| Spring Cleaning | KEVIN RESCHENBERG
08-15-2005 |
It's time for a little spring cleaning! (Yes, I know it's summer,
but for those of us who procrastinate, that's the perfect time.)
Database refreshes
Is your DEV database months or years old and bearing little resemblance
to the production database? It might be a good idea to refresh it.
First identify any development in progress and copy the projects
to files (or, if they are ready, migrate them). Then make a backup
of the entire environment or copy it to an unused environment just in case.
(Remember that your SQR folder, script folders, etc. are also
part of the environment and should be refreshed at the same time.)
After refreshing the database, "scramble" the data if you need to do
that. Before doing anything else, be sure that all users of Application
Designer have deleted their local cache files (C:\PS\CACHE\).
Think about refreshing the test and training environments at the
same time—or stagger the refreshes just in case you need to migrate
objects back.
Object backup copies
If you can't refresh your DEV database, check for old backup and alternate
copies of objects. If the developers are in the habit of copying everything
before making changes, there could be a significant number of these
objects. Remember that they will all be flagged as customizations
during compares.
Unnecessary data
Do you have millions of rows in your audit tables? Are there copies of
tables that were made as backups months ago? Can any of these be
trimmed down or deleted?
Old users
No, I'm not referring to your more elderly staff members, but rather to
those employees and contractors who left long ago. Are their accounts
still active? Do they still have personal folders on your file server?
Report output
Do you have a procedure for purging old report output from Process
Monitor and the output file server? Has it been run lately?
SQR, Crystal Reports and script folders
Is your development SQR folder littered with backups, alternate versions,
delivered SQRs, .LIS files, spreadsheets and MP3 collections? Do you have a two-level
SQR folder structure (typically called "\USER\SQR" for custom and customized programs and
"\SQR" for the delivered programs), or is everything thrown into one big
pile?
Documentation
How up-to-date is your documentation? Moving right along...
Personal folders
I've already mentioned personal file folders left by former staff members,
but what about others? Is there anything in personal folders that should
be in a common folder accessible to everyone?
Security
Have there been "temporary" security exceptions over the years that
were never cleaned up? Check the PeopleSoft security, file folder
security, database accounts, etc.
Scheduled processes
Have you reviewed your process schedule lately? Are there processes running
every night that are no longer needed?
Dormant issues
Check your issue tracking system. Are there tickets/issues that have been
"stuck" for months or are assigned to people who are no longer working for
your organization?
Step back and look at your setup when you get a chance. You may see
a few cobwebs!
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