What are the differences between Patch, Bundle, Maintenance Pack & Service Pack ?

PATCH: Consists of a fix to a single reported problem or a patch is low level fix that addresses a simple or complex issue. It is a standalone fix but this might have prerequisites. These days we only post severity one (Sev1) fixes to Metalink as individual patches and these are added to a Bundle, MP or SP later on. An individual patch resolution is basically the same regardless of what release/version of the product a customer is on. BUNDLE: (Tax Update is a Payroll Bundle) PeopleSoft 8.x bundle policy In our continuing efforts to minimize your total cost of ownership, we've worked with the International Customer Advisory Board and our field staff to develop a more efficient method to deliver application fixes. As a result, beginning December 1, 2001 for the most current PeopleSoft 8 codeline, we will: * Produce application bundles-a compilation of urgent fixes, including critical fixes posted since the last bundle-that we'll deliver every 4 to 8 weeks. Bundles may include fixes from multiple products in a product line. If there are too few urgent fixes to warrant creating an application bundle, the fixes will be posted individually to Metalink. * Deliver fixes for urgent issues through bundles and continue to post all individual critical fixes to Metalink. Please note that in some instances, an individual critical fix may have a prerequisite of one or more previous bundles-such as when a previous urgent fix is required as a prerequisite to a critical fix. * Continue to deliver maintenance for PeopleTools through minor releases, and all tax updates for PeopleSoft HRMS Payroll for North America according to the schedule on Metalink. We encourage you to take a proactive support approach to fully benefit from these enhancements. Application bundles will reduce the number of individual fixes you will need to apply. This new process means you will: Reduce time spent on applying fixes, lowering your total cost of ownership. Be able to schedule your maintenance and more easily apply fixes to your PeopleSoft applications. Spend less time searching for the postings that apply to your organization. Benefit from the enhanced testing we're performing on the bundles. Effective December 1, 2001 we will deliver bundles for the latest PeopleSoft 8 codeline (PeopleSoft 8: HRMS, Student Administration; Contributor Relations Service Pack 1 (SP1); Customer Relationship Management; Supply Chain Management SP2; Financials SP2; Enterprise Performance Management SP3; and Portal Solutions SP2). We've posted a bundles schedule, and the products included in each bundle, on Metalink on the Maintenance Schedule page. If your organization would like to outsource bringing your system current, PeopleSoft Consulting offers the Accelerated Update packaged service, which applies all necessary updates at once. For more information about this service, or if you have questions about application maintenance, please contact Customer Care. HR Bundles do not include Tax Updates.

FYI, for more info please see solution 712662: PeopleSoft 8 bundle policy

MAINTENANCE PACK: Maintenance Packs provide bulk maintenance--providing customers a convenient way to bring their systems up to the latest code line thus benefiting from the latest fixes and enhancements. A Maintenance Pack sits between the Application Bundles and Service Pack maintenance vehicles. For the most current PeopleSoft release [HRMS 9.1 in this case], Maintenance Packs are available in both cumulative and Delta versions. Cumulative Maintenance Packs essentially contain all Application Bundles and fixes posted since the last Service Pack. Delta Maintenance Packs are like large Bundles, with the last Maintenance Pack being the requisite for the next. For prior releases and where available, the Maintenance Packs are Delta versions only, and need to be applied in series. Now that our new release HRMS v9.1 is available, Maintenance Packs will no longer be provided for HRMS v8.9. The Oracle procedure is that we provide Cumulative and Delta MP's for our latest release (v9.1), we provide Delta MP's for our previous release (v9.0) and then we only provide bundles for any earlier releases such as v8.9. SERVICE PACK: Finally, you have Service Packs. Service Packs consist of a complete install of an application database (ex. HCM) containing a fully patched environment from the base release until the availability of the Service Pack. Upgrade Paths are based upon Service Pack levels.