I had the pleasure of attending the PeopleSoft Partner Summit last week. One of the topics covered was “Selective Adoption”.
Selective Adoption represents a major shift in the way the PeopleSoft is “kept current”. No more major upgrades! Version 9.2 will be the last “versioned” release of PeopleSoft. The version number will be redundant within 1 or 2 years and will not be included in the official PeopleSoft vocabulary on an on-going basis. All future releases will be delivered as PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM) Images. Patches and enhancements can be selected from the latest PUM image and implemented using Update Manager.
So what does that mean for PeopleSoft customers?
Budgeting/Cash Flow
Whilst there will be no need for major upgrades every 3-4 years, you can’t just pocket the savings. It is recommended that the Updates be applied at least every 12 months. Accordingly, annual maintenance budgets will increase. Oracle said “Take the cost of a major upgrade and spread it over 4 years”. This is likely to be a hard pill to swallow for many organisations.
Operational Engagement
Historically, when a new PeopleSoft feature was delivered, the discussion between Business Operations and Technology revolved around Upgrades. As Operational teams become aware that they don’t need to wait for an upgrade to get new toys, there is likely to be pressure on Technology teams to deliver. The engagement model between Operations and Technology will need to adapt to accommodate the new Selective Adoption model.
Testing
Traditionally the cost of testing was up to 80% of the cost of an upgrade project. With more frequent updates, it will be necessary to test smarter. Automated regression testing will be key to managing testing costs. The PeopleSoft Test Framework is likely to become an important part of the PeopleSoft suite in most organisations.