Update on TC Admin support

[Chet Ensign <chet.ensign@oasis-open.org>]

TC Chairs & members,

As many of you know, TC Administration has been running behind on
requests for Committee Specification / Note drafts and public reviews
for the past few months. The good news is that more TCs are developing
and approving specs than at any time in the history of the consortium.
However, as a result the volume of TC Admin support requests has
doubled from last year and tickets are taking longer to process. Many
of you have experienced excessive wait times and you are not happy
about it. We have heard you. Here is what we are doing immediately and
over the next several months to resolve the problems.

First, we have added more staff to deal with the backlog of tickets.
We are cross-training team members on the processes at each step so
that no one becomes a bottleneck in the flow.

Second, we are working to provide more clear, detailed guidance and
feedback early in the process. In particular, we are identifying and
responding to you about remedying simple problems when your TC Admin
support request first comes in, not waiting until your ticket comes up
for processing.

Third, we are working with OASIS IT staff and the TAB to identify
short-term opportunities to reduce the overhead burden for processing
tickets. In the longer run, we are developing plans to increase
automation and improve our document management infrastructure. We
welcome your suggestions for simple solutions and improvements.

Fourth, we are cleaning up and improving the documentation available
to help you more easily avoid common errors and provide content that
will move through the process smoothly. We plan to incorporate it into
the workflow so that you have information when and where you most need
it.

Finally, I plan to open more channels of communication to keep you
informed and solicit your feedback. I will continue to send a weekly
summary to TC chairs/editors who have open tickets showing which have
been closed and where your requests are in the overall queue. I will
be scheduling quarterly TC Administration GoToMeeting sessions to
provide you with regular progress reports and give you a forum for
sharing ideas and concerns. Plus, I will continue to reach out to TC
Chairs and Editors individually to get your feedback firsthand.

For those of you who have experienced delays, we offer our apologies.
The top priority at OASIS right now is to restore our ability to
deliver fast, efficient and effective turnaround on your requests.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Best regards,

/chet
----------------
Chet Ensign
Director of Standards Development and TC Administration
OASIS: Advancing open standards for the information society
http://www.oasis-open.org

Primary: +1 973-378-3472
Mobile: +1 201-341-1393

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