What have you heard about PeopleSoft 9.1?

Some information that has been gathered includes some facts:

It is the third release since the acquisition

It has 1350 new features approximately

It has 28,000 or more page enhancements

It has Web 2.0 Capabilities

Approximately 300 new web services

And a large number of industry specific enhancements

Like many new releases, there is a new look and feel to the product. You still have the My Favorites area and in addition there is a recently used area on the menu.  In addition the navigation menu is only visible when pulled down.

9.1 also includes mouse over functionality on the menus.  In going through some of the changes and talking with clients one of the features they seem very happy with is the ability to use zoom grids for more working space with drag and drop, grid scrolling and column locking capability.  The grids are also sortable.

Some of the other items include an updated style sheet, a rich text editor, mouse-over pop ups as mentioned previously and an instant message capability with Yahoo and Beehive.

Some other features include out of the box role-based dashboards and reports.  The fact that it uses PeopleSoft  security is not a change.

There are some nice HR analytics dashboards including: workforce profile, Recruitment, Leave and Absence, Learning Management (a favorite mine), HR Performance, Compensation, Retention and Workforce Development.  Some of these are new and some enhanced.

So why would you want to upgrade?  Well, if you are on 8.8 you are going to have to get extended support which certainly is a financial reason to upgrade.  Others are increasing the effectiveness of your workforce by ensuring compensation rewards top performers and you have pay for performance capabilities.  Making sure that you have a strong pipeline for key talent is critical to any organization and maintaining this internally is a cost saving for recruitment.  Nine one will provide executives with the ability to make better informed decisions with metrics available.    Eliminating interfaces could reduce IT expenses and eliminating customizations during the upgrade usually results in cost savings and additional efficiency.

Some links that will provide additional information include:

http://www.oracle.com/education

Http://www.oracle.com/pls/psft/homepage

http://www.oracle.com/applications/peoplesoft-information-portal.html

If you are interested in some great decision trees, read this article from Gartner, it is packed with good information and would be helpful in deciding if you want to go to 9.1.

When customers are planning a new installation of PeopleSoft, Gartner suggest to implement version 9.0. “Gartner believes that v.9.1 will be released during 2H09, but most customers will not want to be the first to take on a new release. If you need the newest functionality right away (such as compensation management or succession management in HCM), then implement v.9.1 as soon as is practical for your organization. If you don’t need the new functionality, then implement v.9.0 until v.9.1 has more market traction and proof points, which Gartner expects within 12 to 18 months of release.”

Read the full article.

Source: Gartner (July 2009)

This year Oracle released new versions of PeopleSoft (8.50) and Applications (9.1). Will customers start upgrading to 9.1 in 2010? If customers follow Gartner they will wait. My opinion is that the evolution steps between the PeopleSoft versions aren’t that big. Loads of fixes, patches, bundles and maintenance packs from previous versions have been included in this new release. Big functional changes haven’t been made in 9.1. The risk between upgrading to 9.0 or upgrading to 9.1 isn’t that big. If your customers are multi language users, you might want to consider the upgrade to 9.1 as it is unclear when the language pack will become available.

Do you have the Deltas?  Have you started implementing 9.1?  Add Comments or follow RSS.

Day one is behind us with a nice review of what was accomplished.  Let’s move on now and discuss each strategy we will be following in the implementation or upgrade.  Is there a specific methodology that is used by the client.  If so, make sure you have reviewed that methodology before starting this phase of the workshop.  This is a good place to start assigning groups to work on areas of interest.  Who will finish the strategy document?   What are the tasks, timelines, repsonsibilities.  Discuss them to make sure all members of the team are in agreement or if not agreement, there is a consensus.  What are the minimum categories for developing strategy?  You must at least have operating agreements in place, a high level strategy for how conversion will be handled.  Do you have a training plan? a testing plan?  Have you analyzed business process to identfy areas of improvement?  Have you analyzed the relationship between business process and system process to ensure your business process will be effective?  What approach will you have for communication?  Who, what, when why and how? Weekly team meetings are critical, using immediate communication devices such as twitter can be of value when immediate responses are needed.  What is the chain for decision making, the level of financial impact at each level and finally how will you approach upgrades and fixes at the beginning and throughout the length of the project?

Wow, that is the first item on the agenda for Day two…we have lots more to cover so tune back in tomorrow for more suggestions and please feel free to provide additions and comments.

I am always amazed when I hear someone say, we don’t have time to plan we just want to get to the results.  I think clients are often frustrated with planning because consultants have used planning to use reams of paper and loads of time developing documents that are never used after the initial stage of the project.  The heavier the document, the more successful the project right?  Planning doesn’t always entail documentation to max.  However, if you aim at nothing….you will definately hit it.  You must aim at the result you are seeking to achieve and planning helps identify that result.  What many clients don’t realize is something can be done quickly if it is well planned.  Training programs are often part of an implementation that are developed quickly, some are effective, some are not.  The ones that are successful are those that are well planned and meet the needs of the client.  They can also be completed quickly if you have a method to follow.  We think of methodology in terms of implementations, but methodology has the root method which applies to every aspect of a project we undertake be it implementation, testing, training, or development.  There is an old Japanese proverb that I think of whenever I hear that planning is not important: ” When you’re dying of thirst, it is too late to think of digging a well.”  Don’t get to where you are dying of thirst in any aspect of your undertakings.  Plan and you can achieve results quickly.  Eliminate the reams of paper but don’t eliminate the planning.