Before I began managing PeopleSoft environments, planning maintenance weekends, applying Critical Patch Updates, and troubleshooting whatever came next, I spent 15 years working as a disc jockey.
I majored in Broadcast Journalism and worked at pop, country and oldies radio stations. That background gave me a lifelong interest in music, especially the charts and the way musical trends change over time.
That is why one of the more unusual chart stories of 2026 immediately caught my attention. On the Billboard Hot 100 dated August 8, country songs occupied all five of the chart’s top positions for the first time, while Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” spent its 16th week at #1. Having worked at both pop and country stations, I never expected to see country music completely take over the pop chart. I have a few thoughts about how we arrived here—but I will save some of those for another post. Read more about this unusual chart milestone.
Music formats and technology often change in ways we do not expect.
So does enterprise technology.
From Radio to PeopleSoft
Although radio was my first career, I also understood that it could be difficult to build the kind of stable living I wanted unless I became the next great morning-show personality and made it to a major market. Growing up in the Midwest, that was not exactly a guaranteed career path.
I had always enjoyed working with computers, and by the late 1990s, I realized that information technology offered stronger career opportunities—and, quite honestly, a much better chance to make a good living. My transition began with help desk work and eventually led to database administration. In 1998, I started working with SQL Server 7.0. That experience ultimately led me into PeopleSoft administration in 2002.
More than two decades later, I am still working with PeopleSoft.
Of course, nearly everything surrounding the application has changed during that time. Operating systems have evolved. Database platforms have advanced. Middleware has become more complex. Security expectations have increased considerably. PeopleTools has continued to introduce new capabilities while supporting newer technology.
There have also been more than a few late-night maintenance windows along the way.
PeopleSoft Is Still Evolving
PeopleSoft is sometimes described as a legacy application, but anyone who actively supports it knows that the platform is far from standing still.
Oracle continues to update PeopleTools, deliver new application functionality, and extend its long-term support commitment. In March 2026, Oracle announced that support for PeopleSoft had been extended through at least 2037 under its rolling ten-year support model. Read Oracle’s PeopleSoft support announcement.
That continued investment allows PeopleSoft customers to modernize strategically while preserving the applications, customizations, and business processes they have developed over many years.
For a PeopleSoft administrator, it also means the job is constantly changing.
We are responsible for far more than starting and stopping servers. PeopleSoft administration can touch operating systems, databases, web servers, application servers, process schedulers, Integration Broker, search infrastructure, security certificates, and many other components.
A change in one layer can easily affect another.
That is one reason I have always enjoyed this work. Even after more than 20 years, there is always something new to learn or something unexpected to troubleshoot.
A Changing Security-Patching Rhythm
One of the most noticeable PeopleSoft trends during 2026 has been the increased frequency of Oracle security patching.
For many years, administrators planned primarily around Oracle’s quarterly Critical Patch Updates, released in January, April, July and October. Those quarterly releases remain important, but Oracle has now introduced Critical Security Patch Updates during many of the months between them.
The first CSPU was released in May 2026. Going forward, these more focused updates are scheduled for February, March, May, June, August, September, November, and December. Oracle describes them as targeted updates that address high-priority security issues without requiring customers to wait for the next quarterly CPU. Review Oracle’s security-fixing policies and schedules.
That change means administrators must be prepared to evaluate new security information throughout the year.
When a security advisory or patch is released, applying it is only one part of the process. Administrators must determine which environments are affected, review prerequisites, coordinate with operating-system and database teams, prepare backups and rollback plans, test the changes, and communicate with the business.
We must also verify the environment afterward.
Can users sign in? Are the application servers and process schedulers operating normally? Is Integration Broker functioning? Are scheduled processes completing? Did the patch introduce any new configuration requirements?
Installing the patch may be the most visible step, but the planning and validation surrounding it are just as important.
Recent security events have demonstrated that PeopleSoft administrators can no longer view patching as something that happens only four times per year. We must monitor Oracle’s advisories and be prepared to respond when a vulnerability requires more immediate attention.
At the time of this post, Oracle’s next scheduled releases are the August 18 CSPU, the September 15 CSPU, and the October 20 quarterly CPU. I plan to explore the new patching rhythm—and what it means for PeopleSoft teams—in greater detail in an upcoming post.
What I Hope to Share
This series will share observations from a PeopleSoft Administrator’s perspective.
Some posts will cover current PeopleTools and security-patching trends. Others may discuss environment builds, databases, migrations, troubleshooting, or lessons learned from supporting PeopleSoft across different organizations and industries.
My goal is not to turn every post into a deeply technical instruction manual. Instead, I hope to share practical experiences and explain why certain developments matter to PeopleSoft customers, administrators, and project teams.
I also plan to work in an occasional music observation, chart story, or trivia question. Music has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember, and it seems only fitting to bring a little of that background into the discussion.
For many of us, music is part of the day—playing while we work, drive, exercise, or unwind. It is certainly part of my day, including those hours spent building, patching and troubleshooting PeopleSoft environments.
After all, both PeopleSoft and popular music have changed considerably over the years.
And despite the occasional prediction that their best days are behind them, both are still playing.
