PeopleSoft 9.1 Upgrade Insights: Top Ten Technical Items
There is not enough room here to list in detail all the technical tasks required for a successful upgrade. Nevertheless, getting the large things right can make it a lot easier to get the small things right. So here goes. I have reviewed all the technical checklists from my prior upgrade experiences and gleaned my top ten items. I will try to be short and sweet.
Being as yet an imperfect human being I may have left some items out or included some items with which you may take issue. Feel free to suggest additional items or critisize those I have listed:
- Chart your production environment- I am a big believer in working backwards. If you don’t know what the final result is supposed to look like it makes very difficult to achieve that result. Where is your new 9.1 application going to reside? (Remember Oracle has only certified 64-bit OS’s) How much space will be required? How many websites will be needed?
- Design your upgrade environment- Where are you going to install, re-develop, and test your upgraded 9.1 applications?
- Prepare to create many new databases- PeopleSoft upgrades require a lot of new databases. Most of these databases will be, it is sad to say, full sized versions of your production database. Here is a typical list.
- Installed 9.1 demo
- Updated 9.1 demo (PeopleTools fixes, Application packs, Tax releases, and more)
- Upgrade database (Upgrade copy target)
- Development and Testing database (Copy of Upgrade)
- System testing Database (Product of 1st/2nd Move to Production process)
- UAT/Parallel Database (Product of 3rd Move to Production process)
- Production Database (Product of Final Move to Production process)
- Get the horses- You have charted your production environment. You have designed your upgrade and testing environment. You have determined the number and type databases needed. Now you have to ask yourself. Do I have the horsepower to get the job done? If not, it may be time to pony up (just a little bit sorry for the bad pun) the capital and get the hardware and software required for a successful upgrade.
- Create new web addresses- Let’s stay that your current HCM power user web address is http://psft.mycompany.com. There is a lot of technical infrastructure, procedures, and user productivity built around that web address. It is best not to disrupt your production systems until the very last moment possible. I have always pressed for new web addresses as the safest and easiest way to cutover to the new release. It may be useful to try something like this: http://psft91.mycompany.com.
- Respect the new Integration Broker- Get the new SOA IB up and working as soon as you can. The IB is a technically complex entity and may require some significant effort to master. Also, there is lot of important functionality dependent on the IB (e.g.HCM applicant hires) that should be put to bed sooner rather than later.
- Fire up the Change Agent- The Change Agent (CA) is the primary tool for upgrading your system to the new release. It is imperative that someone on your team become an expert in setting up, operating, and validating the CA.
- Consider user security early- A long time ago in a far off land there was an upgrade project team that left security on the back burner until just prior to cutover weekend. It was at that point that they discovered that userids and passwords are part of the PeopleTools upgrade (done months before in the intial upgrade) and not included in the final move to production.
- Roles, Permission Lists, and the like- Beware. Your security roles and permission lists will probably not transfer well to the new release. You may need to manually re-do much of your security structure. You know. The security structure designed by that guy look ago whose name nobody remembers but who everyone remembers constantly complained about being the one responsible for this despicable job. If so, perhaps, your current security structure is not so good. The good news is that this may be a very good time start anew and implement the better security struture for your organization.
- Setup system communications- One of the things that PeopleSoft systems love to do most is communicate. Most often these communications take the form of eMail messages, lots of eMail messages. Most organizations have one and only one email system so it is important to ensure that your upgraded test systems do not get in the habit of sending action messages to everyday workers. It may be a career limiting move (CLM) if one of your high level managers were to lose access to medical benefits because the “deceased” workflow processes were being tested.
In upcoming postings, PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights, I will discuss how a variety of time tested techniques can be employed to jumpstart, monitor, and control the upgrade process. Stay tuned.
PeopleSoft 9.1 Upgrade Insights: The Checklist Manifesto
The world is getting more complex and so are PeopleSoft upgrades. This upcoming PeopleSoft 9.1 upgrade may well be the most complex upgrade many customers have ever attempted.
For example, Oracle has introduced a multitude of technical changes since PeopleTools 8.47. All one needs to do is take a look at the Integration Broker (IB) to find radical differences. The preferred technology was “Application Messaging”. Now it is Service Oriented Architecture (SOA.) In HRMS 9.1 the SOP for hiring an applicant is through the Integration Broker.
How can you cope with the complexity of your upgrade project? Atul Gawande provides a straightforward yet important suggestion in his book: The Checklist Manifesto. This recent book is based on an article M. Gawande wrote for the New Yorker entitled The Checklist: If something so simple can transform intensive care, what else can it do?
Here, then, is the puzzle of I.C.U. care: you have a desperately sick patient, and in order to have a chance of saving him you have to make sure that a hundred and seventy-eight daily tasks are done right—despite some monitor’s alarm going off for God knows what reason, despite the patient in the next bed crashing, despite a nurse poking his head around the curtain to ask whether someone could help “get this lady’s chest open.” So how do you actually manage all this complexity?
Sound familiar? You have to keep your upgrade project on track and avoid taking one or possibly even two steps backwards for each step forward. Your current labor distributions are out of balance with your payroll. Your test website is going down “for no reason.” You are trying to conduct fit/gap sessions but your most important end-user is in Belgium all week. How do you cope with this complexity?
The solution suggested by M. Gawande to this quandary is basic and simple: The Checklist.
An upgrade project requires many checklists. Here are a just a few I have employed successfully in the past:
- Technical checklists – both general and detailed
- Open Issues including who is accountable for resolving
- New Development projects with timeframes and accountability
- PeopleSoft objects – re-Development items with specific assignments
- Security checklists
In the next part of this series, PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights, I will discuss how to use various checklists to jumpstart, monitor, and control the upgrade process. Stay tuned.
PeopleTools 8.50 and Windows 7
The PeopleSoft Tipster blog site has posted some very good information about apparent incompatibilities between the Windows 7 operating system and PeopleTools 8.50.
The signon page says that Windows 7 is not supported but there may be a workaround.
Click here for more information.
Talent Mismatch: Mega Trend
Finding the right talent is not going to get easier. In fact, in the near future it will become increasingly difficult to match the advanced needs of your organization with the talent available in the global marketplace. That is one of the workforce mega trends identified in Manpower Inc.’s new research study: Four Mega Trends That Are Transforming and Accelerating the Way the World Works.
“The Talent Mismatch is deepening as the working age population declines and the nature of work changes. These significant shifts in talent supply are transforming the global labor market.”
Plan for the future. Planning for the present or the past is by definition a waste of time. Today, unemployment in America is high. But are these unemployed workers necessary the highly skilled people you will need to be successful as the recovery gathers steam? Probably not.
“”As the economy rebounds, companies will need to prepare for a new normal, carefully adjusting their business strategy and evaluating their workforce,” said Joerres. “In the past, access to capital gave companies their edge; soon talent will become the competitive differentiator and companies will compete for talent as rigorously as individuals now compete for jobs.”
There were four mega trends identified in this study. I will only mention one more: Individual Choice. Those with the most desirable skills will have the most choice. This fact will require organizations to re-think how jobs should be structured in order to attract and retain hard-to-find talent.
A official summary of the study can be downloaded here.
PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights: Fit/Gap (Part 3 of 3)
Many customers are now installing one or more of the new PeopleSoft 9.1 releases. Oracle has released the upgrade scripts and, as the famous detective Sherlock Holmes would have likely said, “the game is afoot” . PeopleSoft upgrade projects may be complex but they don’t necessarily have to be full of mystery and suspense. A little knowledge can go a long way.
This seems like a particularly good time to share some PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights starting with the subject of Fit/Gaps. Staying with the same body part metaphor I can say that getting your upgrade project “started on the right foot” is absolutely critical. And you can’t get it started right without executing a successful Fit/Gap. This is the last of three postings describing how you can obtain the maximum benefit out of your Fit/Gap process.
In my last posting, PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights: Fit/Gap (Part 2 of 3), I talked about how to conduct your Fit/Gap sessions and gather information in an organized and efficient manner. You have created a nice, long list of issues. Now what do you do?
How do you turn all this raw data into useful information that will jumpstart your next phase and set your project on a solid path to success?
- Research and resolve – The main purpose of the Fit/Gap sessions were to identify issues, not resolve them. Your rules were that if it could not be resolved in 10 minutes or less then you would address it later. Well, “later” has now arrived. Maybe, it requires a follow-up meeting with selected individuals. Perhaps, a technical review is needed. One way or another a resolution for each item needs to be generated. One of my favorite resolutions is to do nothing.
- Mind the Gaps – Many issues were recorded in the Fit/Gap sessions. Are they all gaps in functionality? Likely not. I classify them in three ways.
- FIT - The delivered function meets 100% of the requirement. Nevertheless, some level of end user community and/or IT effort may be required to use effectively.
- GAP - The delivered functionality does not address a particular requirement. If the requirement is to be met alternative methods must be developed.
- PARTIAL FIT - The delivered functionally does not meet 100% of the requirement. If the requirement is to be fully met alternative methods must be developed. These methods may involve internal/external workarounds, changes in current processes, modifications to delivered components, and/or development of new components & programs.
Pay particular attention to partial fits. These may be the best opportunities for reengineering.
- Is it important? – The gap may be obvious but perhaps it is not important. Prioritize your list.
- 1-High Importance
- 2-Medium Importance
- 3-Low Importance
- 4-Research Item
- Is it worth it? – Several significant gaps have been identified. Should you fill them? How much time will it take and, more importantly, whose time are we talking about. Information Technology (IT) is not always the biggest player. Often, substantial effort is required on the functional side. I divide the estimates into two columns: IT effort and Process effort for the functional departments. Here is a sizing scheme the seems to get good support from IT and end-users alike.
- None
- Very Low – 1 day or less
- Low – 1 week or less
- Medium – 1 to 2 weeks
- Large – 2 to 4 weeks
- Very Large – 1 to 3 Months
- Sort, filter, slice, and dice – Your list of issues has been researched, classified, prioritized, and estimated. Now you can force the cream to the top. Which are your most important issues? Which items will take the greatest IT effort? Will a large amount of user effort be required? All these questions and more can be addressed by manipulating your list.
In the next part of this series, PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights, I will discuss how to use your updated list of items to jumpstart the re-development process. Stay tuned.
PeopleSoft 9.1 – Certify your hardware and software
One upgrade question that is starting to pop up regularly is: Do I need to upgrade my hardware and software?
The short answer may well be Yes. Oracle has only certified (with the exception of HP-UX) the PeopleTools 8.50 WebLogic and Websphere products on 64 bit operating systems (e.g. MS Windows 2008 x64 64-bit). Oracle is providing a PT8.50 certification excel spreadsheet to guide customer platform decisions and this spreadsheet file can be found by performing this My Oracle Support knowledge search:
“PeopleTools PT 8.50 Certifications ” – PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools PT 8.50 Certifications
System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3 can be found here.
Please stay tuned for many more postings on the subject of 9.1 upgrades.
PeopleSoft HRMS 9.1 Upgrade Templates Now Available
Oracle has just recently posted the HRMS 9.1 upgrade templates. For those of you on My Oracle Support the new templates and related documentation can be found by performing these knowledge searches:
“HRMS 9.1 Upgrade” – PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS 9.1 Upgrade Pages for 8.8, 8.9MP1, and 9.0
“9.1 Documentation Home” – HCM & ELM 9.1 Documentation Home Page
“8.50 Documentation Home” – PeopleTools 8.50 Documentation Home Page
HRMS PeopleBooks can be downloaded at the Oracle technology PeopleSoft Enterprise site.
The Enterprise Learning Management (ELM) templates are available too. Financials/Supply Chain, CRM, Portal Solutions are not available yet.
Please stay tuned for many more postings on the subject of 9.1 upgrades.
Quick Short Holiday Thoughts
This time of year many of us are busy, busy, busy. There are presents to buy, family gatherings to plan, parties to attend, snow to shovel, and, of course, PeopleSoft business to conduct. Year-end is rushing toward us like a speeding train in a narrow tunnel. So here are some quick quotes for those of us who cannot quite bring ourselves to spend time reading a long dissertation on the meaning of the season:
“When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings”
Happy Holidays to All!
Quick Short Holiday Thoughts
This time of year many of us are busy, busy, busy. There are presents to buy, family gatherings to plan, parties to attend, snow to shovel, and, of course, PeopleSoft business to conduct. Year-end is rushing toward us like a speeding train in a narrow tunnel. So here are some quick quotes for those of us who cannot quite find the time to read long dissertations on the meaning of the season:
“Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you’re talking about… they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn’t think so. People were human beings to him. But to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they’re cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you’ll ever be.”
Happy Holidays to all!
Quick Short Holiday Thoughts
This time of year many of us are busy, busy, busy. There are presents to buy, family gatherings to plan, parties to attend, snow to shovel, and, of course, PeopleSoft business to conduct. Year-end is rushing toward us like a speeding train in a narrow tunnel. So here are some quick quotes for those of us who cannot quite bring ourselves to spend time reading a long dissertation on the meaning of the season:
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.”
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
Happy Holidays to all!