Planning an upgrade

Before you start an upgrade, review this planning guide to select the appropriate upgrade method and to understand the upgrade process.

Choosing an upgrade path

Your current version of the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite platform components and applications determines the upgrade path that you choose. Review the planning decisions and related information in the table to plan your upgrade path.

Determining the upgrade scope

Depending on your business needs, you can incrementally upgrade your Remedy system. Review the planning decisions and related information in the table to plan the upgrade scope and decide whether to deploy new components. 

Choosing the upgrade method

There are two methods for upgrading the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite: staged upgrade or in-place upgrade. Depending on the complexity of your environment and your outage window, choose a method that suites your requirements. Review the planning decisions and related information in the table to select an upgrade method.

Planning the upgrade environment

When you upgrade to a new version, you might need to provision for newer hardware to support your deployment and update third-party software. Review the planning decisions and related information to plan the upgraded environment.

Planning pre-upgrade activities

Review the planning decisions and related information to plan your pre-upgrade activities.

Upgrade planning assistance

The following resources are available to help you plan your upgrade.

• AMIGO program
• Sample upgrade project plans
• Upgrade webinar
• 
  Frequently asked questions about upgrading

AMIGO program

The BMC Assisted MIGration Offering (AMIGO) program is designed to assist customers with the planning of product upgrades to a newer version (“Success through proper planning"). This program is offered to BMC customers currently subscribed to BMC Support.

BMC will provide collateral containing upgrade best practices compiled by experts in BMC Support and in R&D. You can leverage this information to create your upgrade plan. Upgrade experts in BMC Support will review your plan and offer advice to help ensure your success.

For more information on Amigo program, watch the following video:

https://youtu.be/q5P5ztf7aMQ

To learn more about the AMIGO program, visit the AMIGO Program Overview on the Support page.

Read about the AMIGO program at https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-28417.

Sample upgrade project plans

To help you get started with the planning process, the attached Microsoft Project 2013 plans provide sample upgrade tasks based on the in-place or staged upgrade methods.

Upgrade webinar

Watch the Remedy 9 Upgrade Best Practices video about upgrade best practices and some of the major architectural changes that will help you understand the upgrade process.

Frequently asked questions about upgrading

Review the webinar FAQ for additional details and clarifications about upgrade compatibility: https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-4118

Where to go from here