Upgrading 6.10 to 8.0

I will jump on the bandwagon with Charles and Todd. This is no
weekend project, much needs to be done before going live. At last
years Perspectives I heard more than a few times to expect the entire
process of testing and implementation to take around 6 months. I
have not begun the process here because we've delayed purchasing the
new server we need, but there is a process that Epicor wants you to
go through that is much more detailed than requesting the disk and
installing it. I suggest you talk to your CAM about this process to
find out more. I would not dream of doing this upgrade without
setting up a test server in advance.

My $.02.

Brian Stenglein
Clow Stamping Co.


--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "bbelzer42" <bbelzer@t...> wrote:
> Has anyone successfully upgraded from 6.1 to 8.0?
>
> If so, without going to much into depth, was it a long project?
>
> Basically I want to know if I can do it myself, or if someone from
> Epicor needs to do it, and whether a weekend is enough time.
>
> I am using Progress and no terminal services. I assume I would not
> only need to upgrade the server, but each workstation as well. I
want
> to tell everyone that on Monday morning when they come in everything
> will be functional, but just looks different.
>
> I know I will be asking this at my first Perspectives this year. I
> plan to upgrade immediately afterwards. The biggest things I am
> looking forward to are the auto-"booting" of users (timeout), and no
> lock-ups. Our users get locked up multiple times a day.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> -Ben Belzer
Has anyone successfully upgraded from 6.1 to 8.0?

If so, without going to much into depth, was it a long project?

Basically I want to know if I can do it myself, or if someone from
Epicor needs to do it, and whether a weekend is enough time.

I am using Progress and no terminal services. I assume I would not
only need to upgrade the server, but each workstation as well. I want
to tell everyone that on Monday morning when they come in everything
will be functional, but just looks different.

I know I will be asking this at my first Perspectives this year. I
plan to upgrade immediately afterwards. The biggest things I am
looking forward to are the auto-"booting" of users (timeout), and no
lock-ups. Our users get locked up multiple times a day.

Thanks for any input.

-Ben Belzer
Ben,

I would highly recommend that you run though an upgrade on the side using a
separate server and a couple of training workstations. That way you will
know exactly the amount of time needed and be able to fill in any missing
pieces in the procedures.

Also, my understanding is moving to 8 is going to require some training of
the users or a least a getting used to. I'm sure you don't want to spend
that Monday morning running around fighting training issues along with any
other install issues - for example 8 does not use Report Builder so all of
those custom reports will have to be redone. It would be alot smoother to
have all that done ahead of time.

My 0010 bits,

Charles

----- Original Message -----
From: "bbelzer42" <bbelzer@...>
To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 4:54 PM
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading 6.10 to 8.0


> Has anyone successfully upgraded from 6.1 to 8.0?
>
> If so, without going to much into depth, was it a long project?
>
> Basically I want to know if I can do it myself, or if someone from
> Epicor needs to do it, and whether a weekend is enough time.
>
> I am using Progress and no terminal services. I assume I would not
> only need to upgrade the server, but each workstation as well. I want
> to tell everyone that on Monday morning when they come in everything
> will be functional, but just looks different.
>
> I know I will be asking this at my first Perspectives this year. I
> plan to upgrade immediately afterwards. The biggest things I am
> looking forward to are the auto-"booting" of users (timeout), and no
> lock-ups. Our users get locked up multiple times a day.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> -Ben Belzer
>
>
>
>
>
> Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must
have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
> (1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
> (2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
> (3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
NO! Although we have not done it yet (or even close) the more I look the bigger the task becomes. It does not "just look different". It is a major major interface, and more important "usability", change. You will need to change almost every procedure you have either to take best advantage of new interface features or even just to navigate.

Aside from what will probably be months converting RB reports to Crystal (or dashboards or CorVu) I am anticipating major changes to most of the canned Crystal forms (Traveler, invoice, packslip, etc...) due to use of XML instead of DBF and new options to add fields that can help avoid ODBC. Then a long process of close interaction with key users to refine procedures and explore ways to make usage more efficient...then a whole lot of screen customizing to replace the VB forms that go away and add those fields to the regular screens.

I plan to do this without much (if any, aside from tech support for bugs) assistance form Epicor. We certainly are not hiring a consultant to migrate us (on the otherhand I have a lot of experience with implementation of ERP systems - some sites don't and will need help). But I am anticipating it will take most of one full year to learn, prepare and convert - plus extensive user training. I am also considering the option of treating this like a complete "new" implementation and start from scratch with an empty database. My best guess is that whatever effort (and actions) it took you to first implement Vantage will, at least, be required to migrate (successfully) to 8.0.

Perspectives will probably open your eyes on this...(if not completely terrify you).

Perhaps I am over reacting....perhaps not. Which would be riskier?
-Todd C.

-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of bbelzer42
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2005 3:54 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Upgrading 6.10 to 8.0


Has anyone successfully upgraded from 6.1 to 8.0?

If so, without going to much into depth, was it a long project?

Basically I want to know if I can do it myself, or if someone from
Epicor needs to do it, and whether a weekend is enough time.

I am using Progress and no terminal services. I assume I would not
only need to upgrade the server, but each workstation as well. I want
to tell everyone that on Monday morning when they come in everything
will be functional, but just looks different.

I know I will be asking this at my first Perspectives this year. I
plan to upgrade immediately afterwards. The biggest things I am
looking forward to are the auto-"booting" of users (timeout), and no
lock-ups. Our users get locked up multiple times a day.

Thanks for any input.

-Ben Belzer




Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links




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