Upgraging Env 803 to LSF9 then the Apps

Ouch... We are doing both the LSF9 and APP9 at the same time. I just hate running through the process twice. So far everything is going well with our upgrade.

In April 2007, we did the environment "migration" (we build a new server with LSF9, with old apps, then move the data to the new server).

in Aug 2007, we did SQL server upgrade
in Nov 2007, we did Apps upgrade from 8.0.3 to 9.0.0.4.

we broke up the pieces because the business didn't want/allow more than a "long weekend" of outage.

the hardest piece was the Apps upgrade. We had custom codes that needed to be migrated, recoded, ...etc. Suggestion would be if yo have custom codes, this is a good time to figure out if you really need them or not.

Which OS/DATABASE do you use? and what is your database size?

We had GREAT help though, John Henley of Decision Analytics (the host of this blog, author of Lawson guru Letter).

MTFF, thank you for the kudos!

I've done it both ways, and a combined environment/apps upgrade vs. breaking it to smaller chunks is always a tough decision/tradeoff between downtime vs. impact/change.   In MTFF's case, it was mandated by two factors:

1. Size of the apps database/upgrade time required > 24 hours of runtime to complete (this was AFTER re-writing some of the upgrade programs--it was something like 5 days as delivered!)
2. Impact of new 9.0 apps, going from SQL 2000 to 2005, Portal, Processflow Integrator vs. BCI, etc. was just too much for the organization to swallow at once.

As for 8.0 -> 9.0 apps changes/upgrade, the biggest ones are in AR and AC/BR.  Do you have those apps?

The good news is we are not using AR or AC/BR apps.  On the other hand we do have several hundred custom programs and upwards of 600 GB of data to convert.  We are HP-Unix with Oracle db.

Wow, several Hundred? I was whinning when I had to do about 100!

So, I would say get a dev server upgraded (get a how long it would take idea), then run through all your custom apps (assuming you want to keep them all) to identify ones that needs to be modified.

Is this the kind of suggestion you are looking for? of do you want more details Brain?

wow, that is a lot of programs to upgrade.

Does any of the custom programs use CUSTOM fields in the Database? If so, you will need to "find a place" for those data BEFORE you run the upgrade program; otherwise, they will be gone.

You should also run a upgrade on the 600 G just to see how long it takes to run the programs.

Once you are up on the new Apps, start looking at each of your custom programs that you want to keep.

Take a look at the postings in this blog as well.........
http://blog.lawsonguru.co...tion-risk-vs-reward/

There will more than likely be changes to some of your custom application programs. I went through a similar size custom program upgrade project that qas completed in the summer of 2007. Brought over all custom table defs with little to no problem. With the programs, I remember where some of the developers had violated a published but unenforced rule about the 860-FIND-NEXT-SETNAME must be preceded by an 850-FIND-NLT-SETNAME that Lawson decided to enforce in 9.0.1. So those had to change and many had been cloned. Also certain standard tables were flattened out, instread of containing 12 occurences of totals for example, the table was changed to one occurrence and the month or cost period was added as part of the key. Things like that. We tracked all custom program upgrade in spreadsheets and each and every program was tested, preferrable a parallel test. Also took advantage of the effort to change some standards on how external scripts were executed and the naming and placement of data file directories. All in all, it went very well. Very few post upgrade problems.

Hi, We will be going 'live' with 9.0.0 apps in May from our 8.0.3 apps. The environment will be updated at the same. We are currently in parallel with all of our super users. No problems to report from that end. Payroll & Human Resource processes are tieing down nicely with our current production system. We have many custom programs and tables (almost 400 hundred to be exact) which we've been able to migrate over successfully to this point. The biggest 'pain' are programs involving the 'AC' system code. Our new system runs on an HP-UX Itanium server in a clustered environment. The database is Oracle 10.g. If there is one problem area we are currently dealing with, it has to do with the LSF9 security pieces as the patching process has had some complications, specifically in the DB2 area. We've also experienced LASE going down frequently when more than 1 of the MIS technical staff is in LSF9 security either updating or writing new entries.

We upgraded LSF9, applications, moved from LID to Portal in September 2008.  We also have about 300 custom programs and took the opportunity to do some housekeeping.  I suggest to remove the object and keep the code around for a few months while preparing/planning the upgrade and then as delete the code if no one has any problems.  There were a few programs that were only run at year end and we wanted to make sure we went through a monthly and annual close before deleting the code. 

Just to keep things fun, we also migrated from UNIX/Oracle to Windows/SQL........things went smooth considering all the changes we endured.  We have about 200GB of data and it took approximately 21 hours to move/convert.

Anyone know if there is a recommendation for implementing Lawson Security prior to upgrading to 9.0 apps? Currently we are on LSF9, 8.03 apps, but have not implemented Lawson Security, as it is such a monumentous task. We know we have to go there, but which should come first, and why?

Which would give your company the best return and cost benefit? Upgrading Apps? Or utilizing LSF9 security?

You'd need more analysis to understand your company, needs, etc. It's hard to give a recommendation without that.

You can design your security to whatever your company needs/requires. It's complexity depends on your needs, structure, and other factors.

Perhaps I should reword my question. Is there any specific reason why Lawson Security should be implemented prior to upgrading to 9.0 apps? I'm not talking about benefits to my company...I'm talking about Lawson requirements here.

Who has upgraded to Apps 9.0.1? We are on LSF9.0.0.5 and Apps 803.11 (HR, GL, Purch/Mat'l mgmt, RSS, MSCM & LBI) and and are contemplating the jump to LSF 9.0.1 and Apps 9.0.1 later this year. Who is on LSF 9.0.1 and Apps 9.0.1? What was your upgrade like? How long did it take you? We're weighing a longer testing time vs going to Apps 9.0.0 and later upgrade to LSF 9.0.1/Apps 9.0.0.

If you are running App 8.0.3 MSP12. It's the same procedure going App 9.0.0.x/9.0.1.x.

Upgrading LSF from 9.0.0.x to 9.0.1 is fairly easy and painless.

The 9.0.1.x RSS portal interface is a shocker to me when I first saw it. It's kinda "Mac" like layout.