How To Do a Fit-Gap Analysis in PeopleSoft

Also called a gap-fit analysis, a fit-gap analysis is a method of determining how well your current PeopleSoft software or a new system fits your business processes. In other words, it helps you identify the areas where problems are occurring, why they're occurring, and how severe they are. A situation where your system doesn't fit a certain requirement is referred to as a GAP, which stands for “Good, Average, Poor.” These terms are used for assessing fit at an earlier stage.

By performing a fit-gap analysis, you can quickly identify the actual cause of a GAP, which is essential because not every business problem results from software issues. For example, if an outdated procedure is the root problem that causes frequent delays in processing a specific type of transaction, you can easily uncover the issue by conducting a fit-gap analysis at the detail level. Additionally, proper use of this analysis method enables you to rank problems according to importance, which can be very useful for implementing schedules or planning budgets.

How To Conduct a Fit-Gap Analysis in PeopleSoft

Conducting a fit-gap analysis is one of the most important tasks in the process of upgrading your PeopleSoft software. Take the following steps to ensure the analysis is properly done.

Assess Software and Hardware Requirements

Before you start to upgrade your PeopleSoft software, you should find out the software and hardware requirements for the new version. These requirements are the minimum levels needed to operate your new PeopleSoft system. Make sure you thoroughly review the requirements and acquire any software or hardware you lack. You can read or download the software and hardware requirement guide for the latest version of PeopleSoft at My Oracle Support.

Know Your Customizations

To perform a fit-gap analysis, you have to first know your customizations. Start by looking at the release notes for the latest PeopleSoft version and compare them with your current customizations. By doing so, you'll be able to find the fits and gaps between the new updates and features in the release notes and your customizations. You can use Oracle's HCM Cumulative Feature Overview Tool to compare the functionality of your current PeopleSoft release with that of the new one and obtain a list of all the new features that will be added.

Decide Which Customizations To Remove

The next thing you should do is to decide whether to keep or remove your customizations. If you're wondering why you need to remove certain customizations, the reason is that it may help you save a lot of time in maintenance and upgrading. If you notice that a delivered functionality or component has replaced one of your customizations, you should keep the delivered component and drop the customization. Try to identify and remove as many high-maintenance customizations as possible and accept the new functionalities that replace them.

Examine Both Batch and Online Customizations

It's essential to carefully check both the batch and online components you've customized. For batch components, you need to look at the interfaces, reports, and batch programs that have been customized to suit your business needs. As for online components, examine the PeopleCode, pages, menus, records, and fields to identify differences between your customizations and the new release. You may also want to make a generic comparison, such as comparing your customized database to the demo database of the same release. This will enable you to identify all the changes you've made to the online environment.

Document Your Customizations

Many PeopleSoft users don't do a good job of documenting the customizations they've made in their PeopleSoft applications. This may result in confusion and errors that can have a significant impact on their business processes.

Keeping proper records of your customizations involves more than just asking your developers to put comments around their codes. You need to catalog all of your customizations in a spreadsheet or another type of document so that you and your employees can easily find out the exact number and types of customizations you have. It's important to document your customizations because it can help you save time and effort when you need to conduct a fit-gap analysis again in the future.

Use the Same Team That Handled the Previous Upgrade Project

If possible, you should try to allocate the task of performing a fit-gap analysis to the same project team members who were involved in the installation of your PeopleSoft software or even the daily operation and maintenance of the system. Using such employees to upgrade your system can be beneficial in many ways.

The main benefit is that you don't have to spend time and effort to train new team members to perform PeopleSoft upgrade tasks. Even if you manage to train them quickly, they may have difficulty conducting a fit-gap analysis properly or efficiently if you failed to keep good records of your customizations and business processes. In contrast, team members who were responsible for installing and managing your software are more likely to be able to remember why and how the changes were made the first time around.

Performing a fit-gap analysis in PeopleSoft is a daunting task that requires substantial technical expertise and meticulous attention to detail. If you want to save time so that you can focus on other important aspects of your business, consider outsourcing your PeopleSoft upgrade project to a reputable service provider such as Dimension Systems Inc. Contact us today to learn more about our top-notch PeopleSoft services.