We recently had a conversation with Subhendu Rath, Director of IT Enterprise Systems at Susan G. Komen about their Selective Adoption strategy.

Key takeaways

About Susan G. Komen

Susan G. Komen headquarters converted from Solomon into PeopleSoft FSCM 9.0 in 2008 while 118 affiliates rolled onto PeopleSoft from QuickBooks between early to end of 2009. We upgraded to PeopleSoft 9.2 in November 2014 and currently are on PeopleSoft Update Image 21 and on PeopleTools 8.55.11.

What does your company’s selective adoption strategy look like?

Subhendu:
At the beginning, we involved a partner to help us understand and strategize the evolution of Selective Adoption. Susan G. Komen decided to follow “selective” strategy. Since the upgrade, we are applying the images once a year. However, we are in process of making some changes and adding an interim cycle, in the middle of the year and be more current.

What is your experience to date with PeopleSoft Update Manager and selective adoption?

Subhendu:
We are proficient with the Selective adoption strategy and operational perspective to cater to our organization need. However, for the PUM; we recently hired a full-time PeopleSoft Admin to help us being effective with the processes. Using PUM instance rather the Demo is a big change to the process and his experience is a huge help.

How have your functional (feature adoption) business processes changed since selective adoption?

Subhendu:
Since Selective adoption, our functional team is more focused reviewing and analyzing the new features/ functionalities and their overall impacts to our environment. They work closely with the line of business to determine the ones need to be implemented after the complete risk/ benefit assessment.

How, if any, are your technical and functional teams working together with selective adoption?

Subhendu:
Technical and functional teams work closely together from project planning to deployment of images and tools updates. This is not new with Selective Adoption. Our strategy has always been to keep our technical and functional resources working collaboratively to make successful business decisions.

What would you tell a customer that’s about to begin the process of selective adoption?

Subhendu:
Selective Adoption is a big mindset change. It needs clear explanation to the customers, in simple terms with proper ROI justification. Early customer onboarding and alignment is critical to successful strategy definition & plan execution. Hence involve your business owners from the onset.

How are you rolling out new features and functionalities to your end users?

Subhendu:
We are rolling out new features/functionalities in phases. The changes are first introduced to our corporate users and later to the affiliate users based on the need.

How involved was your company in utilizing the Quest community, or any other user group, during the upgrade process?

Subhendu:
Our PeopleSoft team both technical and functional regularly uses the tools, advice and tips provided by the Quest community. We have also recommended our business users to utilize the Quest community.

Where do you want to take your company’s solution in the next two to three years?

Subhendu:
In the next 2-3 years, we’d like to be in a place where we have fully implemented our currently defined fluid strategies, by adopting images on a semi-annual basis and using the delivered functionalities to its fullest extent to reduce customizations, while increasing efficiency.