The install of the Oracle EPMA or Hyperion Planning software is key to a successful project.
I am amazed at the folks that are looking for an infrastructure install who are pinching pennies. I hear rates that are below many consuting rates that are for the actual install of the environment. There is a reason that some of the large Hyperion Partners are outsourcing this install work. It can get pretty nasty.
The baseline for the installation of an environment for Hyperion is roughly 1 week per environment. 2 environments means 2 weeks. This is the best case scenario. I've yet to see a unix install go smoothly enough to be done in 2 weeks for 2 environments.
If you look at the install as the foundation of a house, something upon which all other items will be built, you'd think you want the most solid foundation possible.
Key items to ask of your install personnel:
-are you going to install all the patches (the answer is yes). Can I get a listing of all the applicable patches and what they fix
-you will provide me with startup / shutdown scripts for the environment and this will be tested before you leave.
-can you help us increase our default java cache settings for the environment as I understand that they are set ridiculously low upon a default install?
If you get these questions answered, you can be a little more assured that your environment isn't broken coming out of the gate.
Oh yeah, don't forget a sanity check on the server specs.
A typical Hyperion Planning or Oracle EPM environment for production is at least 3 servers, each with at least 2 processors and 8 gig of ram.
server1: essbase: 8 way minimum (16 gig ram)
server2: planning, epma, 2 way minimum (8 gig ram)
server3: bi+, reports 2 way minimum (8 gig ram)
If you're going virtual make sure the above is met as well.
hj
