How to upgrade your ERP system

Communication, communication, communication

Everyone involved must be fully aware of what will be accomplished with the ERP upgrade, and what will be the impact. You need to stress out the advantages and keep both executives and employees updated regarding the process, offering all the necessary information.

The importance of training

If you want to proceed with an important upgrade, you should properly train your staff, so that they are able to respond to the changes, before these are even available. This requires a combination of specific and comprehensible verbal instructions, given in a suitable area and supported by relevant documentation, such as manuals. You should make sure that you have properly prepared your personnel as to how they will interact with the upgraded system.

Load testing

Each and every single upgrade should go through this kind of testing, since most ERP solutions can support a specific number of users. When changes are introduced, you need to adjust the relevant settings accordingly, in order to ensure the best possible results. If you deploy your system without completing the necessary testing, you might find yourselves obligated to go back and spend additional time, effort and resources to re-configure it. The best way to perform a load testing is by combining special testing software, scripts and real users, which will enable you to have an accurate view.

Do not neglect security

Security is a factor that should never be overlooked during an upgrade. Prepare a comprehensive security plan that will protect you against a variety of malware, viruses and other common attacks. Possibly, this new plan will be significantly different than all measures implemented so far, especially if the existing system is several years old. It may sound like a hassle, but it is way better than having someone hacking into your system.

Experienced project management

Although not certain, it is possible that you’ll need someone or even a team to manage the upgrading process. This is something that needs to be done from the early stages, so that the entire process is streamlined. The selection of the right project manager should always be done according to your business needs. In short, you need to make sure that the person who is responsible for managing the upgrade, will not add more problems to the existing ones.

Archiving

Ideally, when upgrading your system, you should have everything archived before deploying the new solution. Thus, you save time and money, do away with all the stress and remain focused on improving your business.