5 indications that it’s time to upgrade your ERP system

Companies often spend enormous time internally debating whether or not they should update their ERP system to the latest version, with many are unsure just how they can tell whether the time is right or not to sanction an upgrade. Below 5 indicators will help them to say if there is a need to their ERP.

1. No mobile functionality

With business in general becoming increasingly remote and about working on the move, ERP system should complement this change in culture by allowing users to access certain features of the system on their mobile phone. While for the time being at least, mobile apps are not going to offer the same level of insight and features that user would get from his desktop. By allowing the user to work on the go, it prevents the traditional backlog of the transactions which can be done on real time.

 2. Lack of standard features

As time progresses, features that may have been considered not essential, or a luxury when first implementing current version, are likely to be fairly standard practice within the industry later on.

Regardless of whether it is a system feature, such as integrated analytics / intelligence, or a functionality that is specific to the industry, not being able to utilize recent technology puts the business at risk of being left behind, especially if the competitors have access to the functionality.

Ideally, the company businesses should be looking to make the most of not only standard features, but emerging, cutting-edge technology to ensure it possesses a competitive advantage.

 3. No vendor support

As with any software provider, they will commit to support, spending their time developing and supporting the most recent version, and in most instances, the preceding version.

If the company is running an unsupported and outdated version of ERP system, then may be the client is tempted to stay on it until it eventually becomes inadequate.

While this may save money in the very short-term, leaving it too long to upgrade the ERP system means the organization will have to jump several versions in one upgrade. The ussers are also likely to be faced with a whole host of new features and a different interface, leading to a more time-consuming and costly transition.

 4. Poor integration

Ensuring the business systems seamlessly work together is one of the key factors behind how efficient businesses are able to be when it comes to their system processes. Relying on an ERP system that is not integration-friendly and prevents from automatically transferring the data to another system, can lead to a serious decrease in efficiencies and an increase in manual work.

Modern ERP versions tend to be more open to integration, naturally making it easy for developers to ensure the business systems are working in partnership.

5. Not compliant

As software developers release new updates, they naturally stop actively supporting older versions, meaning if new regulation comes in, those on older versions run the risk of not being compliant.  While ERP vendors will be developing their software to ensure it helps their users be compliant, they are likely to only release the patch to recent updates, leaving those on older versions possibly incompliant, and having to spend considerable sums trying to ensure they are.