YOU’VE UPGRADED, NOW WHAT?

Great, We’re Upgraded, Now What?

Yes, the plan was to get to the most current version; for some that may be no big deal, but for others it’s been a few years and when you log in, well you may be wondering if you’re in the same program. Here are some tips for the tech savvy and the not so tech savvy.

1. First, you need to access your account. Let’s log in.

Let’s enter your credentials so you can get started. Did you have an issue with your username or password?

• If yes, send a support ticket to your support team.
• If no, GREAT! You made it past the first item on this check list.

2. Validate your data.

Remember, you just updated the ERP system, the stuff you do every day is in there somewhere. Let’s go find a project you worked on yesterday, an invoice, a purchase order, maybe a new job.

• If you’ve found what you were looking for, open it up and take a look.
• Can’t find what you were looking for? No problem, you may just need to find a map for directions. Did you print a report yesterday? You may be able to run that same report today to compare. Maybe an aging, or open jobs report. Did the report match? No, ok well let’s see if we can figure out why.  Are you missing something? What have you done more of today than yesterday?  Did Eager Bob in accounting jump in and start working before everyone else? Tell him to slow his roll until everyone is ready.  If you have either of these issues, send a copy to your support team.

3. Let’s get testing.

Wow, things might don’t seem so bad, do they? Let’s see if you can launch a task. No training wheels here let’s open it up. So, you’ve entered invoices, you found the task, and the screen looks sort of different, but that’s okay. Take a few minutes to look around. I bet you see a lot of familiar tools and features, so stick to what we’re familiar with and take note of what looks new. The new things will get their chance to shine but for now you simply want to see if you can replicate yesterday’s work.  Can you make invoice, purchase order, or job?

• Yes, Great!
• No? You have a message that says ERROR with a whole bunch of words that you weren’t expecting? Don’t panic, just wait 30 seconds until your eyes can refocus on all those words after the word ‘Error’. Chances are that’s the key to get past it.  Any Luck? No, take a screen shot and send it to your support team.

4. Explore your new system.

Are you really here at step 4? That’s amazing! You’ve now completed the following items: logged in, checked data, and ran a test.  Pretty cool, but what do you do with all of those tools and features that look different? Click them of course! It’s your time to explore. Not sure what the “who’s a me gadget” does no worries, write it down, your support team will get a guide to help.  Just keep looking and trying, anything that makes you think “wow, give that a star”, and anything that makes you go “hum” write it down in the list of “uncover”.

5. Training

You may not be rolling like Bob from accounting, but you’ve made it through the process and created a personal list of “wows” and a list of “uncovers”. You now want to compare notes with your colleagues to create one giant list for the “wows” and one list for the “uncovers”. Once you’ve done this, send your giant lists to the project manager, and feel free to share your support with the team.

Congratulations, you did it! You completed every item on the checklist. GREAT JOB! I mean it, not everyone makes it this far. Just think back to Bob in accounting, he thinks you’re in a live system… wait until he finds out this is just a test system, and he is going to have to redo all that work again.

Getting Your ERP Project Started

There’s no doubt that the ERP implementation process is complex and time consuming. The first step in ensuring your ERP success is selecting the right partner to guide you through the process. Here at ACC Software Solutions, we have over 25 years of ERP and industry specific experience – contact our support team to begin your ERP discovery.