Upgrades and Patches

Periodically, upgrades and patches are released for Banner from SunGard. These can be fixes for current bugs or security issues, enhancements to make the application better or regulatory upgrades for things such as 1098s, 1099s and W2's. Some Banner areas such as Financial Aid and Payroll (taxes) require regulatory updates throughout the year.

When these upgrades are requested, OIT first applies them to the test system. This way, the upgrade/patch process can be debugged. Also, the user has an opportunity to make sure that the upgrade/patch will be successful when applied to our Banner production environment. Once both parties are satisfied that the upgrade/patch can be applied to Banner production, time to apply the upgrade/patch must be scheduled.

Most upgrades/patches require the Banner application to be unavailable. This is necessary so that nothing prevents the upgrade/patch from being applied. Also, in the event that something catastrophic happens during the upgrade/patch process, the system/database can be restored to a point before the upgrade/patch was applied. If data changes were being made during the upgrade process by outside accounts, the data would be lost if the system/database had to be restored.

Most upgrades/patches are done on our primary maintenance weekends. These weekends are planned in advance so that the Banner downtime is kept to a minimum. Althouhg maintenance time may cause a temporary inconvenience, it is to ensure the smooth operation of the Banner system.