FinMIS: Upgrade Gap Alert
In January 1999, the University will be upgrading the underlying software that comprises FinMIS from version 10.5 to 10.7. This is primarily a technical upgrade to install Year 2000 compliant versions of Oracle's tools, database management and application software. In addition, this will allow us to position our hardware and software for future upgrades. There will be minimal changes to the look, feel, and functionality of FinMIS to end-users after the upgrade to version 10.7. More details on these minor changes will be communicated to end-users in the next few weeks.
However, there will be a significant impact on system availability. FinMIS will be unavailable beginning Wednesday, January 6 at 8 P.M. until Wednesday, January 13 at 8 A.M. The Purchasing, Accounts Payable and General Ledger applications will be unavailable for any activity during that period. This outage will only affect FinMIS; all other University systems such as Payroll, Salary Management, and Data Warehouse will continue to be available. We can assure you that the upgrade team will be working aggressively to complete the upgrade process as expeditiously as possible. In the event that the system becomes available earlier than the 13th, end-users will be notified via e-mail. For more specific information about schedules and availability, including cut-off dates for feeds from other systems to FinMIS, please check the Comptroller's home page at www.finance.upenn.edu/comptroller/.
We are asking everyone to plan ahead for this upgrade. Please review your purchasing needs, and for those that require purchase orders, please place them in advance in order to reduce the impact on your department or center. Use of the ProCard, where appropriate, is another good alternative to satisfy purchasing requirements while Fin-MIS is unavailable. If you have specific procurement-related concerns, please contact Ralph Maier in Acquisition Services at 898-1452 or maierr@pobox..
If you have any additional questions, please e-mail to comptrol@pobox or contact me directly at 898-7593.
-- Kenneth B. Campbell, Comptroller
Almanac, Vol. 45, No. 14, December 8, 1998