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Siebel Interactive Selling Applications Upgrade Guide > Upgrading to eConfigurator Version 7 > Approach 1: Using the Standard Upgrade Tool >

Preupgrade Tasks

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This section identifies a series of tasks to complete before launching the automatic Siebel upgrade script.

NOTE:  Since the Configurator upgrade script is part of the Siebel standard upgrade script, you need to complete the tasks in this section prior to beginning the overall Siebel application upgrade.

Using these procedures, the Siebel upgrade script can preserve most of your modeling information during the upgrade process. The script will apply some new Siebel 7 features on top of the upgraded data. After running the upgrade script, you should review the upgraded data before it is released to use. See Postupgrade Tasks.

Verifying the Model Associations in the Product Table (Required)

In addition to migrating standard Siebel products definitions, the Siebel upgrade script will migrate configuration model data for related model products instead of migrating the models directly. The upgrade script does this by upgrading model products that have the Model Product field checked and the Configuration Model Name field populated with associated model names.

To make sure your configuration model definitions are properly preserved, before the entire upgrade process starts you should review your product table and verify that appropriate model products are created and associated with their corresponding configuration models.

To verify the model associations

Navigate to Screens > Configuration Designer > Model Manager.
Record all the models for which you want to preserve definitions.
Navigate to Screens > Marketing Administration > Products > Products view.
In the Products list applet, do the following:
Search for all products with the Model Product field checked and the Configuration Model Name field filled in.
Decide whether these model products will continue to be used as Siebel 7 customizable products. If so, make sure they have proper models associated with them.
For model products that are not going to be used:
Uncheck the Model Product field.
Remove the association of the configuration model name.

NOTE:  Removing the association of a configuration model name has implications on the quotes upgrade. For example, a Release 6.x model product could be used to create a quote with a solution. If the model association remains across the upgrade process, the solution in the quote will be upgraded as a customizable product quote line, which will be read-only and can be reconfigured by eConfigurator version 7. If the model product's association is removed, then the upgrade script will upgrade the quote solution into a package product, and each line item in the solution will be a component of this package product. In this case, this specific solution will remain directly editable but not reconfigurable by eConfigurator version 7. So you should only remove associations if you want to relinquish the configurability of the existing quotes that were created with a model product. This will likely be appropriate if you plan to use the second upgrade option (Approach 2) to natively create your configuration models.

Make sure every model for which you want to preserve data has at least one model product associated with it.
If a model does not have a model product associated with it, stay in Marketing Administration > Products > Products to create a product and make the association.

Review and Adjust eConfigurator Version 6.x Models (Recommended)

The Siebel upgrade script will migrate your Release 6.x configuration model products into Siebel 7 customizable products with similar structures. However, since the design paradigms for models and customizable products are different, it is recommended that you review each of your Release 6.x models, analyzing its use under the new eConfigurator features. The following steps will help you review and make necessary adjustments to your model data and to make best use of the upgrade script to migrate your data into the new Siebel 7 environment.

To review and adjust eConfigurator version 6.x model data

For each Release 6.x configuration model:

Flatten the structure so that there is, at most, one level of products or categories.

The customizable product feature, new in Siebel 7, uses nested customizable products to achieve a bill-of-material structure. Use this functionality to create multiple-level products, rather than the eConfigurator version 6.x category structure. Also, you can use the new UI functionality to create groups and tabs to achieve a flexible user interface and to help the end user navigate to find the right product. Instead of letting the upgrade script flatten the structure for you, you may rearrange your product components now in order to keep maximum control of the outcome, and in order to plan for adopting the new features.

NOTE:  Flattening your model structure brings the following considerations:

When you change your structures, some of the rules may become invalid. You may need to redefine those rules accordingly in the post-upgrade environment.

In any way that you decide to flatten your models, you should avoid having a product appear multiple times under the same top-level category. This could cause problems in the Siebel 7 environment when reconfiguring an upgraded customizable product quote.

Be cautious when removing products from your models because the corresponding quotes will not be read properly by eConfigurator after the upgrade. This is also the case for Release 6.x as these products will be missing when revalidating existing quotes with the latest version of the model.

Start planning your new class structure when reorganizing your model.

The upgrade script will not automatically create classes, as the same product may belong to different categories but not different classes. Since the concept of class is so important in the Siebel 7 customizable product structure, you should group products that may be of the same class into the categories you are going to keep (the top-level categories). This way you can assign classes to appropriate relationships after upgrading so as to make use of the new classification feature. See Using the New eConfigurator Version 7 Features (Recommended).

Record all model properties.

In Release 6.x, properties were used locally in configuration models. Their main usage has been replaced by the Siebel 7 feature of dynamic attributes. The upgrade script will not migrate properties, so you may want to record these local properties and start planning their attribute replacements. For more details about how to implement dynamic attributes, see Product Administration Guide. Also see Using the New eConfigurator Version 7 Features (Recommended).

NOTE:  Some configuration rules that referenced these properties will become invalid too. You should revisit them in the postupgrade process. See Checking Configuration Rules (Required).

Examine the virtual products in the models.
If some virtual products were used to simulate product attributes, consider leaving them as they are or consolidating them.

An example of consolidating a set of virtual products might be that for a category "Color" with three virtual products—Blue, White, and Black—you remove the category "Color" and keep only one virtual product. Change the virtual product name to "Color." Now after the upgrade, the appropriate attribute will be created and the attribute-simulating function of the three virtual products will be preserved by extending the attribute domain (postupgrade).

NOTE:  If you consolidate virtual products, some rules that reference them will become invalid. You may have to recreate these rules in the postupgrade environment. See Checking Configuration Rules (Required) and Verifying Attributes Upgraded from Virtual Products (Recommended).

If virtual products were used for other purposes, consider removing them and using other new eConfigurator features to implement the functions.

For example, it is recommended that you use Siebel eAdvisor to conduct needs analysis previously done through the use of configuration models. See Product Administration Guide and Siebel Interactive Designer Administration Guide for more information.

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