Mid 8.9 Upgrade - should we stop now?

[Buster DAN]

We are about mid way through our Xe to 8.9 upgrade...we've been going for a few months now and been finding it hard work especially in terms of retrofitting.

Longer term 8.11 is on the horizon I suppose...but our main reason for upgrading in the beginning was to ensure that we were relatively up to date (in terms of code/fixes etc..) and to ensure continue Peoplesoft support.

And then the Oracle take over comes along... we've got a long way to go with the upgrade still and I just wonder if we should stick with Xe until the future of Peoplesoft (and its software) is more clear.....

Any views/opinions on this please?

 

[kicrsa]

I suspect Peoplesoft will have to extend their support
agreement on Xe because of all the issues they are
having with 8.9 and 8.10. The customer base is
absolutely outraged over the quality of the software
in 8.9 and 8.10. I think that will translate into
extended support for Xe.

As for the long term direction for the former J.D.
Edwards software: I think the Titanic had a brighter
future. (Just my opinion)

Best Wishes on your decision path!

 

[list6654]

Oh, sweetie-pie, you have no idea how bad it could be.

8.9 / 8.10 are light years better than XE and infinitesimally better than B73.2 and they did nothing about supporting those old releases.

 

[kicrsa]

The problem is they are progressing back to the B73.2
days. 8.9 is an absolute disaster. It is painfully
obvious that there was no competent QA done on the
software before it hit the streets. Sadly even basic
functionality has bugs, major use components have
serious bugs. There is no excuse for this poor
quality. I don't care how bad it was 7 or 8 years ago
there is no excuse for the shoddy quality of TODAY!

 

[SULLY1]

Dan

If you are not too far into retrofitting I'd bag the 8.9 upgrade and go with 8.10. I heard there were hundreds of ESU's that needed to be applied to 8.9. I've also heard that 8.10 is basically 8.9 with all the bug fixes. My two cents.

Patty

 

[peterban]

Dan,

My 2 cents worth is that unless there is a compelling reason to upgrade to 8.9 DONT.
The word from all the people I have spoken too on this is that its the worst release for a long time, which echoes other peoples comments who have replied to your question. Oh and Im in EU not the US so this is from a slightly different view point.
The first implementation in the UK had the swot team in - and even still they delayed the go live at least twice!
B9 changes about 60% of B7 so why are we surprised that there are problems!

Also 8.11 is not that far away and if youve read the thread on the conference - there will be some serious changes in 8.11. If you can I'd wait until 8.11.

Warm regards

Peter

 

[adri_valentim]

Hi,

Remember one thing, 8.11 is WEB ONLY and 8.10 is citrix and WEB. So if you want to get rid of your citrix server, then go 8.11. If not, then go to 8.10.

That is my 2 cents.

 

[Larry_Jones]

Hi Stacy.

Your comments
"It is painfully obvious that there was no competent QA done on the software before it hit the streets. Sadly even basic functionality has bugs, major use components have serious bugs. "
really hit home unfortunately.

What hurts more than the obvious bugs is that some of the design changes in some areas reflect a lack of business/application knowledge or expertise. I wonder what's really happened to the OW/E1 development group since the acquisition. Have they all been outsourced? Are there any senior architects and developers left that understand the applications?

Sadly,

 

[kicrsa]

I don't know Larry I wish I knew better what was going
on out there. I don't think the whole Oracle thing is
going to be good either in the short term or the long
term.

I hate to sound like such a pessimist about all of
this but I like to deal in reality. The reality as
best I can forsee it is not good.

Maybe it's time to go to Office Depot and get a copy
of QuickBooks.

Regards,

 

[mfletcher]

Our compelling reason to upgrade is the loss of tax and regulatory support in 2/05 for payroll. 8.9 was installed last March with great pain and problems. Because of numerous issues, 8.9 was abandoned during the summer and 8.10 installed in August. So far, this version appears to be far more stable in functionality.

In September 2003, we learned of the 2/05 loss of support for XE. I also predicted that a groundswell of customer complaints would force a rollback of that support date and I expected this to be a hot topic for E1 customers at Connect. Surprisingly it was not. Based on all information I have collected, I do not see any free or low cost extension of support for XE beyond 2/05. A program of supplemental support beyond 2/05 was announced in June. But, there are expensive strings attached to this option.

The NOW program for upgrades was announced at Connect. Supposedly, it has a number of "free" components. I am still trying to get detailed info on it.

If you wish to perserve your Windows/Citrix clients, I recommend you order your 8.10 disks before 8.11 releases in a few months. 8.11 is fully web based product without a Windows client for users.

I hope PeopleSoft backs off but I am not betting our agency on it.

 

[dpeplinski]

And then the Oracle take over comes along... we've got a long way to go with the upgrade still and I just wonder if we should stick with Xe until the future of Peoplesoft (and its software) is more clear.....

Any views/opinions on this please?

I'm in the middle of a 8.0/8.10 decision....and the recent Oracle court decision has made me reconsider the pain of a 8.10 upgrade. Why go through a MAJOR upgrade for a product that might be an orphan?

does anyone have any other opinions? We'll probably go to 8.0 and wait.

 

[Buster DAN]

Thanks for all your comments guys..

We are holding back on any further retrofitting now and will keep a close eye on 8.10/11 and the impending Oracle take over.

In the mean time we can at least move on with Xe SP23 I suppose.

Thanks again!

 

[jstooge]

I'd like to hear about your issues with 8.10. I agree, I wouldn't want to see another 8.9 implementation or upgrade, but I've been involved with 2 8.10's that, except for a minor data issue involving Rapid Start have seen very few issues.

And I'd also disagree with the E1 future assessment...if anything, the Enterprise application should be worried. Oracle doesn't compete in the mid-market, nor has much experience with AS/400 applications, and with the partnership with IBM, I see E1 surviving even a sale to Oracle before Enterprise would survive.

Regards,

 

[jstooge]

Mike,

If you haven't done so yet, I'd contact your CE for infomation about NOW. But in a nutshell, you get the use of the upgrade lab for 1 environment, training for a year for a few users, and any consulting services needed for any ESU's or Tools Release upgrades needed for 3 months after your go-live event, for "free". This includes no retrofitting, no other consulting support or assistance, nor any technology assistance, other than required to get the base 8.10 installation performed, and your one environment upgraded.

Regards,

 

[mfletcher]

Jim-

My CE returned my call and I found out that the NOW program requires purchases of consulting services directly from PeopleSoft. Since we are so far along in our implementation and are very comfortable with the consultants we are using, I see no reason to spend my meager budget on them. When I broached the desire to receive the web training piece, I was told that she would look into it on a quid pro quo basis. I am expecting further clarification of what that means in the near future.

Thanks

 

[jstooge]

Mike,

Hope your CE told you that if you "want" consulting services you'd need to pay for them. There is no "requirement" in the NOW program to purchase any consulting services. Now if the CE said "should", I would agree. Also, you can sign up for the NOW program until the end of the year, but the actual upgrade doesn't need to happen this year, as long as the upgrade starts prior to 11:59PM, December 31, 2005, you get the benefits of the NOW program.

Regards,

 

[SULLY1]

Jim

I have to agree with Mike on the "NOW" program. We had a conference call with our CE about this program. We were told that the "spirit" of the program was that the customer would purchase PSFT consulting services equal to the value of the upgrade.

Patty

 

[jstooge]

I understand "spirit", and again, I'd agree it would be foolish to accept the "free technical" upgrade without having some assistance, but trust me, I know personally of clients that have consulting relationships with other BP's or independants, that are in the midst of getting "NOW"'d, and paid for no additional PSFT consulting time.

My point was again, if you want it done and don't want consulting time, you should be warned and beat over the head, but you shouldn't be REQUIRED to purchase any additional time. I have not heard of anyone being 'turned down' because they didn't wish to purchase additional consulting services.

I would agree with the CE who told you about the "spirit", because realistically, anyone going from XE/ERP 8.0 should be getting assistance if migrating to 8.10, especially for coexistence clients trying to break it. And the CE isn't going to get much for any NOW deal if it doesn't have additional stuff tacked on.

I believe the real intent is simply, the NOW program offers a "FREE" technical upgrade, and that pesky word free is the kicker. When you look at an upgrade project, the activities and work that the 'free' part of the NOW project gives you is about 10% at best. The CE is in CYA mode, because if you think free upgrade means that you'll be movin' and groovin' in production in 8.10 for 'free', you will be a very disgruntled client.

But really, in the long run, it would only make sense for PSFT to allow NOW upgrades without purchasing additional consulting time. A. Many clients will realize they need additional assistance and get it from some source, possibly PSFT B. Which do you think PSFT would rather have, an XE client who stops paying maintenance, or a client that got a "free" upgrade but will pay for 8.10 maintenance?

Anyhoo, I'll get off my soapbox, but I just wanted peeps to know that regardless of "spirit", or "intent", or your CE doesn't want to deal with paperwork if he/she isn't getting anything from it, there are clients getting NOW'd without additional PSFT consulting fees. Again, anyone trying to upgrade to 8.10 without assistance from someone, I think is going down a rough path, in my opinion. And since PSFT has a vested interest in your upgrade success, that could be why you're getting pushed.

Regards,