The Road to 9.0 – How to plan for migration to Gelco Travel Manager 9.0
With the planned sunset of Gelco Travel Manager 8.2 later this year, Gelco recommends that customers migrate to Gelco Travel Manager 9.0 in 2006. There are three phases to the 9.0 migration process: pre-installation, installation, and consulting/implementation. The customer is responsible for the pre-installation tasks. Gelco Customer Care is responsible for the installation and consulting/implementation tasks.

For the pre-installation phase, the customer needs to provide hardware-related information to Gelco and answer checklist questions provided by Gelco. Gelco must know the following hardware-related information before migrating the customer to 9.0, and will provide the minimum hardware and software requirements to the customer:

• The operating system version (UNIX, Windows, or other)
• The Web server (Apache, Sun ONE, or IIS)
• The database server (Progress or Oracle)
• Root access and permissions for system entry, if applicable

Next, the customer must provide answers to checklist questions, including:

• What is your current Gelco Travel Manager version and service pack?
• What bolt-on products are you running (such as Integration Manager or Mail Spooler)?
• Do you want to convert existing documents?
• Do you have custom rates?
• Do you currently archive documents?
• What is the current size of your database?
• What is your current platform?
• Do you currently have custom code? (Will be verified with Gelco’s storage.)
• What are your Gelco Travel Manager environments (for example, production, test, and/or training)?
• Do you expect to have a test period?
• What is the timing of your migration and test periods?

After collecting the information in the pre-installation phase, Gelco Customer Care will schedule and install Gelco Travel Manager 9.0 (and any bolt-on products), beginning with the test environment(s) and followed by the production and training environments. The installation tasks include:

• Merge multiple databases, if desired
• Install custom rates, if desired
• Install the report streamer
• Update the serial number
• Convert existing data
• Install online help and quick tips
• Install and/or upgrade custom code, as needed
• Add new permissions

During the installation phase, Gelco Customer Care may need to resolve duplicate expenses if databases are merged and check for any invalid characters in document and organization names.

Once Gelco Travel Manager 9.0 is installed, Gelco Customer Care will provide the following consulting and implementation services:

• Set up and configure dynamic documents, including document templates
• Set up menu and navigation screen control
• Train end-users and administrators
• Set up and configure expense validation tests
• Set up electronic processing and audits
• Set up Gelco Payments, if applicable
• Update per diem rates
• Convert routing lists
• Update tables as needed, including Organization, Expenses, Type Codes, Purpose Codes, Routing Test, Tips, and so on

Migrating to Gelco Travel Manager 9.0 will provide customers with expanded functionality and an even higher level of reliability to satisfy their travel and expense management needs.