Death, Taxes, and PeopleSoft Upgrades
Posted On: 12/15/2006
Well it's May, and I still haven't done my taxes yet.
I filed the extension, which bought me four months.
It's crazy too, because I have another big refund this
year. Thanks to TurboTax, it isn't really that hard to
do them either. It's just getting the time to sit down,
collect everything together, and actually do the work.
Sound familiar?
PeopleSoft upgrades are like doing your taxes, except
you don't have to do them every year. Extended
Support is the equivalent of an extension, and all the
new functionality is the big refund. Upgrade
Assistant plays the part of TurboTax. So why do so
many customers fear and loathe upgrades? Maybe
it's for the same reason -- because, with the possible
exception of Senator Long (now deceased), no one
understands the tax code either.
Of course, I have a different perspective. I think
upgrades are easy. One year, we did two of them: we
upgraded from 5.01 to 5.1 in the spring, and from 5.1
to 7.0 in the fall. The next fall, we upgraded from 7.0
to 7.5. Of course, I didn't do very much of the work -I
just reviewed compare reports. The real work was
done by an upgrade expert. Isn't that the key to
doing your taxes too? Turning to someone who
knows the ropes, and can show you the way?
Here's the advice I give clients: hire an expert, control
your scope, test thoroughly, and moderate
expectations.
Hire an Expert
The key to managing any IT shop is knowing when to
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