What is PeopleSoft Upgrade?

The term upgrade or upgrade process could mean:

• Moving from one (current) release level to a higher (newer) release
level
• Upgrade to a new release of your own by copying a subsystem from
development to production.
• The PeopleSoft upgrade process begins when PeopleSoft issues a
new release and ends when you have successfully upgraded to the
new release.
For Example, if you are currently on PeopleSoft 8.9 Version, and since
PeopleSoft 9.0 is already released, you can upgrade your HRMS
system to 9.0 vesion. You have basically follow the Upgrade
Methodolgy that is available.Most often this move comes with benefits
-- technical and functional -- that are improvements to the way the
current release functions.

PeopleSoft uses the term “Upgrade” in a special sense – an upgrade is

the migration of any object or objects from one PeopleSoft Database
to another, and the subsequent adjustment of the PeopleSoft system
to accommodate the new objects.

When you upgrade to new PeopleSoft Release you are provided with a
new database, as well as the information you need to adjust your
system components – COBOL statement, SQR’s, the system messages
and so on, to work with objects in the new database.
An Upgrade can consists of Upgrading one or more of the following
PeopleSoft components:

· Internal tables which are used by PeopleSoft Programs called

PeopleTools Tables.
· Calculation programs for Payroll, Benefits, Time and Labor etc like
COBOLS, SQR’s.
· Application Tables and other definitions like Records, Pages, Menus,
so forth.
· PeopleTools Programs which are used to run online system under
windows.
 PeopleTools Tables contain the PS no underscore
tables and their companion tables contain the data dictionary for
PeopleSoft Applications.

Application Tables contain the PS_ tables that contain the online
Application

A PeopleSoft upgrade requires a lot of planning, time, resources,

testing, and development.When upgrading to a new release of
PeopleSoft it may be required to upgrade the hardware and software
environment; You may have to install new RDMS software, new server
machines, upgrade third party tools that make up the complete
environment and all of this software should be supported by
PeopleSoft. For this you need to consult the Hardware and Software
Guide or the Platforms Supported from PeopleSoft Connections.

The PeopleSoft Upgrade process streamlines copying system objects

such as records, pages and PeopleCode from one PeopleSoft database
to another and finally into your current production database.

When you do upgrade to a new PeopleSoft release, several upgrade

passes are required to ensure that whenyou perform the final pass
your upgraded production database performs as you expect. You must
complete allof these passes to complete your upgrade. The first pass
is called the initial pass. In this pass, you create a copyof your
production database referred to as Copy of Production. You then take
the delivered database (the onewith the new PeopleSoft release
delivered with your product) called the Demo database, and
incorporate themodified objects into the Copy of Production to create
your first upgraded Copy of Production. In this passyour Demo
database is your Source and the Copy of Production is the Target.

After you complete the initial pass, you begin the first test Move to
Production pass. In this pass you createanother copy of your
production database called the New Copy of Production. You take the
upgraded Copy ofProduction (the one created in the initial pass) and
incorporate the modified objects into the New Copy ofProduction to
create your second upgraded Copy of Production. In this pass, the
upgraded Copy of Production(from the initial pass) becomes your
Source and the New Copy of Production becomes your Target.The test
Move to Production is repeated until it runs smoothly. A New Copy of
Production is created for everytest Move to Production pass and is the
new Target for each pass.

When you are ready for the final Move to Production pass, you freeze
your production database andincorporate the modified objects from
your most recent upgraded Copy of Production into the
productiondatabase itself. Once again the upgraded Copy of
Production (from the test move to productions) is yourSource and
your production database is the Target.

PeopleSoft Compare Reports:

 The compare reports are critical tools for the Fit/Gap analysis and determining the
effort to re-apply/re-develop customizations.
 The PeopleSoft Compare Reports provide a comparison of PeopleSoft delivered
functionality (vanilla) at the new release level to a client’s copy of production.
 The compare process is executed to identify the object and system data
differences between current production and new release levels.
  The purpose of the compare report is to identify which customizations, objects
and system data to upgrade to the new release level.
 The technical team will run the compare process and involve the client/functional
team in the analysis to make the appropriate business decisions.
 When you review the compare reports always look at the following combinations
and take the appropriate action.
Source Target Action
Unchanged Changed* Keep Target
Changed Changed* Copy and re-apply customization
Absent Changed* Keep Target
All other Copy

Generating and reviewing the compare reports valuable insight to the level of
customization.
Approach to Compare Report Analysis and Customization:
In a typical upgrade, the following approaches are taken to re-applying customizations:
• Customizations are carried forward where no PeopleSoft conflict exists. These
customizations will require careful testing to ensure proper results.
• Customizations where PeopleSoft conflicts exist will be replaced by delivered
PeopleSoft objects. If it is determined that these customizations are required in the
new release they will need to be reapplied and tested to ensure proper results.
• Most client PeopleCode modifications are typically replaced where PeopleSoft
conflicts exist. This is done to ensure the integrity of the new release and requires
that any client modification will need to be reapplied manually.
• Currently there is no delivered PeopleSoft process for comparing Message
Definitions, SQR, SQC, and Crystal Reports. Modifications to these delivered
PeopleSoft components will need to be manually identified and included in the
upgrade process.
• Customizations to components of Process Scheduler (Process Types, Process
Definitions) will be identified through the compare process and included in the
upgrade process.
• Custom indexes for performance reasons will be evaluated during the upgrade
process to determine appropriateness of the index in light of key structure and
data distribution changes. All effort will be focused on ensuring no performance
degradation.
• Modifications required for external interfaces will be identified through the
analysis and design process included in the upgrade project.