Jeremy Irrthum, PeopleSoft Developer at the University of Minnesota, shared a breakdown of the university’s technique for managing new Images and refining the PUM Image Application Process.

About the University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is a public university with five campuses throughout Minnesota—Twin Cities, Rochester, Morris, Duluth and Crookston. The flagship of the university is the Twin Cities campus, the state’s land-grant university and one of the most prestigious public research universities in the nation. The Twin Cities campus alone has over 31,500 undergraduate students and over 16,000 graduate and professional students.

The University of Minnesota has been on PeopleSoft Campus Solutions since 1998, Finance since 2008, and Interaction Hub since 2015. The university is now on Campus Solutions 9.2, Financials 9.2, HRMS 9.2, Interaction Hub 9.1 and PeopleTools 8.55.

View the University of Minnesota’s Website

How often does the University of Minnesota apply new Images?

It varies among different applications. Images are applied roughly every other year for Financials and usually once a year for HCM. Images are applied most frequently in Campus Solutions, usually each time a new Image is released.

How does the University of Minnesota handle the maintenance of systems?

The University of Minnesota utilizes a multi-tenant database that houses all four instances in one database. Oracle originally did not suggest this method, but DBAs at the university were persistent about wanting to go that route. This method is risky because if one system goes down, they all go down. However, it’s beneficial for the University of Minnesota to house everything in one place instead of trying to maintain four separate databases.

The multi-tenant database is also beneficial because the University of Minnesota has four different environments—PUM, DMO, DMN, UPG. All of these contain the latest Image, Tools or Upgrades for the University of Minnesota’s various applications. The university can house them all in one database, which makes it easier to manage throughout the Software Development Life Cycle. If they were not consolidated, DBAs would have a much bigger and more complex workload.

What are the steps in the University of Minnesota’s application process?

1. Export the change package.
2. Compare it against your target.
3. Review the conflicts.
4. Apply retrofits.
5. Migrate to the next environment.
6. Test.
7. Repeat migration and testing until you reach Production.