Is it an Upgrade or an Implementation?

When does a PeopleSoft upgrade become an implementation? And what is the difference anyway?

There seems to be a commonly held view that a minor version change (e.g. 8.x to 8.x) is an upgrade. Whereas, a major version change (e.g. 7.x to 8.x) is a re-implementation.

This view is challenged where the vendor provides an “Upgrade Path” between major versions. For example PeopleSoft provide an Upgrade Path between v7.5/6 to 8.8. Albeit that the Upgrade Path is only available for HR, Global Payroll is not upgradable from 7.x versions.

The approach taken to upgrade is one way to draw the line between an upgrade and an implementation. If custom scripts are developed to migrate data from the legacy environment to the upgrade environment, then it is reasonable to assume an “implementation” approach is being employed. This is common where data cleansing is included in the scope of the upgrade, which complicates the use of vendor provided upgrade tools.

Ultimately it is politics that governs the title of a project. It is often easier to get support for an “Upgrade”, even if it requires the same effort as the implementation of a competing product.

HRMS 2.0, "OpenSocial" Opens the Door

With the announcement of the development of an open API for social networks (OpenSocial), the door is now open for organisations to interface their HRMS systems to Social Networking sites like LinkedIn, Salesforce.com, Viadeo and XING.

This could be seen as a natural extension of the functionality offered by many HRMS systems. PeopleSoft offers a range of Self Service components that enable an employee to maintain their profile. With an interface between PeopleSoft and social networking services such as "LinkedIn", an employee can keep their internal profile in sync with their external/online profile.

Such a move would position an organisation to leverage from the Web 2.0 social networking revolution.