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The University of Waterloo’s student information system, Quest, has successfully moved from its on-premises environment to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) environment. 

Oracle's next-generation cloud infrastructure provides a modern, secure, high-performance environment for our Quest system. Leveraging real-time data analytics, the student information system team are now able to quickly scale development and production environments to meet demand. This leading-edge technology ensures the Quest support team is in the best position to respond to feature and functionality requests, enhancing the overall experience of our clients.

As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, University of Waterloo-provided services Zoom, and two-factor authentication (2FA) service Duo are now or will be unavailable to individuals attempting to authenticate from several countries and regions restricted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) — a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Treasury Department. 

As of March 10, 2022, the below places will be impacted by this change. Waterloo students studying in Iran are most likely to be impacted. Please be aware that other service providers may implement similar sanctions at any time.

  • Cuba
  • North Korea
  • Iran
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Crimea region
  • Sevastopol region
  • Donetsk region
  • Luhansk region
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Wireless connectivity issues

What is happening? This morning IST was made aware of an authentication issue when connecting to Eduroam.The authentication issues has been resolved. Users are encouraged to open a support ticket if issues persist.

What is happening? During the pandemic, the immediate need for web conferencing platforms resulted in the rapid adoption of a number of different tools to enable the University to continue, virtually, with classroom and administrative activities. In January, IST issued a survey to members of the campus community seeking feedback on web conferencing needs and functionality requirements with the goal of reducing the growing set of tools IST supports to a more sustainable offering. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

UW search tool currently unavailable

Resolved: This issue has been resolved. The UW search tool is back up and available.


What is happening? An issue is preventing the UW search tool, used across University websites including the WCMS, from returning search results.

IST is investigating and additional information will be shared when available.

What is happening? We will be testing the University’s campus-wide emergency communication system.

When is this happening? Wednesday, February 2 at 11:00 a.m.                                             

What is the impact? Emergency communication channels being tested include:

What is happening? To support University employees who will be working both in the office and remotely during the Winter 2022 term, Information Systems & Technology (IST) has updated the hybrid work and technology guidelines. Read more about the recommended meeting guidelinesinformation on augmenting rooms for hybrid meetings, work equipment guidelines, and secure computing practices. Guidelines may be added throughout the term as necessary. 

What is happening? Some WebEx users will receive an email message prompting them to update their WebEx account, however no action is required by end users.

When is this happening? Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

Why is this happening? Occasionally, WebEx needs to synchronize user account information, often capturing updates made in WatIAM that have not yet been reflected in an individual’s WebEx cloud records. This work also updates the student directory information for outgoing and incoming students.

What is the impact? 

There is no impact to WebEx accounts or scheduled WebEx sessions.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Quest to Oracle Cloud project update

What is happening? Announced in the May 14, 2021 issue of the Daily Bulletin, Quest, the University’s student information system, will move from its current on-premises environment to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) environment. Much has been accomplished since this last update, and the project team is pleased to announce that the project is on track to meet the February 2022 go-live target.

When is this happening? The team will begin the work of migrating the on-premises Quest environment to the OCI environment on Friday, February 25 at 4:00 p.m. This work is expected to be completed by 8:30 a.m. on Monday, February 28.