Comments on: Streamline My Upgrade Please http://infoboxinc.com/streamline-my-upgrade-please/ A Tidy package of HR and Technology information, insight, wit and wisdom. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:18:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Michael Krupa http://infoboxinc.com/streamline-my-upgrade-please/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Michael Krupa Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:27:00 +0000 http://infoboxinc.com/?p=10#comment-10 Steve and Steve: Turns out both of you are correct. ERP upgrades can take a long time, cost a lot of money and ultimately not deliver the goods or they can go quickly, smoothly and add much needed functionality. Unfortunately in my experience, even the best managed upgrades (did I mention I am a terrific Project Manager) take a long time from planning to production and often fail to deliver additional functionality that is actually needed by the customer without purchasing additional modules. In the end, both the business users and the technical team “get something” good from the upgrade but I am not convinced the costs associated with the upgrade are recouped from the additional functionality of the new release. Steve and Steve: Turns out both of you are correct. ERP upgrades can take a long time, cost a lot of money and ultimately not deliver the goods or they can go quickly, smoothly and add much needed functionality. Unfortunately in my experience, even the best managed upgrades (did I mention I am a terrific Project Manager) take a long time from planning to production and often fail to deliver additional functionality that is actually needed by the customer without purchasing additional modules. In the end, both the business users and the technical team “get something” good from the upgrade but I am not convinced the costs associated with the upgrade are recouped from the additional functionality of the new release.

]]> By: Steve Hersh http://infoboxinc.com/streamline-my-upgrade-please/comment-page-1/#comment-9 Steve Hersh Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:22:00 +0000 http://infoboxinc.com/?p=10#comment-9 I think you are shortchanging the upgrade positives. There are more than 2 or 3 additional pieces of functionality across an entire suite, and there are usually benefits of improved performance and reliability, which are often unseen on the 'functional' side. <br/><br/>I have managed my share of upgrades, both monolithic and simple. If the business has not changed any core functionality, and has well documented changes and controls, even a large installation can be upgraded at minimal cost. The problem is, few places maintain the proper change controls and documentation, and therefore have no idea what they have done to the system and thus need to test everything to the nth degree. Even having a lot of extensions can still have a rapid upgrade process if everything is documented properly. I think you are shortchanging the upgrade positives. There are more than 2 or 3 additional pieces of functionality across an entire suite, and there are usually benefits of improved performance and reliability, which are often unseen on the ‘functional’ side.

I have managed my share of upgrades, both monolithic and simple. If the business has not changed any core functionality, and has well documented changes and controls, even a large installation can be upgraded at minimal cost. The problem is, few places maintain the proper change controls and documentation, and therefore have no idea what they have done to the system and thus need to test everything to the nth degree. Even having a lot of extensions can still have a rapid upgrade process if everything is documented properly.

]]> By: Steve Boese http://infoboxinc.com/streamline-my-upgrade-please/comment-page-1/#comment-8 Steve Boese Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:29:00 +0000 http://infoboxinc.com/?p=10#comment-8 Agree 100%, ERP upgrades are one of the most negative aspects of running ERP. They almost always take longer, deliver less, and put all other work on hold as you test iteration after iteration of the upgrade itself. Having to upgrade an entire ERP suite just to get access to two or three new pieces of functionality you want is a steep price to pay. Agree 100%, ERP upgrades are one of the most negative aspects of running ERP. They almost always take longer, deliver less, and put all other work on hold as you test iteration after iteration of the upgrade itself. Having to upgrade an entire ERP suite just to get access to two or three new pieces of functionality you want is a steep price to pay.

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