PeopleSoft users lose out on upgrade path?

update Oracle has no direct upgrade path for some of its PeopleSoft CRM users, who might have to re-implement their systems should they want to move to newer releases, according to an Oracle partner.

Oracle has committed to providing lifetime support for all products -- including those from PeopleSoft and JD Edwards -- which it acquired in its acquisition strategy.

Still, many users would want to upgrade to better supported releases, said Bryan Hinz, a consultant for Oracle systems integrator Apex IT.

However, this will not be easy for some. Many PeopleSoft CRM users would not be able to simply upgrade to new releases, according to Hinz.

"Should you upgrade or should you re-implement? ... Sometimes you don't have a choice," he said.

"PeopleSoft, on the CRM side, [versions] 8.0 and 8.1 don't have an upgrade path to 9.0, for example.

"And in all the different releases, there are certain version numbers ... that don't have an upgrade path or upgrade scripts provided to get to the newest release.

"So sometimes in that scenario you're looking at a potential re-implementation.

"So is it even possible to upgrade? Sometimes it's not."

On the path to Fusion
Yet, Oracle has espoused the benefits of its many CRM products to thousands of users at its annual OpenWorld conference in the US this week.

The vendor announced a new CRM release as part of the upcoming Oracle e-business suite 12.0, and also recently released a new CRM product for PeopleSoft users (9.0). Version 8.0 of Siebel CRM is also on the way.

Encouraging users to upgrade is critical for Oracle as it tries to gain user buy-in for its upcoming Fusion architecture. The first Fusion applications will be released next year, and will make up an application suite for the JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel users that have become Oracle customers via the vendor's acquisitions.

"Those [applications] are going to continue to be enhanced around the Fusion architecture. So as you upgrade, you're going to get closer to Fusion and take advantage of those technology enhancements," Hinz said.

Oracle CRM competitors such as SAP have seized the upgrade path issue in recent times to try and lure JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel customers to other products.

Steven Deare travelled to Oracle OpenWorld as a guest of Oracle.

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1. Aaah! Bask in the glory of "lifetime support" Anonymous -- 27/10/06

   Why did no one in the press bat an eye when Oracle made their worthless claim of "lifetime support"? It was evident that no matter what Oracle did, the other components in the infrastructure - OS, 3rd party products, DB, etc. - would continue to march on in time and would soon create many compatibility and support problems on their own.
   
   One would assume that Oracle realized this and knew that no matter what, customers would be forced to either upgrade or jump ship soon enough. What's really puzzling here is that Oracle wouldn't provide the bridge necessary for customers to feel encouraged to stay with Oracle, and thus keep providing that all-important maintenance revenue stream that Oracle ultimately purchased when they bought out PeopleSoft. Perhaps Oracle has bitten off much more than they can possible swallow. And now Oracle has announced support for RH Linux, I would think CRM customers would be rightfully angry that they aren't getting attention, and yet Oracle keeps committing resources to newer initiatives.

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2. The great ERP vendor upgrade scam Michael Panosh -- 30/10/06

   It is good to see the media **finally** picking up on what has to be, at best, a looming issue and at worst an outright scam by some large ERP vendors.
   
   Basically, they are marketing products that have dubious - if at all - upgrade paths. Either, as this story suggests, the path is not there which is dissapointing but at least there is a clear course of action for an affected company - buy another product.
   
   Or, more commonly, upcoming new technology is touted as an upgrade when it's going to be a complete reimplementation. This is especially the case with the vendors who are supposedly merging a number of products into a single "unified" solution, usually branded as some SOA miracle cure. It's a nightmare to consider doing this as a vendor -- and a nightmare for the customers who are going to be afflicted with the results.
   
   And of course, SOA is not the panacea that these vendors make out because when it's all said and done, if you are using Feature A in your current ERP app, and Feature A goes away in the new "unified" version, no amount of SOA helps you. You either do a custom mod to get Feature A back, or implement a work around with all the training and process issues that causes. And if you paid the vendor for Feature A in the first place, you'd be wanting to push hard for any mod to cost you $0 this time around...and optimistic that they'll listen to you.
   
   Finally, a certain vendor of 'dynamic' persuasion, has to be skating close to the wind by taking four acquired ERP products and giving them the same overall family name, as if you can readily mix-and-match between them. You can't!!
   
   A mid-market company that purchases one of these products on the assumption that they can simply swap over into another of the product family as their business grows (or shrinks) is going to find themselves on the receiving end of a high services cost project...even if they don't have to pay anything for user licenses. It's a big "ouch" no matter how you present things.
   
   Of course, their defence is always caveat emptor but in this case you need to take it to the max with these global ERP companies and their saturation marketing that "it's just an upgrade".

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