South Coast Air Quality Management District

Obtain Consulting Support in Upgrading PeopleSoft from Release 7.0 to 7.5

SYNOPSIS: 

In July 1998, AQMD initiated a critical project to migrate from our legacy government accounting and human resources software to PeopleSoft, an integrated financial and human resources package. Since that time, PeopleSoft has released two major software upgrades. Upgrading major software systems is essential for continuation of software maintenance and support and delivery of software enhancements that improve productivity, flexibility, and efficiency. Although AQMD staff is primarily responsible for the upgrade process, this action is to contract with PeopleSoft Inc. to obtain targeted support, both functional and technical, during the upgrade process. Funds for these services are included in the FY 2000-01 Budget.

COMMITTEE: 

Administrative, January 12, 2001, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the Executive Officer to execute Statement of Services agreements under the PeopleSoft, Inc., master consulting contract to obtain upgrade support services in an aggregate amount not to exceed $55,000.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

AQMD has been "live" on PeopleSoft Financials 7.0 for almost two years. From the time since its initial implementation, PeopleSoft has released two major software upgrades, with the most recent Release 8.0 in September 2000. Upgrading to new software releases is critical for major software systems such as PeopleSoft. Without implementation of software upgrades, AQMD would not benefit from delivered software enhancements and technology advances that improve productivity, flexibility, and efficiency. AQMD was unable to implement software upgrades with the previous Finance/HR software (Bitech) and thus could not take advantage of ongoing improvements.

Staff feels that it is important that an upgrade to a newer PeopleSoft release be done now rather than later because PeopleSoft is no longer supporting Release 7.0 and will not provide delivered patches and fixes for "bugs" or other problems. The AQMD will continue to receive all of the other services provided through the software license, but it is important to remain current on a supported version to ensure full value for the annual license fee paid.

Proposal

The upgrade from PeopleSoft 7.0 to 7.5 has been initiated by AQMD staff. The Executive Officer has signed an initial Statement of Services agreement in the amount of $19,800 to obtain technical support from the software manufacturer. PeopleSoft Consulting Services is currently on the Board-approved pre-qualified vendors list for providing temporary employee services. The initial agreement serves as a preliminary bridge to taking the matter to the Board so that the timeline for completing the upgrade would not be disrupted.

In-house staff will be utilized as much as possible to perform PeopleSoft upgrades. Internal staff best understand both the business processes and technical architecture. However, since no major upgrade has been performed on PeopleSoft, in-house staff has very little experience with the upgrade procedures. These complex procedures require careful coordination between the system administrator/database administrator, the programmer/developers, and the functional users. Implementation of the PeopleSoft software required AQMD to obtain assistance from technical experts, including expert consultants from the software manufacturer.

Therefore, staff has recommended obtaining targeted technical and functional assistance from the software manufacturer during the critical portions of the upgrade process – software installation, configuration table changes, initial upgrade of a copy of the production database, and final move to production. This will help ensure a clean upgrade and will provide valuable hands-on training to in-house staff.

Staff has recommended implementing Release 7.5 rather than the more recent 8.0 for several reasons:

• Release 8.0 incorporates a completely new architecture and new user interface. The PeopleSoft Steering Committee feels strongly that it is too soon to introduce what will be essentially new software (in look and feel) to users for whom the new system is still not completely familiar and who are still undergoing a learning process. Release 7.5 presents very few changes to the users in how they navigate through the software to do their work as most of the improvements are in the background.
  
  
• Release 8.0 is very new and staff’s approach is to wait before implementing new versions until all of the significant problems associated with newly released software have been resolved and incorporated. This is especially true for a release introducing sweeping changes in system architecture, such as Release 8.0.
  
  
• Since most of the improvements and changes in Release 7.5 are in the background, the upgrade should require very little re-education of AQMD staff compared with Release 8.0.

Staff anticipates upgrade support can be completed for a total cost not to exceed $75,000, including the $19,800 already funded under the Executive Officer’s signing authority.

Resource Impacts

Funds for these services are included in the FY 2000-01 Budget.

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