Continuous Delivery Model for Campus Solutions
Sorry this is slow in coming after my first entry back in July. This one got a bit bogged down in our internal review process. Surprisingly, it emerged fundamentally intact. Go figure.
A few weeks, check that, months, ago we announced the Continuous Delivery Model for Campus Solutions. While we've actually been rolling out the news since the Alliance Conference back in March, it's a significant enough change that many of our customers and industry observers are still asking what it's all about. So I thought it would be useful to commit a few words here.
First and foremost, this is an inflection point for us and represents the first (highly visible) move to the next generation of PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions (CS). Several years ago, when Oracle announced Applications Unlimited, we indicated that we would continue the development of CS with a vision of the very long run. Since then we have released the very substantial set of enhancements that comprise CS9.0. Many of our customers have upgraded to that release and are taking advantage of the Enrollment Back Pack and improvements in the internet-native Student Self-Service module, as well as features like Population Select/Update, which have enhanced productivity across all administrative offices.
Second, we've had ongoing discussions with our customers about finding ways to both reduce the scope of upgrades - especially those in the combined PeopleSoft CS-HR instance - and accelerate the time to market of new features. Upgrades - ours and those of our competitors - have their own history, and I think we all appreciate the idea that the old model existed because big release cycles were necessary to accommodate scope as ERP products evolved architecturally and matured in terms of functionality. In many respects, the features we want to add to Campus Solutions going forward are incremental to the core application. We have a great opportunity to roll those out to our customers on a regular basis - and that's exactly what we proved with the release of the first Feature Pack. That means that half of our customer base, those already on CS9.0, can adopt those features whenever they are ready.
We have been finding venues to meet with customers for direct dialogue on the implications of this change both in the U.S. and abroad these last few weeks. I'm delighted with the response, which has been extremely positive. The HEUG leadership, industry analysts and customers have all come forward with supportive, positive statements. That said, a few questions have been asked along the way that I feel compelled to answer here:
Q: Does this mean that Campus Solutions is dead, that there won't be another release after CS9.0?
A: No. Ok, so we got used to a naming and numerical convention, so I get the root of the question. The fact is, we've already had two significant product enhancement releases since CS9.0 first shipped in late 2006. There was a bundle in August 2008 that included the initial Campus Solutions Web Services Framework and then Feature Pack 1 in late June 2009. No, it isn't dead, just in a different phase of "life."
Q: Are the Feature Packs going to be license events?
A: The Feature Packs' primary purpose is to deliver incremental functionality to our customers. Feature Pack 1, which shipped in late June, has no license requirements for customers. Easy enough to understand, I hope, but I will point out that some future Feature Packs may include licensable components because of increased functionality. They are the delivery vehicle; some stuff will be free, some will not, and we'll let you know in advance what's what.
Q: This means we will always be upgrading?
A: No. Feature Packs are like the Maintenance Bundles in that they are delivered in the same way and are planned to be part of the required maintenance stream. Unlike Maintenance Bundles, however, the intent is for you to deploy the new functionality when you want - when business needs dictate. We intend to ship the features we deliver in the Feature Packs in disabled mode, so you get to determine when you want to roll out the planned incremental functionality to your users. Not much difference than in the past, but the expectation is that this may be done a few times a year, not every few years.
So what's next? Well, stay tuned for our regular updates on the PeopleSoft 9.1 releases. We also recently published the Campus Solutions Statement of Direction, now posted on My Oracle Support, highlighting our targeted updates/enhancements for the next 12 months. Beyond that, I expect we will hear more buzz about some other activities at Oracle. And we'll get to that later.
I'm sure other questions will arise about the Continuous Delivery Model as we learn how the customer base adopts the Feature Packs and as we progress with evolving the Campus Solutions suite. We will continue to use a variety of channels to communicate with the customer base to ensure everyone has up to date information.
For those of you wondering, my previous blog got well over 3,000 views (and a couple of supportive e-mails) which I think means I'd better keep this up. Thanks to Edu1World and the HEUG for syndicating this to help reach the audience.
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