Harnessing the Power to Change: How Stat™

Streamlines the Upgrade to PeopleSoft 8

By Sonia L. Montgomery

Introduction

The upgrade to PeopleSoft 8 presents many new challenges with its move to “pure Internet.”But the main upgrade process remains the same and one basic challenge remains unaffected:how to effectively upgrade to PeopleSoft 8 without losing current functionality while striving toharness the power that PeopleSoft 8 offers. The focus of this paper is to describe how usingStat from Quest Software, Inc. can help you accomplish this.Stat is the only application that delivers version control, change management, projectmanagement and issue tracking functionality for both PeopleSoft objects and flat files. WithStat’s seamless solution, the need to use a variety of applications and manual processes tomanage your PeopleSoft environment is no longer necessary.Stat complements the functionality provided in the Upgrade Assistant. The Upgrade Assistantcontains a template with the upgrade steps included. Depending upon the step selected, youmay elect to use Stat to assist with that step. Outlined in this paper are just a few of the ways inwhich you can use Stat to streamline your PeopleSoft upgrade.

The Planning 

PhaseIn preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning isindispensable. – Dwight D. EisenhowerThere are many ways in which Stat can help in the planning phase of the upgrade.

Review Documentation

Review all notes describing your system’s current customizations. If your customizations arenot currently documented, now would be a great time to start that process. Stat’s“Undocumented Object Wizard” is designed to assist you in building your customizationdocumentation by identifying customized PeopleSoft objects in your Production environment.Also, Stat can be used to record customizations to batch programs (SQRs, COBOLs, etc.) aswell as to third-party tools (Crystal reports, nVision layouts, etc.)
Establishing Your Scope, Timeline and BudgetIdentify any concurrent development. Although it is strongly recommended that alldevelopment be stopped during the upgrade, unfortunately this is sometimes simply notfeasible. Using Stat’s Change Management and Version Control functionality in yourProduction environment will ensure that these changes are well documented and recoverable inthe event that they are accidentally lost during the upgrade process.Establish the testing scope. Use Stat’s list of on-line, batch and third-party customizations thathave been recorded in Stat to begin writing the testing plan.

Conducting Business Fit Gap Analysis

Using the release notes and your list of current customizations, assess the various fits and gapsbetween the new release and your business requirements. Look for opportunities to retirecustomizations based upon PeopleSoft 8’s new functionality. Using Stat’s reporting capabilityand the Object History Wizard, you can quickly and easily review all customizations toPeopleSoft objects and flat files.

Planning Your Project Team Requirements

There are several roles on a successful upgrade team. Stat assists your key people inaccomplishing many of the mundane, repetitive tasks, thereby freeing up their time to do moreanalytically and technically challenging activities. Stat’s project management, templates, detaillogs, reporting capabilities, workflow, user configuration, task and time management andautomatic notifications through e-mail can assist your team members in these ways:

Upgrade Manager•

Monitor progress on all tasks and activities associated with the upgradeproject• Coordinate communication between the upgrade team members• Provide regular updates to management• Support the upgrade team in all upgrade efforts• Track calls and resolutions to PeopleSoft Global Support CenterTechnical Upgrade Resource• Log all technical upgrade steps• Create and oversee all necessary technical checklists• Report completed tasks, issues and risks to the Upgrade ManagerDatabase Administrator (DBA)• Save versions of scripts for re-running or tuning if necessary• Perform selected object recoveries quickly and on-demand without requiringa full database restore

Developers•

Retrofit customizations• Easily restore any prior saved version of a customization in the case of anaccidental overwrite or failure when testing• Know immediately if another developer is working on the same PeopleSoftobject or flat file so that the conflict can be resolved immediately and in thebest manner for each conflict• Document all changesFunctional Resources• Identify customizations and assist Developers with resolving issues• Resolve issues with the assistance of other upgrade team members• Document all issues

 As a result of upgrade team members using Stat, all issues, resolutions, testing results,migrations and customizations during the upgrade will be documented as they occur in onecentral repository.Also, Stat’s automatic e-mail notification process can automatically notify team members thatthey have task(s) assigned to them such as: a migration needs to be performed, the results of atesting phase was successful, objects are ready for development, or testing failed and a recoveryneeds to be done. In addition to creating “global” rules for notifications, individual membersmay create their own rules for events on which they wish to be apprised.

The Preparation Phase

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. – AnonymousStat can assist in preparing your upgrade databases.

Apply Fixes•

Scan for updates and fixes required for 8.x at install. Use Stat to document,control and version these updates.• Scan for updates and fixes required to upgrade to 8.x. Again, using Stat todocument, control and version these changes will protect your Productiondatabase in the event that a patch or fix adversely affects your Productionenvironment.• If this is an HRMS upgrade, apply any required tax updates using Stat.

Upgrading PeopleTools

Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s jobs withyesterday’s tools. – Marshall McLuhan

In order to successfully upgrade to a new release of PeopleSoft, the Source and Targetdatabases must be on the same PeopleTools release.

Vanilla Compare for Additional Object TypesPeopleSoft 8 now supports upgrade for many additional object types, fourteen of which existedin prior releases. These object types are: Field Formats, Queries, Tree Structures, BusinessProcesses, Approval Rule Sets, Activities, Process Definitions, Server Definitions, ProcessType Definitions, Job Definitions, Recurrence Definitions, Application Engine Programs (afterconverted to 8 format), Application Engine Sections (after converted to 8 format) andPermission Lists (formerly known as Classes).The PeopleTools upgrade adds a new field – LASTUPDOPRID – to these objects and updatesit with the default PPLSOFT value. This marks the objects as being delivered by PeopleSoft.You will need to change that value for any objects that you have modified or added to yourproduction database. If you do not, they could be deleted or overwritten when you perform thefull database compare in the next phase. If your objects are marked as objects customized byyou, they will not be deleted as part of this upgrade or any other maintenance or upgradesbeyond PeopleSoft 8.

 Once you have documented all of your prior customizations in Stat, use Stat’s Object HistoryWizard to produce a list of customizations to any of these fourteen object types. To mark themas belonging to you and not to PeopleSoft, simply open the object in Application Designer andresave the record. This will update the value in the LASTUPDOPRID field to be your OperatorID, and not PPLSOFT.

Save a Copy (PRECOMPARE)

Save a copy of this database as this represents your current PeopleSoft version, including allcustomizations, on PeopleTools 8. We will refer to this database as PRECOMPARE laterwhen we discuss how Stat can help you merge your customizations with PeopleSoft 8 deliveredobjects. In the next phase, for each PeopleSoft 8 vanilla object that you choose, any existingcustomizations will be overwritten. By taking a copy of this database at this point, you willhave a version 8 copy of all current customizations.

The Comparison Phase

When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,” I am always tempted to ask ‘Compared towhat?’ – Sydney HarrisSometimes the Comparison Phase of the upgrade project can be hard and time consuming, butStat can help here too.

Compare Report Process

The filter options for the Compare Report process have evolved with the PeopleSoft releases.This functionality enables you to more easily segregate your reports, such as a report of deletedobjects, a report of customized objects, etc. However, even though the reportscomprehensively report on what the differences are, it is up to you to determine why the changeoccurred and which version you wish to take (PeopleSoft delivered or customized). In addition,since each customization that has been recorded in Stat includes all objects (on-line, batch andthird-party), you can quickly see the entire customization in one review. This is very powerfulwhen you are trying to determine which version of an object to select.Also, keep in mind that the Compare Reports work only for PeopleSoft objects. You areresponsible for documenting, identifying and analyzing differences in both batch and third party files.

Non-Compare Objects

Non-compare objects include Access Groups, Cube Definitions, Cube Instance Definitions,Dimensions, File References, Message Catalog Entries, Portal Registry Definitions, Roles and Trees.These objects cannot be compared and are not included in the compare project. You areresponsible for reviewing the objects in the non-compare project to ensure that they will notconflict with modifications that you have made to your system. The good news, however, isthat all of these objects with the exception of File References can be documented and versionedwithin Stat. Using Stat’s Object History Wizard you can easily see which of these objects havebeen customized and therefore make informed decisions about which version of these objects to take.

Deleted Objects

Stat can produce a report that identifies all of the PeopleSoft objects that are referenced byobjects that will be deleted in PeopleSoft 8.x.• Run a compare report between your current release vanilla (that has beenupgraded to 8.x) and PeopleSoft 8.x delivered for objects that exist in thecurrent release but not in PeopleSoft 8.x.• Read the results of this compare report project into Stat.• Run Stat’s Impact Analysis Wizard. The wizard will analyze all of the “to bedeleted objects” in this project, in one pass, against the PeopleSoft databaseof your choice and will produce a list of additional objects that will beimpacted.• Review this list of additional objects for any “new” customized objectsbecause you now know that these objects will need to be modified to point toreplacement objects in order to function properly after the upgrade.• Include these objects in your “reapply customizations” phase and also in yourtesting scripts.

Impact Analysis Wizard

Stat can read in the results of any Compare Report. Once the project has been read into Stat,use Stat’s Impact Analysis Wizard to analyze the impact of all of the objects in the project, inone pass, on all PeopleSoft objects in a database (including, but not limited to, queries, indexesand translate values). The resulting list of objects can then be printed or exported to a file forlater reference. Or, the objects (or a subset) can be added and worked on in conjunction withthe original list of objects.

Results so Far (COPYPROD)

The copy of the database the way that it exists after completing the comparison phase, is a copyof your current PeopleSoft database that has been upgraded to PeopleTools 8, and containsupgraded objects that reflect version 8 functionality. If you decide to accept the PeopleSoftversion 8 object but want to incorporate your prior customizations, you must now merge thetwo objects. The reverse may also be true – if you decided to keep your customized version, butwould also like to incorporate version 8 functionality, then it is up to you to merge in the newfunctionality.

Complete Copy of Production

If you have taken the PeopleSoft version of an object over your own customizedversion, you may need to do some customization to the new objects to get the blend ofnew standard features and your custom features. In complex cases, this may takeseveral iterations. – PeopleSoft Database Upgrade Training Guide, January 2001Next to the Compare Report phase, reapplying customizations is probably the most timeconsumingtask of the upgrade. However Stat’s Change Management, Version Control andMigration Assistance functionality can be a great help.

 Versioning Customizations

One of the biggest challenges in performing a successful upgrade is reapplying customizationsso that the customized functionality continues to work properly in conjunction with theupgraded functionality. Stat can assist by providing a “safety net” so that you can repeat thisretrofit process as many times as necessary.Described below is one possible scenario. Please keep in mind that because Stat is veryflexible and configurable, you may decide to configure Stat differently based on yourorganization’s requirements.

Databases

It is assumed that these databases exist on the PeopleSoft 8 upgrade release level:• PRECOMPARE –This is a copy of your current PeopleSoft 8 database thathas been upgraded to PeopleTools 8. All current customizations still exist.None of these objects will be modified during the merging process.• UPGDEV – The developer’s sandbox where customizations and upgradedobjects will be merged.• UPGTEST – Testing environment for objects that were modified inUPGDEV.• COPYPROD – Copy of Production that will be used in the Test Move toProduction phase. This is the copy that has had been “upgraded” with eitherPeopleSoft delivered objects or customized objects in the comparison phase.Migration Path(s)• Your Production Support Migration path has probably already been definedand includes databases such as Production, Development, Testing, QA, etc.All of these databases are on the current release level. Using Stat in yourcurrent Production environment will enable you to take advantage of Stat’sChange Management, Version Control and Migration Assistancefunctionality, as well as to track any changes that occur to your Productionenvironment during the upgrade. These changes will need to be reviewedand added to the upgraded database at some point (either pre- or post- GoLive).• Example of an Upgrade Migration Path in Stat:

Merging Changes

When you tell Stat that you want to work on an object, the first step that Stat performs is toautomatically take a “baseline” snapshot (SWAT set) of the object and archive it for futureretrieval if required. At any time, a developer can take “Interim” snapshots and archive themfor future retrieval as well. These SWAT sets are then migrated using Stat’s Migration Wizard.Typical steps in merging one customized object with its delivered counterpart are:1) Associate Object (on-line, batch or third-party) to a Customer Service Report(CSR).a. Stat automatically creates a baseline snapshot of the Object (SWAT #1)from the base database, in this example it is COPYPROD, and archives it.b. If physical object locking has been implemented, Stat automaticallyplaces a lock on the object in the designated databases on the migrationpath. The same process is followed for batch and third-party objects iffile security has been implemented. Development conflicts andoverwrites are now avoided. Note: Even if physical object locking/filesecurity is not implemented, Stat still automatically places a logical lockon the object in all databases on the migration path. Developmentconflicts for this object can now be monitored and managed accordingly.2) Take an Interim SWAT Set of the Object (SWAT #2) from PRECOMPARE.This represents the vanilla 8 version of this object. Now either version of thisObject can be immediately restored if desired.3) Migrate SWAT #1 to UPGDEV. This insures that the developer is working onthe correct version of the object from the Copy of Production, because this is thecopy that will ultimately be used in the Test Move to Production.4) Look on-line at the Object in both PRECOMPARE and UPGDEV. Decide howto incorporate the customized functionality into the Object and begin making thenecessary changes. Take as many Interim SWAT Sets as desired so that at anytime any of these snapshots can be restored.5) When ready to Unit Test, take an Interim SWAT Set (minimum SWAT #3) andmigrate to Test (UPGTEST).a. If Testing was successful, migrate SWAT #3 to COPYPROD.b. If Testing was unsuccessful, either:i. Fix the object in UPGDEV, orii. Restore a prior SWAT Set and try again.6) Repeat Step 5 until Testing is successful and the object has been migrated toCOPYPROD.7) Close the CSR, thereby releasing the object’s lock.All of the changes to this object are now documented, in addition to having copies of the objectthat can be restored at any time. Since the copies (SWAT sets) of the object are storedexternally to the PeopleSoft databases, the SWAT sets will not be lost if you must do either adatabase restore or refresh. SWAT sets can be taken from any database on the migration path,at any time, and be restored to any database on the same release at any time. This functionalityeffectively gives your developers an “undo” in PeopleSoft, as well as automaticallydocumenting all of the changes that were made and the reason for those changes.

Flat File Migrations

Stat’s robust flat file setup allows you to identify multiple locations for flat files for eachPeopleSoft database (PeopleSoft databases can “share” flat file locations as well). This insuresthat when you migrate flat files from one PeopleSoft database to another, that the flat files stayin sync across the multiple locations. For example, if an SQR resides on both your networkserver and database server, one migration will automatically update both copies of the SQR.And, since a migration may also contain PeopleSoft objects, one migration can updatePeopleSoft objects as well as flat file objects in multiple locations.If two PeopleSoft databases “share” flat file locations, i.e. if both UPGDEV and UPGTESTpoint to the same location for SQRs, Stat will recognize this and record that migrations forSQRs to UPGDEV have also updated the SQRs for UPGTEST.Distributed DatabasesStat can be configured to migrate changes to multiple databases at one time. For example, ifobjects that are migrated to COPYPROD need to be migrated to additional testing databases atthe same time (i.e. System, Integration, User Acceptance, etc.), these databases can be definedin Stat as Distributed databases.Reapply Production ChangesAt some point you will need to review the changes that have occurred in Production during theupgrade and decide if you wish to apply those changes pre- or post- Go Live. Since all of thesechanges have been documented using Stat, you will be able to quickly review the list ofchanges and make appropriate decisions for each change. Whether you decide to apply themnow or after the upgrade is complete, Stat’s Change Management and Version Controlfunctionality will enable you to revert to a “pre-changed” version or any interim version in casetesting fails or the change is accidentally overwritten.

Testing and Move to Production

Phil Rizzuto – ‘Hey Yogi I think we’re lost.’Yogi Berra – ‘Ya, but we’re making great time!’It won’t do a lot of good to get the upgrade done quickly if it doesn’t perform as expected.Use Stat’s knowledge repository to document all that has happened during your upgrade toverify that your test plans are complete.Issue TrackingAccording to PeopleSoft’s Database Upgrade Training Guide, “You should implement amethod for tracking the tests and issues discovered during testing. Tracking issues andresolutions on a central document serves as a communication tool and minimizes duplication effort.”Use Stat’s Detail Logs to record comments about testing results. You may choose to use Stat’sLog Topics to segregate these comments into Unit Testing, System Testing, IntegrationTesting, Parallel Testing, Performance Testing, User Acceptance Testing and RegressionTesting. Use Stat’s file linking functionality to link to the actual testing scripts and use Stat’s

 Task/Time functionality to ensure that certain steps are always followed and checked off, suchas Test, Document, Resolve Issues, Retest, Test, Document and Sign-Off. You now have onecentral repository in which all upgrade team members can review testing results.Failed Test(s)In the event that a test fails, you can use Stat’s Archive Wizard to quickly locate a prior versionof the object that successfully passed Unit Testing. If you choose to restore to that version, youcan do so quickly and easily by using Stat’s Recovery Wizard.

Scripts

You may choose to version your SQL and Data Mover scripts within Stat during your TestMove to Production phase. That way, if you wish to revert to a prior script, you can easily do so.

Move to Production

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move theworld. – Archimedes, Pappus of AlexandriaWell, perhaps you haven’t moved the world, but you have accomplished a significant event –you are live on PeopleSoft 8. All the weeks of hard work by all of the team members has paidoff, and you have a successful upgrade to show for it!Record New Customizations and Service PacksNow, keep the momentum going. Use what is already in place to manage your Productionenvironment. Not only will you reap the benefits of controlling your changes, but also all ofyour additional customizations will automatically be documented and you will be well preparedfor the next release. You will never again have to spend time tracking down customizationinformation, compiling it, deciphering it and trying to figure out why the customization wasever applied in the first place.Also, use Stat to record and manage the application of service packs and fixes. That way, priorto the next release, you can easily produce a list of all applied fixes and ensure that thefunctionality has been addressed.Knowledge RetentionMany upgrades require the use of some outside consulting services. When all parties during anupgrade use Stat, work performed by external resources is permanently stored in the Statknowledge repository.

Retain Upgrade History

The Stat repository will have in one central location all of the upgrade history, includinginformation about all issues, resolutions, successful and failed testing results, and the task(s)and times (optional) required to accomplish activities. Think how valuable this type ofinformation could have been for your upgrade to PeopleSoft 8. This information will beautomatically retained for your next upgrade, just waiting for you to tap into it.

 Summary

Since each organization is different, each upgrade will be different. However, the benefits that Stat can offer will be consistent. The variance is how much value each benefit will yield in your organization. To help you assess this, think about how you would answer these Self- Evaluation questions:

Self-Evaluation for__________________, dated____________, by________________

How much TIME will be saved when:Documentation is in one location, consistently organized and easily accessible by all team members?Tools changes that occurred in Production during the tools freeze are accurately recorded, therebyinsuring complete re-implementation and testing?Migrations of flat files are always to all appropriate directories (all file server and network serverdirectories)?Implementation information is consistently and accurately recorded, and easily accessible, identifiableand retrievable, so that knowledge from external resources will be retained in the event that any latentissues may arise?Testing plan is comprehensive, including customizations, tool changes in Production, and applied servicepacks?

How much VALUE will these processes add:Hi Med Low Facilitating communication among all upgrade team members: managers, technical resources,database administrators, developers and functional resources?Hi Med Low Documenting all upgrade activity – modified and deleted objects, migrations and testing results?Hi Med Low Producing status reports quickly that detail Work in Progress, Outstanding Issues and WorkCompleted?Hi Med Low Notifying team members automatically that they have tasks assigned to them, such as migrationneeds to be performed, objects are ready for development, testing failed and recovery must beperformed, or testing was successful and is ready for migration to Copy of Production?Hi Med Low Recovering immediately any prior version of an object “on the fly” without a database restore?Hi Med Low Analyzing the impact that a group of objects (i.e. a PeopleSoft project or the results of a CompareReport) could have on all PeopleSoft objects in the database in a few seconds (including impact onqueries, indexes and translate values)?Hi Med Low Identifying easily and accurately if any objects that have been deleted by PeopleSoft in version 8 arereferenced in any existing customizations?

Looking ahead, how beneficial will these be to FUTURE upgrades (do you wish thatyou had these now for this upgrade)?Hi Med Low How important is it that information be recorded so that it can be used to plan resources and timeframes?Hi Med Low What value would having upgrade information recorded so that knowledge from externalconsultants/contracts will be captured and retained for future upgrades?Hi Med Low How much time will be saved when you can easily and quickly provide a complete list of allcustomizations, including object names and the business reason for the customization?Hi Med Low How beneficial will it be to produce a list of all Service Packs that have been applied since the lastupgrade so that you can verify that all of these are included in the new release and that these areincluded in the Test Plan?

Conclusions

Using Stat during your upgrade to PeopleSoft 8 streamlines the upgrade process. Here is arecap of some of the ways that Stat accomplishes this:• All upgrade issues are documented in one central repository, thereby makingretrieval easy.• Communication is facilitated among all upgrade team members, byautomated e-mail notifications and use of the central repository.• Changes to all modified objects, including on-line, batch and third-party arecontrolled through Change Management and Version Control.• Tasks and the time to perform those tasks may be recorded, if desired.• Objects can be immediately restored to a saved prior version withoutrequiring a full database restore when needed.• All current upgrade history is recorded for review when preparing for thenext upgrade.This paper is intended to point out many ways in which Stat can assist during your upgrade toPeopleSoft 8.x. In reality, there are many more ways in which Stat can help. If you have anysuccess stories or creative ways that you would like to share, please contact us at 949-754-8000.

About the Author

Sonia Montgomery is a Sr. Product Specialist for Stat with Quest Software. She is responsiblefor supporting clients, both pre-sales and post-sales, by working with them to solve specificbusiness requirements and to determine the best way to use Stat. She also writes white papersand articles, and works with the Stat Development team on enhancements and future designrequirements. Prior to joining Quest, Sonia had 4 years experience working with PeopleSoftdoing implementations, production support and upgrades.Updated September 4, 2001© 2001 Quest Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Quest Central is a trademark of Quest Software. Allother brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.