Doris Wong, CEO of the Southern New England User Group, presented on considerations and recommendations for upgrading to PeopleSoft 9.1. The presentation covered polling attendees on their upgrade plans and challenges, defining a strategy and timeline, understanding customizations and testing requirements, evaluating new functionality, and ensuring support and change management. The goal was to provide best practices to help organizations successfully upgrade to PeopleSoft 9.1.

1. 9.1 Upgrade Best Practice
Considerations and
Recommendations
The Southern New England User Group (SNUG)
Doris Wong, CEO
October 28, 2011

2. Agenda
• Welcome
• Audience Poll
• Business Drivers
• Upgrade Approach
– Best Practices & Considerations
• Questions & Answers

3. Audience Poll

4. Upgrade to 9.1 Poll
• Where Are You on Your Upgrade to 9.1?
 Completed
 In-Process
 Scheduled
 No Plans
• What Applications Are Being Upgraded?
 HCM
 Financials/SCM
 Both
• What Application Release Are You Upgrading From?
 8.8
 8.9
 9.0
 Other
• What Tools Release Are You Upgrading From?

5. Upgrade to 9.1 Poll
• How Often Do You Upgrade?
 Every Release
 Every Other Release
 Random
 Driven by Support and Maintenance Expiration
• What’s Your Average Upgrade Project Duration?
 3-6 months
 6-12 months
 12-18 months
 Greater than 18 months
• How is Your Upgrade Done?
 In-House
 Upgrade Lab
 Consulting Partner
 Combination of the Above

6. Business Drivers
for Upgrading to a New
Release

7. Upgrading PeopleSoft
What Are Your Main Decision Drivers?
• What’s driving your organization to upgrade?
• How much does it cost to upgrade?
• What are the expected benefits to be achieved
with upgrading to a new release?
• What or Where is the ROI?

8. Defining Your Upgrade
Strategy

9. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Strategy & Planning
• Upgrade Project Strategy
– Technical Upgrade Only
• Get to the Most Current Release – Latest Greatest!
• Reconcile Customizations
• Deploy Required New Features
• Adopt New Tools Release
• Future Phased Roll-out of New Functionality and/or
New Modules

10. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Strategy & Planning
• Upgrade Project Strategy
– Functional & Technical Upgrade
• Technical Upgrade Requirements and….
• Analyze Delta Features
• Fit Gap Analysis – Enhance Business Processes
• Adopt New Features Required by Business
– Tools Upgrade Independent of Application Upgrade
• Release 9.1 Requires PeopleTools 8.5x
• Optional: Upgrade PeopleTools First
• Or, Perform PeopleTools Upgrade Together with
Application Upgrade

11. Upgrade
Methodology

12. Upgrade Methodology – SmartAdvantage
13

13. Upgrading PeopleSoft – SmartAdvantage

14. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Planning Your Timeline
• What’s Driving a Completion Date?
– Forward Schedule, Backward Schedule
• How Many Test Moves Required?
– Customizations level impacts number of test moves
required
– Initial Pass: Use of Upgrade Lab?
• What’s your Functional Testing Strategy?
• Impacts from Your Business Calendar
– Holidays
– Month-end, Quarter-end, Year-end
– Peak or Seasonal

15. Example Timeline Slides
Removed
(Part of Interactive Discussion)

16. Customizations

17. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Understanding Customizations
• ―Vanilla‖ – Is There Such an Environment?
• Why Do You Need to Customize?
• Improve Usability
• Additional Functionality
• Enhanced Business Processes
• Additional Reporting Requirements
• What Types of Customizations?
• Reports
• New Components
• Business Rules
• Data Model

18. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Understanding Customizations
• Level of Customizations Directly Impacts
Upgrade Effort Required
• Minimal
• Medium
• Heavy

19. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Analyzing & Reconciling Customization
• Can Any Be Replaced with New Release / New
Functionality?
• Can Business Processes be Changed to Avoid
Customizations?
• How Much Customizations Do You Remove with
Each Upgrade?
• Identifying Customizations to Carry Forward to
New Release

20. Upgrading PeopleSoft
What’s the Impact of Customizations?
• What is the Cost of Customizations to the
Upgrade Process
– Analyzing and Reconciling Customizations
– Technical Development and Maintenance
– Functional Testing of Customizations with New
PeopleSoft Release
– Maintaining Compatibility with Oracle Maintenance
(Applications and PeopleTools)
• Cost of Ownership Impact
– Short Term
– Long Term
– Future Maintenance and Upgrades

21. Upgrading PeopleSoft
What If You Still Need “Customizations”?
• Carry Customizations Forward?
• Implement New Customizations?
• Wait to Upgrade to a New PeopleSoft
Release
• Just say ―No‖ !

22. Upgrading PeopleSoft
General Customization Best Practices for PeopleSoft
• Create new objects versus modifying existing
objects
• Careful consideration for data model changes
• Design solution with an add-on architecture
• Provide configuration options as much as possible
as opposed to modifying code
• Design and Factor in Total Cost of Ownership
Impact Upfront
– Maintenance
– Upgrades
• Practice Good Documentation

23. Our SmartAdvantage

24. Smart Solutions–Our SmartAdvantage
Common Smart Traditional
Implementation/Upgrade Area Solutions Approach
Row Level Security  Customizations
Workflow Automation  Customizations
Business Process Streamlining  Customizations
Simplification / Improved User  Customizations
Experience
End-User Productivity/Collaboration  Customizations
Client-unique Enhancements  Customizations
Reduce Training Needs  Customizations
Compliance Requirements  Customizations
Technical & Functional Services In-house or Services
Implementation/Upgrade

25. Example:
Increase End User
Productivity

26. Example: End User Productivity
• Easily add convenient features to PeopleSoft—any
application, module or version (8.x and beyond)
• Extend application capabilities while avoiding
customizations
• Streamline data entry and increase productivity
• Enhance accountability and collaboration
• Configurable Printing for reporting, and user help features
• Add business process insight and automated workflow
options

27. Example: Smart Purchase Order Entry
Simplified and Streamlined

28. Employee: Simplification: AP Voucher

29. Example: Employee Onboarding
Welcome Aboard

30. New
Release
Functionality

31. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Business Processes Review
• Opportunity to review any manual processes and
implement more automated and streamlined
business processes with new releases
– Automate with Workflow routing and approval
– Remove paper processes where possible and replace with
electronic solutions
– Leverage simplification and streamlining business process
capabilities
– Optimize, Streamline, Automate, Simplify
• Implement/deploy new PeopleSoft functionality to
improve business processes
– Functionality between your current release and new release
– E.g. Self-Service, Increase End User Productivity

32. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Evaluating New Functionality
• Cumulative Delta Feature
– Tool Available From Oracle to Identify Features
between YOUR From and Target Release
– By Product
• Analyze New Functionality
– Eliminate Non-Applicable Features
– Identify and Adopt Required Features
– Prioritize Highest Value to Business, Lowest Cost to
Implement

33. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Cumulative Feature Overview
1) Select product (multiple selections OK):
Payables
Program Management Use this tool to identify product features available to you when upgrading.
Project Costing
Proposal Management
Real Estate Management
1. Select one or more products from the list or click Select All for all products.
Receivables 2. Select your current release (Current) and the release you plan to upgrade to (Target).
Resource Management Select All 3. Click the Run Report button.
Risk Management 4. The tool will automatically generate a new report on a separate tab.
Staffing Front Office
Clear All You may use the autogenerated name for your report, or create your own.
2) Select your CURRENT release (one selection only):
8.0
8.4
8.8
8.9
3) Select your TARGET release (one selection only):
8.8
8.9
9.0
9.1
4) Press the button
Run Report...

34. Support Policy and
Latest Codelines

35. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Support and Maintenance
• Oracle Support Policy for Target Release
– 5 Years
– 6 Years for Legs and Regs (HCM, Financials)
– 6 Years for Upgrades
• Target Release Application Code Line
– Identify Release 9.1 GA + ??
– Maintenance Packs (Delta, Cumulative)
– Feature Packs (starting with 9.1)
• Target Release PeopleTools Code Line
– PeopleTools 8.51 GA and Latest Patch Level
• Upgrade Patches & Fixes

36. Ongoing Change
Management

37. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Change Management
• Ongoing Change Management While Upgrade in
Progress – If You Must….
• Apply Careful Code Management of Delta
Changes
• Documentation
• Accurate Use of Project
• Track Delta Batch Changes
• Implement Strategy to Minimize Invasive
Changes
• Define an Acceptable Code Freeze for Both IT
and Business

38. Functional Users:
Training & Testing

39. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Training & Testing
• Gain Commitment of Business Users Upfront
– Identify Functional Team Members
– Engage and Involve Team Members
• Training
– Take Delta Training for Both Applications and PeopleTools
– Include Training for Any New Modules Being Implemented
• Role of the Functional Users
– Review New Delta Functionality
• Not all new delta functionality is applicable
• Release Notes, Cumulative Delta Overview, Delta Training
– Evaluate Applicable New Delta Functionality in DMO
• Release Notes, PeopleBooks, Cumulative Delta Overview
– Design New Business Processes

40. Upgrading PeopleSoft
Training & Testing
• Performing System Testing
– Update Existing Test Scripts and Test Plans
Accordingly
• User Interface / PeopleTools Enhancements
• Required Application Enhancements
• Business Process Changes/Enhancements
– Kick-off with End-User Training Overview to Reflect
YOUR Business Processes
• Rollout Training Webinars Prior to Start of System Testing
– Test Your New Security Requirements and Definitions
– Test Your Updated Queries
– Set Expectations Accordingly
• User Productivity Kit (UPK)

41. Questions
and Answers

42. Our Philosophy & Business Value
SmartERP’s Solutions-Based Approach
Rather than having customizations done by traditional
consulting services, SmartERP develops and utilizes
pre-built add-on solutions to address critical and common
requirements for any PeopleSoft implementation/upgrade
Smart Solutions Business Value:
• Quick, Predictable Implementation Times, Saves Time and
Reduces Costs (Up to 80% savings compared to customizing)
• Pre-Built, High-Quality and Proven to Minimize Risks
• Avoid Customizations to Lower Total Cost of Ownership
• Minimize Impacts to Maintenance and Future Upgrades

43. Contacts
• Doris Wong
– CEO, Smart ERP Solutions, Inc.
– Mobile: (925) 699-0832
– E-mail: doris.w@smarterp.com
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44. Thank You
For more information visit smarterp.com
View Solution Previews: smarterp.com/previews
Copyright © 2011 Smart ERP Solutions, Inc.