Upgrade - Components
Quick Links to Upgrade Components
Application Release
From the time of the initial announcement by Oracle for release 11i, SIU’s position was to “wait and see”, to not be among the first to upgrade. As it turned out, this was a good move as the initial releases of 11i were very problematic. Several higher education institutions reported extensive effort and problems to conduct the upgrade. Oracle's 11i release level is identified as 11.5.n. With release 11.5.7, the software gained stability and fewer problems have been reported for the upgrade. The most recent release level is 11.5.10, which became available in mid-November 2004. This is the level AIS will use to upgrade for SIU. The 11.5.10 release is an accumulation of improvements and problem solutions along the 11i path. Recently received information defines release 11.5.10 as the “terminal release” for 11i. There will be no future versions of the 11i software. SIU will use this release to repeat the test upgrade to gain proficiency and eventually be migrated to Production - AIS.Database
The current database version being used by AIS is release 8.1.7.4. This was migrated to AIS production in November 2003. As for the database to use with 11i, AIS will upgrade to version 9i to take advantage of an enhanced database administration toolkit and anticipated improvements in database performance. Also, version 8.1.7.4 is not supported for use with 11i beyond December 2004.However, version 9i is not compatible with the current 11.0.3 applications. This will require we upgrade both the database and the applications at the same time. We want both the database and the applications to be at compatible and supported release levels.
Top
Jinitiator
The Jinitiator is the client (PC based) software component which provides for the access to the AIS database. All SIU staff that access AIS have this software installed on their PC. The Jinitiator for 11i is different than for the current release 11.0.3. To access an 11i test database, one will need to install a second Jinitiator on their PC. It can co-exist with the current Jinitiator and provide a separate path for access. Once installed, there is no special action to be taken to login to either release level. AIS will provide install instructions for the new Jinitiator and share with campus staff who will partner with us on the 11i upgrade activity.AIS will review and test the use of one compatible Jinitiator for both release 11.0.3 and 11i. If available, SIU users can begin a migration to the new Jinitiator in advance of the actual upgrade. Instructions will be provided to de-install the older version while applying the new version.
Top
Server Hardware
The current AIS servers were initially configured and put into service in mid-1997. The AIS and Test / Development servers were evaluated for use with 11i and determined to be in need of replacement. A Test / Development replacement server has been received, installed and configured. All test databases have now been migrated to the new server. AIS and Carbondale Information Technology will evaluate a replacement server for AIS-Production, to be ordered during the latter half of FY 2005. The new server will be used for the final test of 11i prior to setting a date for upgrade of Production – AIS. This will provide confirmation that the hardware environment is ready to support the upgraded applications. Top
Customizations
It has been said many times in many forums, customizations go on forever. Once developed, maintenance during patches and upgrades is continuous. SIU has a fairly high number of customizations, but not extremely complex. Some are based on how we wanted AIS to function, such as the security module which keeps AP and PO users to their respective accounts. Some of the current customizations have been questioned over the years of AIS production. During the 11i upgrade, these customizations will be evaluated for the need and effort to migrate to the new release.Top
Training
Training for 11i will be for two primary audiences / user groups. First, are the current users in both the campus business offices (back offices) and the campus departments (Fiscal Officers, Department Receivers etc.). For these groups, AIS will anticipate development of a "delta" set of training material showing the differences between the current 11.0.3 and the new 11i release levels. Hopefully, this training, from differences in navigation to application specific, can be delivered in a relatively short time frame. Depending on the number of people involved in the back office testing as well as the depth of their involvement, those individuals may be called upon to train remaining back office staff in-house. Campus department end-users may be trained via an auditorium presentation method. Other delivery methods are also being evaluated.For the back-office staff users of AIS, now is an opportunity to review current training material, documentation and delivery methods. What can we do to improve the training experience? How detailed does the training material need to be? The campuses should advise AIS for changes to the current materials in regard to business processes. Now is the time to ask what needs to be changed and how the back offices and AIS may collaborate to modify the material to relate to 11i?
The second group of users will be those moving to different jobs in the university or new employees to SIU. This training will need to be more in-depth and will be on-going as employees come and go. The AIS Training & Documentation team will lead the way in development of these training materials with cooperation and assistance from both AIS functional staff and the 3-campus back offices. This development will be done simultaneously with the “delta” set of training materials. AIS developed training materials, delivered at and by each campus will follow the same model as the original implementation of AIS. This assures a common set of reference material, a high level of quality control and consistent business processes for all users to reduce the risk of transactional problems.
The bottom line is that if training is not matched to the functionality of the applications and does not relate to the business processes in use by the back-offices, the potential for data errors in production rises to a higher level.
All of this will be determined as we proceed with the upgrade and training requirements are defined by the Campus Financial, Human Resource and Payroll Directors.
Top
Upgrade Execution
The initial upgrade tasks for 11i will be done by the AIS technical team. This starts with a copy of AIS - Production. The upgrade is applied to that copy and the technical team will then do a review to check for and resolve obvious problems. Next, the technical analysts and developers will evaluate the upgraded database for success or issues with migration of SIU customizations. It is anticipated at least some of the customizations will not successfully migrate to 11i and will require modification. These issues will be addressed as necessary.Top
Check-Out
Once the upgrade has been at least partially certified by the technical staff, AIS functional staff will begin a review for the differences in navigation and business processes. It is this review which will, in part, provide input to the Training and Documentation team for revision of training material and input to a comparison document of the differences between 11.0.3 and 11.5.10 release levels. AIS staff will exercise as many SIU business processes as we know to do to provide the first alert to the back offices and campus users for the new and changed functionality of 11i.Top
Campus Review
At some point, representatives of the application back offices across all campuses will be given access to the upgraded 11i database to begin a thorough and full review of the upgrade. This should be done with participation of AIS staff so all are aware of any differences and problems and so proper documentation and training material can be written. Test results should be recorded by and shared among the campuses, with copy to AIS. AIS should not and will not certify the 11i applications upgrade to be ready for production use by the campuses. We do not know all the business processes and are aware that some processes may be different than documented and may be done differently at each campus. The campuses alone should certify the upgrade is ready for production use for their respective location.
Top
Multiple Upgrades
In discussion with other higher education institutions and several consulting vendors, all recommend multiple upgrades / practice sessions. The complexity of the 11i upgrade can be minimized by repeating the upgrade steps while correcting problems and improving the process tasks. This also provides for opportunity to determine and hopefully decrease the actual time to do the upgrade when ready for production. AIS anticipates several practice runs of the upgrade. Any additional, critical development in 11.0.3 implemented prior to an 11i production upgrade will also have to be considered before final evaluation and testing is complete. This will take a high level of coordination among AIS and the campuses.Top
Upgrade to AIS Production
Following all 11i upgrade activity, resolution of customizations, training material revision, checkout, testing and acceptance by the campuses, etc., final planning must be done to determine when to do the upgrade of AIS - Production. This will involve planning around university and campus business cycles for Financials and Human Resources / Payroll. It is unlikely there will be a “good” time to do the upgrade, but one that is less disruptive to the business of the university.A major component for consideration will be the anticipated downtime from production use of AIS to complete the upgrade. This factor will be estimated to an extent during the multiple upgrade practice sessions as noted above. Windows of opportunity should be identified as soon as possible so planning may begin to coordinate the upgrade activity and checkout so that 11i is ready at approximately the same time as the campuses can agree to a period of downtime. Several dates should be identified to offer contingency planning as well. It is the intent of the AIS department to minimize the downtime of the upgrade so that disruption of normal business activity can be reduced as much as possible. However, the campuses should evaluate the effect of some downtime during regular business schedules and advise for time periods to avoid (i.e. fiscal year end).