Four trial upgrades down, one live upgrade to go. All the steps are documented, all the timing fine-tuned. The data has been validated. If there are mismatches, the causes are being explored, and solutions are being pursued. Those solutions must be in place for User Acceptance Testing (UAT), which takes place from March 16 through April 5.

“Our last trial upgrade was accomplished in the prescribed time frame of 126 hours, around the clock,” reports Virginia Evans, Assistant Vice President for ISDS. “Central office staff have invested many hours validating that the data in the new 11i version matches the data in Production and that the system is working as expected. Oracle is working very closely with us to resolve any outstanding issues.”

UAT will involve approximately 124 central and departmental staff running approximately 1,800 test scenarios in the upgraded environment. “We have anticipated every type of transaction and every variation on each of those transactions that we can think of,” explains Barbara Henry, ISDS Director, HR/Payroll Applications.

“The users involved in the testing must feel comfortable that the software and the reports are working properly and allowing them to do the work of the University,” adds Shy Hicks, Director, Financial Applications. “Their sign-off on the many scenarios will confirm for us that we are ready to proceed with the upgrade.”

“This is the critical time,” notes Evans. “UAT is when everything has to come together to minimize the possibility of surprises in the final, ‘real’ upgrade.”