Customization Analyzer Purpose Clarified

Introduction

The PeopleSoft Compare process delivered by PeopleSoft provides a reliable and efficient method to compare the online objects in PeopleSoft database. The results of the Compare are provided to the end-user in .PRT format (prior PeopleTools 8.46, from 8.46 the Compare process results in generation of .XLS and .XML files). The output file obtained from PeopleSoft Compare is often cumbersome and difficult to understand. The output file lists the objects in alphabetical order rather than the desired Classification of objects into Customer Added objects, Customer Modified Objects etc. The output file created will only contain one object per file and the classification of objects (Custom Added, Custom Modified…) is not readily recognizable to the user. The report generated by this utility helps us overcome all these pit-falls in the PeopleSoft Compare process. In addition the Customer can add any additional documentation to each of his Customizations. A sample output for the utility is available in the following link,

http://www.fileul.com/view.php?file=17Rgi8

This document outlines the benefits of the Customization Analyzer utility. The document is segmented into three categories depending on the application area of the utility.

Ø Customization Tracking
Ø PeopleSoft Upgrade
Ø PeopleSoft Patch Application


Ø Customization Tracking

The utility can be used to track and document all the customizations made to online PeopleSoft objects. The Customer can document all the Customizations made to his PeopleSoft system. The report generated by the utility is in a user friendly format. The Customer can review all his Customizations from a single Excel document. All the functional documentation can be added to the report, which will help in decision making for an upgrade to a newer release. It facilitates the process of identifying Customizations which are not required i.e. from the report generated the Customer can obtain all the objects created by him where he will be able to identify Customizations which are no longer required in the production.

Ø PeopleSoft Upgrade

The utility aids the process of Upgrade Assessment where the effort required for the upgrade is estimated based on the number of Customizations available on the Customer’s Production environment. The utility also provides a Gap Report which identifies all the Obsolete Modified Objects i.e. the objects which were modified by the Customer in an older release of PeopleSoft that were deleted by PeopleSoft in the new release. The Gap Report aids the Functional Consultants in identifying the Gaps that have occurred between the PeopleSoft releases. The utility helps the Upgrader to delete all the Obsolete Modified Objects by toggling the “Take Action” flag in the PeopleSoft Database.


Ø PeopleSoft Patch Application

The PeopleSoft process for application of patch projects to the production environment requires the Customer to apply patches to Demo instance initially and then Compare and Copy to the production. In this scenario it will be useful to document all the objects affected by the application of patches. The Customer has the flexibility to document all Customizations affected by the application of patches and he can also document the objects omitted (objects that were delivered with the patch and not applied to the Production) by him in his patch application.