New versions of AGRESSO are periodically released. These may by major releases such as AGRESSO version 5.5; or a service pack release such as AGRESSO 5.5 SP3.

Integral to the Agresso core product upgrades are also upgrades to the large ‘UK Products’ suite of software.

The upgrade to AGRESSO encompasses a number of steps when it comes to the technical upgrade:-

• The core software needs to be upgraded
• Configuration changes may require changing or adding
• Central client configuration will require upgrading or re-creating
• Citrix server or client PC’s will require software updates (both AGRESSO and sometimes Microsoft)
• UK Product upgrades / re-installations
• Modifications to the database tables (generally the main component of the upgrade)
• The correct patching policy needs to be implemented

The procedure for an upgrade is to first upgrade the test system. After the test system has been upgraded any problems and issues will have been resolved and documented. Once this has been done, a fairly good estimate of how long the upgrade will take. The length of time for an upgrade is dependant on a number of factors:-

• What version the software is being upgraded from and to (main upgrades take longer than service pack upgrades)
• The size of the database is a big factor due to the large number of table changes.
• The number of UK Products that are used
• Is any new functionality being implemented at the same time such as E-Procurement?

Once the test system has been fully tested, then the live system will be upgraded.

One issue that has been raised with recent upgrades to major releases of AGRESSO (5.4 – 5.5) has been the amount of system downtime that has been required. Besides the technical upgrade, there has been the functional modifications that have needed to be carried out. This has led to several days downtime for some customers. To alleviate this problem, the availability to perform the technical upgrade out of hours or over a weekend is available.