We are on 8.1 apps, this is our first upgrade, have been on Lawson for almost 2 yrs now. Trying to determine if it is necessary and/or valuable to go to a Lawson training session "8.0.3 to 8.1 and 9.0 applications upgrade" class. Would or should we get this information from an upgrade consultant?

First, let me state that I am a Lawson employee and am often the Technical Services resource that runs the upgrades. This is MY OPINION and not an official Lawson Statement.

There are 2 parts to every Lawson Applications upgrade. The loading and running of the upgrade programs vs configuring the upgrade programs to correctly model your data at the new application level.

The first part requires someone with technical expertise who understands the physical requirements and what to do if/when something breaks.

The second part requires someone with extensive business knowledge in each of the system codes that you are upgrading who can guide you thru the setup and explain the implications of your choices.

So your upgrades are a marriage of technical and functional skills. Be advised that your functional users SHOULD be EXTREMELY involved in both the planning and the implementation of your upgrade.

Now, with that understanding you can now evaluate the course offerings and the qualifications of your upgrade consultants.


G'luck!!

As I stated earlier this is our first application upgrade, I am the Lawson system administrator, we will most likely use a Lawson consultant to perform or help us with the upgrade. What I am trying to determine is can I get the the knowledge needed from the consultant we choose or should I attend the class? We are on 8.1 MSP5 apps. This is the course that is offered:
UNIX / Windows Application Upgrade, 8.0.3 to 8.1.0, or 9.0 focuses on planning and executing the Applications Upgrade process from version 8.0.3 to 8.1.0.

I'm just not sure this is applicable to our upgrade......

I'd recommend taking the class. Your consultant can give you the info, but you'll need the planning info before the consultant getss there.

Aren't you already on app level 8.1, MSP5? The title of the class you posted sounds like it is for somebody going from apps 8.03 TO 8.1 or 9.0. The class would probably help prepare you to do the upgrade yourself.

If this is your first application upgrade then I would recommend getting at least some form of training. Once you've been through one or two of them they all start to look the same (right, Dave?).

I see there is a one hour On Demand course available from Lawson Learning that might be good. At least you'll get an overview of the process so you'll have a chance to understand what the heck your upgrade consultant is talking about.

It's called "Lawson Applications Data Upgrade Overview"
Activity Description:
Lawson Applications Data Upgrade Overview provides introductory information to help complete the process of upgrading the Lawson Applications data. This course explores accessing and using Upgrade resources, such as the Lawson Global Support Center's Upgrade Center and the Upgrade Information Packet. This course presents common upgrade terminology, upgrade project management tools, including the Lawson Upgrade Methodology, and also includes an overview of the Environment setup options for an Applications Data Upgrade.

If it were me I'd probably do the one hour online thing, pay your consultant to come and do your first and maybe even second test upgrade and watch closely. Maybe you'll see enough to sit in the driver's seat for the production upgrade with your consultant as copilot. Either way by the time you do the next app upgrade you will have forgotten how you did it so take good notes.

Another word of advice: check back often for updates to the UIP but once you've done a test upgrade with no issues reported in testing, keep using that version of the UIP and the upgrade programs. You could really get bogged down by updating your process with every new update that may not affect your upgrade. Oh, and take good notes in every upgrade pass! Good luck.

-GW