Implementation Technical Issues

1
Implementation Technical Issues

• For PeopleSoft
• Student Administration,
• Human Resources, and
• Financials

2
Implementation Technical Issues

• Presented by
• Dave Gardner, Director
• John Dillard, Assistant Director
• Grace Schroer, Assistant Director
• KU Computing Services

3
History

• HR/Pay 4.0
• Began Fall 1994 as a joint effort with KSU and
  DISC
• Was joint implementation project with KUMC
• Production cut-over January 1996
• Modules implemented HR, Payroll, Benefits
• Summer of 1997 upgrade to 6.0 halted because
  product too buggy

4
History

• Financials 6.0
• RFP Summer of 1997
• Bid awarded to PeopleSoft and product installed
  Fall 1997
• Production cut-over March 1, 1999
• Modules implemented, GL, AP, PO
• Developed a University Budget System using
  PeopleTools 6.0
• September 1999 implemented Assets module
• January 2000 begin the upgrade process to release
  7.5 which includes the new Grants Administration
  module

5
History

• Student Administration
• January 1998 release 7.0 arrives and is installed
• SA product includes both HR/Pay modules and
  Student modules
• Spring 1998 Project Team trains staff and begins
  FIT analysis
• January 1999 release 7.5 arrives and is installed
  
• March 1999 Campus Community and Admissions FIT
  teams begin implementation process
• HR/Pay re-implementation begins April 1999

6
History

• Student Administration (contd)
• Campus Community and Admissions modules go live
  October 1, 1999
• HR/Pay production October 24, 1999 with HR,
  payroll and benefits
• From October to now, HR/Pay has continued
  implementing functionality in 4.0
• February 2000 SA and HR begin the upgrade to
  release 7.6
• May 2000 SA Leadership decides to implement
  remaining modules in release 8.0 in the Fall of
  2002.

7
Costs to Date

• PeopleSoft systems purchase price - 2.5 million
  (includes training)
• PeopleSoft annual maintenance - 339,000
• Consulting - 900,000
• Central hardware - 1.1 million (servers, disk,
  scheduling software)
• Oracle purchase - 180,000
• Oracle annual maintenance 43,000

8
IT Staffing

• You need a lot of folks, we have
• HR/Pay (8 Developers, 2 Prod. Control, 1.5 Tech.
  Support)
• Student Administration (10 Developers, 1.5 Prod.
  Control, 1.5 Tech. Support)
• Financials (7 Developers, 1.0 Prod. Control, 1.0
  Tech. Support
• Technical Trainer for all systems (1.0)
• Turnover low, but had we lost certain
  individuals, we would have jeopardized our
  implementations
• Technical skills in PeopleSoft, UNIX and Oracle
  are in high demand

9
UNIX Database Servers

• SUN E4500, (4) processors, 3.0 GB memory, 244 GB
  disk production HRSA
• SUN E4000, (2) processors, 1.5 GB memory, 194 GB
  disk production Financials
• SUN E3500, (2) processors, 2.0 GB memory, 300 GB
  disk development/testing
• SUN E3500, (1) processors, 1.0 GB memory, 120 GB
  disk upgrades
• SUN E2, (2) processors, 256 MB memory, 30 GB disk
  Technical Services testing
• SUN E1000, (6) processors, 1.0 GB memory, 163 GB
  disk production HR/Pay 4.0

10
File Servers

• One for testing
• One for production

11
Application Development Tools

• PS Tools - panels, tables, PeopleCode
• PS Query - end-user ad hoc reporting
• Crystal - Report formatter
• SQR - complex reports
• SQL - developer database tool
• COBOL - major processes

12
Databases

• Standardized on Oracle
• 3 Production
• 4 Development
• 9 Testing
• 8 Fit Analysis
• 10 Technical
• 30 - Training (Intermittent use)
• Each database has thousands of relational tables
  Financials 7,445 HRSA 12,427

13
Training

• Technical and functional
• 400/day via bulk purchase
• Onsite requires a lab that meets PeopleSoft
  specifications
• We hired a technical trainer to help coordinate
  and manage the training. She also developed
  end-user query classes and teaches them to campus
  staff.
• In the Fall 1999 PeopleSoft opened a training lab
  in KC

14
Training (contd)

• Prerequisites are strictly adhered to you must
  take the class or test out of it
• Application developers need 4-5 weeks of
  technical training plus 1-2 weeks of application
  module training
• Technical staff need 6-8 weeks
• Functional staff need 7-12 days per application
  module
• Need to train all Project and FIT team members on
  how to set up the system

15
Training (contd)

• End User training needs to be developed by the
  Project team and key functional staff. Hundreds
  of campus staff were trained on how to use the
  systems
• Quality of PeopleSoft training was usually very
  good
• Training needs are on-going due to technology
  changes

16
Fixes

• Buggy, untested code results in hundreds of fixes
• Fixes for the fixes
• Requires 1.0 technical FTE per system dedicated
  to applying fixes
• Functional testing is needed, which is a large
  effort
• Regulatory releases, tax updates and problem
  fixes are the various types of fixes

17
Fixes (contd)

• Need to check PeopleSoft web site each week and
  then download them very time consuming
• Keeping current on fixes is most important for
  FIT work
• Once systems are in production, applying fixes
  creates a fear of breaking something
• Difficult and time consuming to apply to
  production systems

18
Upgrades

• Provide new functionality and improved tool sets
• They have both minor and major types
• Compare utilities help identify differences
  between existing system and the new upgrade
• Scripts are delivered that modify the data base
  and convert data into any new format
• Local customizations are re-applied after the
  upgrade.

19
Upgrades (contd)

• Marketing leads you to believe it is easy
• Very involved with hundreds of steps
• Is a multi-month process
• Process has errors in it
• Complete testing is very important
• Upgrading production is multi-day process
• Requires a separate server isolated from
  production and development

20
PeopleSoft Support

• Often reorganized
• Try to be helpful, but getting to correct
  resource is a long drawn out process
• Many times we resolve the problem and implement a
  solution before they release a fix, which usually
  takes months
• You need to be persistent and somewhat pushy
  about problems
• Fortunately, we have not had major critical
  problems in HR/Pay and Financials

21
Workstations

• Client/Server support is difficult because
  workstations are not standardized therefore
  requires lots of people LSS and TS, KUNA
• PeopleSoft certification lags far behind the
  industry which means their products many times
  will not run on current versions of the
  workstation software
• Drive mapping is critical

22
Workstations (contd)

• Printing problems abound Query, Crystal, SQR,
  plus printer compatibility problems
• Costs for new PCs were not centrally funded
• Release 8.0 will be web only not client server
  which hopefully will reduce problems

23
Functional Participation

• Project management has been user driven
• Hundreds of set-up tables (edit)
• Steep learning curve
• Business processes are usually re-engineered to
  fit PeopleSoft in order to reduce customizations
• Documentation on the interrelationship of options
  is not good, consultants can be most helpful

24
Functional Participation (contd)

• Functionals need to understand the system in
  order to choose among the features
• They need to participate heavily, 100 is best,
  anything less delays the project
• Big impact on them because this project work is
  in addition to their regular work
• Turnover is a problem KUMC is nearly 100 in
  the SA project, Payroll staff have turned over a
  couple of times since 1995

25
New IT Paradigm

• Make the package work without making
  modifications
• We are relying on the vendor to deliver needed
  functionality
• The pace of technology changes is controlled by
  PeopleSoft
• Upgrades and fixes require huge emphasis on
  keeping current and testing and re-testing

26
Security

• Many aspects to consider and manage
• Application fairly flexible, but time consuming
  to establish
• UNIX very few people have logons to the
  database servers
• Oracle roles are associated with operator
  classes and control update access
• File Server forced to change password every 90
  days
• Workstation need to be aware of who is using it

27
Help Center

• Set up to handle all problem calls
• Daily get 3-4 calls
• Most relate to printing or workstation set-up

28
Data Warehousing Reporting

• Financials and HR/Pay have SAS based web
  accessible reporting system for campus users
• PeopleSoft delivers Query, Crystal, SQR
• End User reporting tools are not easy to use but
  the expectation is to have Users develop their
  own reports and replace some interface-based
  systems with reports, such as the University
  Relations System
• No data archiving with the product must develop
  your own

29
Consultants

• Each project has used them to help guide choices
  on how to implement the system
• Knowledgeable, experienced consultants who know
  the technical and functional sides are hard to
  obtain, and expensive, but they have really saved
  us time and effort

30
Technical Benefits

• Standardized on Oracle for our database and SUN
  for our database servers
• Common tools allow more flexibility in moving
  staff from project to project
• Table driven systems enable quick response to
  changing needs
• Small incremental costs to increase system
  capacity compared to mainframe
• Market driven vendor system forces us to be
  technologically current

31
Future

• Consistent Project Management Methodology
• Nirvana with release 8.0 (Web-based)