| Supported Hardware Platforms and Technical Architecture |
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| 1. What is the high-level architecture utilized by Phire Architect? |
| Phire Architect is built on PeopleTools and utilizes the Pure Internet Architecture (PIA) of PeopleSoft applications which is a multi-tiered architecture that consists of a Web Server which communicates to an Application Server which utilizes messaging to issue SQL calls to the relational database. Here is the diagram that depicts this architecture: |
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| Phire Architect must be installed onto a database containing PeopleTools. You have the choice of installing Phire Architect to any existing PeopleSoft Application (shared) or creating a new PeopleTools-Only database (dedicated). The shared option allows you to leverage existing infrastructure. The dedicated option requires you to build and maintain components for Phire such as a database, application server, web server, and PSNT process scheduler. |
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| 2. What kind of footprint does Phire Architect leave on the database where it is installed? |
| The Application Designer project for the Phire application contains approximately 4700 objects that are easily distinguished from the PeopleSoft delivered objects by the “PHI” prefix in the name. Majority of the Phire Architect transactional data is stored in about dozen tables and require very little disk space and all the setup data for Phire fits in less than 50 MB of disk space. Actual disk space requirements will depend on transactional volume; one of our clients report that one year of Phire Architect data requires less than 1 GB of disk space. |
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| 3. Which hardware platforms does Phire Architect support? |
| The list of hardware platforms supported by Phire is identical to that of PeopleSoft because the technical architecture of a Phire application is identical to that of PeopleSoft. Phire runs on the same web servers, application servers, and database servers as PeopleSoft and we do not require any new infrastructure or third party software. Phire Architect can reside in your existing PeopleSoft application such as Financials, HCM, CRM, or EPM. Alternatively, you have the option to install Phire Architect on a stand-alone PeopleTools-Only database. Phire supports the same platforms as PeopleSoft, but does not certify all the combination of platforms. The full list of platforms that are certified are found in the Supported Platforms document. |
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| 4. What is the minimum and latest version of PeopleTools supported? |
| The Phire Architect application requires at least PeopleTools 8.40. Phire supports all the latest version of PeopleTools including 8.5. |
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| 5. How soon after a new version of PeopleTools is released by PeopleSoft is it supported by Phire? |
| In most cases, Phire certifies the new version of PeopleTools prior to the release of the new version to the general public by Oracle corporation. Our goal at Phire is to certify new versions of PeopleTools within 4 weeks of release by Oracle. |
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| 6. We want to install Phire on a stand-alone database, what version of PeopleTools should we install on? |
| If Phire is installed on a central, stand-alone instance, there are no dependence on which version of PeopleTools to use as long as it is at least 8.4x and above. The PeopleTools version of Phire is NOT dependent on the PeopleTools version of your existing PeopleSoft applications. However, to simplify your maintenance and suppor requirementst, it is recommended that you install Phire on the highest PeopleTools release currently deployed in your environment. |
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| 7. What needs to be done in Phire Architect if we upgrade the PeopleTools version of our PeopleSoft applications? |
You are not required to upgrade Phire's PeopleTools version when you upgrade PeopleTools for your PeopleSoft applications (see answer #6). The only thing that needs to be done is to update the database definition in Phire to indicate the correct PeopleTools version. |
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| 8. What is involved in the installation of Phire Architect? Can we do a self-install? |
Installation of Phire Architect involves importing an Application Designer project, executing few DMS and SQL scripts, and manual online tasks. If you are familiar with applying PeopleSoft bundles, you will be able to perform a self-install. Phire recommends you have one of our installers perform the installation. The installation takes 2-4 hours and another 4-6 hours to configure and test basic functionality. |
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| Company |
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| 1. How long has Phire been in business? |
| Phire was conceived in early 2003 by a group of experienced PeopleSoft professionals who saw a need for an ACM solution built using PeopleTools. Design for the Phire Architect application started immediately and the initial development was completed in July 2005. After months of beta testing, Phire went live with the first production customer in early 2006. We now have customers who have deployed Phire to thousands of end users with some customers having successfully performed 3000+ PeopleSoft migrations using Phire Architect. |
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| 2. How is Phire funded? |
| Phire is a privately owned Commonwealth of Virginia corporation. Initial funding was provided by the founding members and additional funding has been received from private investors. Phire currently holds no debt and has achieved and maintained profitability since early 2007. |
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| 3. Where is Phire located? |
Phire is located in the Washington, DC metro area in McLean, Virginia. Our mailing address is:
Phire, Inc.
P.O. Box 9053
McLean, VA 22102 |
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| 4. Who are some of your clients and contacts for references? |
| Phire has blue chip clients in both government and commercial sectors across multiple industries. Phire clients include: Washington University, Accenture, U.S. Department of State, and Chesapeake Energy. We provide customer references upon request. |
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| 5. What is the relationship between Phire and Oracle? |
| Phire, Inc is an Official Partner to Oracle, USA and belongs to the Oracle Partner network. Phire is recognized by Oracle as an Independent Software Vendor and is able to obtain access to the latest Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise integration information, product details, and education. We also participate in the Application Integration Architecture for Partners Initiative. |
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| Software License and Maintenance Pricing |
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| 1. What are the licensing options available? |
| There are two types of software licenses offered by Phire: Enterprise and Project License. Enterprise license is a perpetual license that provides for unlimited number of users and installations. Project-based license is for a named project for a pre-defined duration. |
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| 2. What is the approximate ballpark cost of the Phire Architect software license? |
| We provide quotes for Software License upon request after a few discovery questions are answered. Final pricing depends on the type of license sought and the specific terms of the license agreement. Generally, Phire Architect is very cost effective as compared to other Enterprise Application Change Management solutions. In addition, due to our ability to deploy rapidly and the ease of support, the total cost of ownership for Phire Architect is very low compared to our competitors. |
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| 3. What type of Support Plan is available? |
| Phire offers annual software maintenance and support plan that covers all the enhancements, fixes, bundles, and future upgrade releases of Phire Architect. Customers can report incidents via email to support@phire-soft.com, call the toll-free support number, via our customer web site, or by creating a ticket to the PHIRE domain on the customer's own installation of Phire Architect. |
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| 4. How is the annual maintenance and support cost calculated? |
| The cost of the annual maintenance and support plan is based on a percentage of the license fee. Generally, our annual maintenance fees are very cost effective as compared to our competitors. |
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| 5. How often do you deliver new releases and bundles? |
Bundles are released twice a year. A collection of two bundles constitute a new release. Each bundle normally take about one hour to apply. |
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