
• they have encountered difficulty adding legacy PWD workers to G: drive so they would have access
• this is likely why the SharePoint workaround was implemented
• it's cumbersome because the PIR SPOC has to download to their desktop and then save to G:drive instead of just using G: drive directly
• other alternatives are cumbersome as well: emailing a zipped file (might require training as well); physically copying onto a flash drive (a time and location issue)

G: Drive	SharePoint
PRO: Direct access, no downloading	CON: PIR SPOC has to download
PRO: Security	CON: Expires is 30 days and this time should perhaps be shorter to ensure information security
PRO: Access to PIR SPOCs and contributors only	CON: Admin person of SharePoint should not have to get involved; we don't necessarily want someone else with access to the files even if they never look at them
CON: It has been a struggle to add anyone legacy PWD to G: drive	PRO: Easier permissions management in terms of access

Summary:

• We need to check with Michael G. at CTM on his role/plan for this
• We need to assess if it would be worthwhile to try to move this process to G: drive to make life easier for PIR participants

[KaroEngstrom]

Related to https://github.com/cityofaustin/atd-data-tech/issues/17955

[dianamartin]

My conversation with Susan D. she said she's looking to move to SharePoint rather than the G://drive. I think we might want to give more SharePoint training/guidance to the Admin team?

[KaroEngstrom]

August 2024

• met with Michael G. from CTM briefly to sync on this; I have him some context of the reorgs and personnel changes, and he is fine to let this sit for a moment (use the system for now and review monthly)
• we agreed to check in after Labor Day (early Sept)
• we need to connect with Susan on what the admin process should be (including other participants from Admin) to determine the best way forward without disrupting existing processes
• we should also have a Miro board to capture the various processes and stages of development
• scheduled a meeting with Susan 8/15/24

[KaroEngstrom]

Keeping this in scoping while Admin reviews the new PIR plan. For now, this is in place, and we have a plan to check in with CMT/Michael G. monthly.