UPGRADE YOUR ERP AND AVOID THESE DISASTERS

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions have become the foundation for many organizations over the past few years. ERP solutions are known for its integrated management of business processes including sales, finance, supply chain, human resources, operations, and more. Even though the vast assortment of functions and benefits will immediately improve your business processes, the implementation of an ERP solution should not mark the end of your ERP journey.

While it might sound like a good idea but holding on to the same ERP system for years can be a dangerous game to play. According to the hidden technology debt blog written by CEO, Sean Atkins, a better approach is to keep your ERP up to date with small, regular updates, so none of them are too painful, but you always have the latest version of the software, or at least keep yourself from falling too far behind. By being proactive with your ERP upgrades, you can save your business from a variety of disasters.

Here are five disasters you can simply avoid by knowing how often to upgrade your ERP solution.

Lack of Support

The first of potential ERP disasters we’ll discuss is one that is much more likely to affect mature solutions, which have been on the market for years but have struggled to keep up with technology’s more recent evolutions. What often happens in these cases is the vendor moves on to a new solution and its predecessor is eventually put in the vault. Hanging onto an outdated ERP past this point spells disaster for business. When the vendor shelves your ERP, they leave you with no support, no updates. That means there will be nothing to protect you against security risks, bugs, unexpected user errors, and more. You’ll be spending half your IT’s budget on troubleshooting, throwing work hours and dollars down the drain.

Chaotic Year-End Closing

Your accounting team is most likely working day and night to finish your year-closing obligations. What would happen if your ERP no longer had the most recent tax tables? You may be in big trouble. If you wait too long to upgrade your ERP, there’s a possibility that your vendor is no longer publishing the most recent tax tables for your version. Now, you’re not only looking at a chaotic and complicated year-close, but your costs are going to significantly increase because the only way to get the tax tables you need without upgrading is to have an outside ERP consultant develop a custom workaround.

Compliance Failure

This one isn’t just a disaster—it’s catastrophic. Compliance is “make or break”. As the world economy continues to grow and strengthen at exponential rates, regulations are constantly developing. If you need to follow federal or regional regulations, there’s no doubt that your ERP needs to be up to date. If you’re running an outdated version, you risk getting left behind as regulations change.

Faulty Integration

Do you depend on a solution that integrates your ERP with other 3^rd part applications such as payroll or field service management? If you’re not paying attention to how often you upgrade your ERP, you risk getting left behind by the vendors of these 3^rd party products. Integrations are only guaranteed to work with the latest one or two releases of any ERP. Once you get behind, the integrations may not work as well as they once did, or eventually cease to function entirely. So, before you skip the next ERP upgrade, ask yourself, “can I afford to live without the other software that connects to my ERP?” If your answer is no, as it often is, this is another undeniable reason to keep your ERP up to date.

No Support for Mobile or Remote Work

Recall the year 2020 when the workforce became remote overnight. Do you remember how most companies weren’t prepared and really struggled with the transition? Well, the reliance of an outdated ERP system was one of the biggest reasons for their struggles. Over the last few years, ERP vendors have put a key emphasis on remote work, even for their on-premises solutions. But, if you didn’t take advantage of these upgrades as your vendor made them available, you’re potentially setting your business back by not future-proofing processes. As we’ve learned in the most recent years, you need to be ready for anything.

Your Next Steps

Now that you know how often to upgrade ERP and you’ve seen the disasters of delaying upgrades, don’t let your business fall into one of these dangerous traps. If it’s been a while since you upgraded your Sage 100 or Acumatica software, and you need a little help to get things back on track, contact us. Our expert team is ready to help you take advantage of everything your software offers. Remember, when you keep your ERP up to date, your company will only benefit in the end.