Upgrade from XI 3.0 (SP17) to PI 7.0 (SP12): Best Practices

Hi mates,

I've a few questions regarding the upgrade to PI 7.0.

If the upgrade process is done in phased manner i.e. DEV, QA, PRD in that order over a period of 3 weeks,

How do we handle the transports from DEV->QA->PRD when DEV is 7.0 and QA & PRD on 3.0 using CMS?

Will there be inconsistencies when transports are moved, because a few features could be different or internal representation of IR/ID content could be different in 3.0 & 7.0?

What are the upgrade best practices, phased manner or all at a time?

Please throw more light on this. I appreciate the inputs from people who've helped clients upgrade from 3.0 to 7.0. Any SAP documentation related to this?

I looked at the thread Transports from XI 3.0 to PI 7.0 but the answert is very generic, w/o any supporting documentation and real time experience.

thx in adv

praveen