PeopleTools 8.51: Are you checking a bag today?
Many years ago, at least it seemed like many years ago, I could check my luggage at the airline counter and not get charged for it. Ah! Those were the days. A clean shirt. An extra pair of socks. Underwear I didn’t have to wash out in the sink. All those items fit comfortably into my roomy, loosely packed suitcase. Now, I take internet video courses on how to pack my carryon bag to last a month in Tibet.
Oracle is moving in the same direction as the airlines. Items that used to be included in your annual license fees will no longer be included. As of September 1, 2010 stopped offering IBM WebSphere to new customers. PeopleTools 8.51 still includes this license but version 8.52 will not. You can either license WebSphere from IBM or you can convert to Oracle’s technical stack.
Beginning June 1, 2011 Oracle will no longer provide licenses to SAP’s Business Objects Enterprise or Crystal Reports. Again, you can license these products on your own or you can convert to Oracle’s internal reporting technology, BI (XML) Publisher. Critical reports originally developed using Crystal Reports will be converted to XML Publisher.
I can understand Oracle’s point of view. Why make all customers pay for 3rd Party technology that only some customers may be using? This rings true especially in cases where Oracle products provide the same or similar capabilities.
My Oracle Support: The New Collector
The most interesting new feature in the new My Oracle Support may be the Configuration Manager. This enhanced monitoring capability requires the download of a data collection component. The data collector lives in your Oracle home and communicates daily with Oracle central. You can find this valuable tutorial at Why use The Configuration Manager at My Oracle Support.
My Oracle Support: Now Active
Earlier this Summer I wrote about the coming replacement of Metalink 3. That time has arrived. Check out the new My Oracle Support.
PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights: Fit/Gap (Part 3) – Make a list. Check it twice.
It is time to talk about upgrades again. Earlier this year I decided to put my PeopleSoft Upgrade Insights series on the shelf for a while. The current releases seemed long in the tooth and news on new releases had not yet begun to surface. Today, general availability of PeopleTools 8.50, HCM 9.1, and some other applications seems to be right around the corner.
In my last posting, Fit/Gap (Part 2) – Be the Maestro , 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.
Oracle PeopleSoft – Stuck in the Glue?
Barron’s, the powerhouse financial weekly, owned by the Wall Street Journal thinks that Oracle is now “Stuck in the Glue”.
IN THE MORASS KNOWN as the technology industry, Oracle is something of a standout: “It is absolutely the best horse in the glue factory,” says Cowen software analyst Peter Goldmacher.
Unfortunately, the glue is mighty sticky.
Oracle is currently the world’s largest provider of ERP business software. If there is a large or even a mid-size software company that can still to be procured anywhere on the planet Oracle will probably purchase it soon. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are many left out there. Revenue growth can be bought through acquisitions or achieved through innovation, new products and services customers want to buy. Barron’s thinks the acquisition strategy is dead. My hope is that Oracle can continue to thrive through innovation.
After all..2009 is another PeopleSoft year
We all know that 2008 was not a great year. This will seem a gross understatement for many but, thank goodness, the current year is almost gone with the wind. If you are over a certain age you have almost certainly seen the movie or at least know a few famous scenes. If you are under aged maybe it is time to do a movie search on your favorite entertainment medium. Gone with the wind is about many things but one theme deals with what it takes to recover from disaster such as the burning of Atlanta.
2009 is not necessarily the time to stray too far from “Tara.” Is your PeopleSoft system still providing the basics? If so, this may not be the best time to make any sudden moves. Can your organization swallow a multi-milliondollar project to replace your PeopleSoft systems? Probably not. But your organization may be able to reap greater benefits by building on your current foundation. 2009 could be one of the best years on record for increasing your organization’s productivity.