The presentation discusses the complicated migration process of implementing Blackboard Learn release 9.1 at Avans University, focusing on careful planning, real-data testing, and efficient execution. Key steps included creating a test environment, managing data conversion, and developing a detailed communication plan for remote upgrades. The importance of thorough testing and risk management is highlighted, as delays were encountered due to dataset issues, emphasizing the need for clear communication among teams.

1. How to make a complicated migration manageable"You'll lose some, but the survivors come out stronger"

2. How to make a complicatedmigrationmanageableImplementing Release 9.x at Avans University of Applied SciencesYour hosts to this presentation areBert LeeneandArald den Braber

3. Who are these guys?Bert LeeneFunctional application management

4. Technical application management

5. Development

6. InstructorWho are these guys?Arald den BraberFunctional application management

7. Technical application management

8. Development

9. Teacher in web application development & data communication

10. Project manager Blackboard migrations

11. Involved in other ICT-related projects3 locations in the NetherlandsBreda, Den Bosch, Tilburg24.000 students2.500 employees19 educational units12.000 Blackboard coursesUsing Blackboard for over 10 yearsMany custom made Building BlocksComplete Windows environmentSpecial migration team across different departmentsAmsterdamBruxellesAbout Avans

12. Planning the migration Bb8  Bb9.1

13. Our goals

14. Preparation

15. Testing

16. After care

17. List of issues available

18. The icing on the cake!We'll talk about

19. First half of 2010Getting to know release 9.1Upgrade our building blocksDevelop support materials  see the other Avans guys tomorrowFirst draft of the road map June 2010Test upgrade with ACTUAL DATAUpdate the road map to an hour-by-hour road map based on the test upgradeTestingJuly 2010BbWorldFirst week of augustActual upgradeLaunch of the archiveThe original planning

20. Our goalsPreserve the existing Content System dataUpgrade during the summer break of 2010 Implement Blackboard Learn Release 9.1Give our Building Blocks the NG look and feelMake an online archive environment availableUpgrade the serverplatform to new 64bits technologyClean up our environment by deleting old courses

21. Why an hour-by-hour roadmap?To have a good indication of the actual downtime

22. Availability of staff from different departments

23. External service partner

24. Determine the correct and most efficient order of steps

25. At first we had no idea how long individual steps would takeThe bonus we gotWhile thinking about the roadmap we learned that we could reduce the downtime during the actual upgradeA Blackboard upgrade is mostlyaboutconvertingyour dataset

26. Needed to be smart since we had to go from 32bits to 64bits

27. Whyre-installapplication servers againafter a successfull test upgrade?How? Park the Bb9.1 servers used in the test upgrade

28. These servers were correctly installed and fully tested

29. Actual upgrade would basically be limited to converting data

30. No need to install Bb on additional cluster servers a second time during downtime The trick we found in steps The initial Blackboard environment at AvansApp3App2App1DB

31. Step 1: Clone the production data for the test upgradeOld-DBNew-DBOld StorageNew Storage

32. Step 2: Setup a 32 bits virtual "throwaway" server withBlackboard 8 and upgrade this server to release 9.1.DBVirtual server

33. Step 3: Clone the Blackboard 9.1 installationon the virtual server to the 64bit cluster servers.Virtual serverApp3App2App4App1

34. Step 4: Park the 4 application servers afterintensive testingApp4App3App2App1

35. Step 5: Restore the 32 bits virtual "throwaway" server to it'sinitial Blackboard 8 installation and shutit down.Virtual server

36. Step 6: Shut down the production environmentProduction

37. Step 7: Update the newstoragewith a freshcopy of the latestproduction data.Old-DBNew-DBOld StorageNew Storage

38. Step 8: Start the virtual "throw-away" serverVirtual server

39. Step 9: The actual upgrade to Release 9.1 on the virtual "throw away" host.Virtual serverDB