Overview to PeopleTools Release and Support Pattern
PeopleTools releases occur approximately every twelve (12) months. Standard Support starts with “General Availability” (GA) and is in effect for each release until 12 months following the next release of PeopleTools, followed by an additional 12 months of Critical Patch Support; this means that each Tools release is supported for approximately 36 months.
Traditionally, PeopleSoft applications required customers to upgrade their PeopleTools (PT) version as part of a major application upgrade. In response to customer demand, Oracle made two significant changes:
1. PeopleTools releases became backwards compatible to enable previous application releases to take advantage of new features and functions delivered with each new versions of PeopleTools.
2. Campus Solutions (CS) adopted a “Continuous Delivery” model, built upon the 9.0 release, that delivers enhancements and new products without requiring the traditional major release upgrade.
Please see My Oracle Support Knowledge Document ID 1348959.1 for more information on the PeopleTools Support Policy.
For your reference, here are the PeopleTools release dates:
Tools 8.50 – Sept 2009
Tools 8.51 – Sept 2010
Tools 8.52 – Oct 2011
Tools 8.53 – Planned first half of 2013
CS Tools Adoption Policy
Campus Solutions continuous delivery model releases 4 bundles each year. Without major CS application releases forcing a common PeopleTools upgrade and baseline, CS Application Development needed to determine a point in time to start delivering enhancements to customers using new PT features. Working with the HEUG Technical Advisory Group (TAG), the PeopleTools and Campus Solutions development teams have defined a PeopleTools adoption policy that provides reasonable options for customers to stay current on PT, while adopting new features in CS. This new policy builds upon the Tools 8.50 minimum requirement for Campus Solutions that was instituted in July 2011. The basic policy is as follows: Campus Solutions customers will need to proceed with a Tools upgrade no later than 24 months after a specific Tools release becomes generally available. This approach has some built in flexibility for customers, but also allows the CS product to incorporate, over time, new capabilities that are delivered in PeopleTools releases.
Update for September 2012
New CS functionality coming in 2013—commencing with the April, 2013 bundle—will utilize PeopleTools 8.52 and 8.53 features. CS customers should consider the value of a more aggressive PeopleTools upgrade schedule to take advantage of that specific functionality.
- Specific functionality dependent upon new People Tools releases will be documented in the Pre-Release Notes and customer facing documents posted in advance of the impacted bundle.
- Regs, fixes and some enhancements for the April 2013 bundle will require a minimum 8.51 Tools release, unless otherwise notes (see next bullet).
- As of the April 2013 bundle:
- Campus Self Service Mobile will require PT 8.52 to operate correctly. Customers who don’t deploy CSS Mobile do not have to upgrade to PT 8.52 by the April 2013 bundle.
- CS Program Enrollment will require PT 8.53 to operate correctly. Customers who don’t deploy Program Enrollment do not have to upgrade to PT8.53 by the April 2013 bundle.
Please see My Oracle Support Knowledge Document ID 1365646.1 for more information.