This is the fifth in a series of articles: Upgrading Like a PeopleSoft Pro. So far, we have discussed the various requirements and information gathering stages, we have also discussed the Business Fit Gap Analysis of our current version of the application and the new release of the application. Now we will discuss Planning, Planning, and Planning. Did I mention Planning?

Now that you have gathered this enormous amount of information and performed your business fit gap analysis, you should be knowledgeable and prepared enough to start planning and putting together your Project plans. There are really 3 steps of planning that we need to highlight. First, you need to perform Technical planning. This will include planning for your technical requirements and performing a Technical Fit Gap analysis. Second, you need to plan your project team requirements, identifying key personnel and resources. Finally, you will create your detailed project plan. We have even included a sample project plan for you to use.

Technical Planning
In order to efficiently perform your upgrade as smoothly as possible, you need to perform a review and analysis of your current hardware and software components that make up your current PeopleSoft application. You should document this information in a spreadsheet or other format and then compare this information with new release Hardware and Software requirements. This is the information you downloaded in an earlier step. Once you perform this comparison you will be able to see the Gaps in your technical environment and discover what needs to be aqcuired to meet the new requirements.

Now, here is some important information for capacity planning. When you perform an upgrade you will need a vast amount of file and database disk space for holding multiple copies of your database. Therefore, be sure to plan for at least three times the size of your current production database with room for several backups of these databases. Furthermore you will require about twice the amount of File Server space that you utilize in production today. And, it is most important that your upgrade server have the appropriate processing power, memory, and that it is properly configured for a large amount of batch processing.

Planning Your Project Team Requirements
If you have ever performed a PeopleSoft upgrade or implementation, then you know that it requires key personnel and resources to make necessary business decisions and to be able to identify customizations and other business requirements. So you will need to identify these Key resources and create a resource plan accordingly. If you have the members of your implementation still on hand, make sure you target these individuals as the key members of your project team. Their knowledge is extremely valuable. Make sure that you clearly define their roles and determine the amount of time they will be able to commit to the upgrade project. Your project will need a Project Manager, Technical Upgrade Specialist, Installer, DBA, Network Admin, System Admin, Developer, and Functional Resources. Once you identify each of these key role players, create a resource plan that documents their roles, their skills, any external assistance you need, and any additional training that is required for these team members.

After the resource plan is completed, you can start to establish your working upgrade environment for your team. This will include workstations, phones, email groups, supplies, dedicated shared file directories, and anything that is needed for the team to be successful. Finally, make sure you identify and establish standards for your upgrade project. These standards will ensure that your team works with documentation, issue management, communication, documentation of issues, and change control procedures.

Create Your Project Plan
Now that you have identified and documented your gap fit analysis, key team members, roles, resources, technical requirements, and standards you are ready to create a detailed project plan that is specific to your environment. The best way to do this is to utilize your documentation of the business fit gap analysis, the technical fit gap analysis, and the Upgrade instructions. This will allow you to create an outline of the detailed tasks that are required to execute the upgrade. You will also need to include testing and end user training in this process.

If you need assistance with implementing or upgrading your PeopleSoft applications, please contact DMT Solutions (The Parent company of PSoftPros)