Why You Should Upgrade Your Software
By Bob Boyles, Principal
Smarter Distribution

Mention the word “upgrade” to most MIS managers and look out while the four-letter words fly. Almost every distributor has a horror story about an upgrade. While in the world of software the word “upgrade” can be a dirty word to most MIS managers software companies on the other hand love them. As with a lot of things in life the truth about upgrades lies somewhere in the middle.

I my humble opinion upgrades should not be viewed as a necessary evil but as an opportunity to improve your computer operations and company efficiency. Over the past 20 years I have helped hundreds of distributors upgrade their software. I can truthfully state that there was not a single instance that during the upgrade process we did not uncover some area of their computer operations that needed to be addressed or improved. Here are some samples from the field.

Case One – Undersized Hardware .
One of the first things I do when looking at the upgrade process is look at the customer’s hardware and determine if computer can handle it. Often times the answer is “no” and the customer is looking at a hardware and software upgrade. Sound like your worst nightmare? What this customer learned is that by upgrading his hardware his system ran twice a fast and the computer could actually keep up with his employees!

Case Two – GIGS
Everyone if familiar with the old phase “GIGO”, garbage in garbage out. It was the MIS managers way of saying it’s the operational managers fault the system doesn’t work because his people are putting in bad data. We’ll ignore the finger pointing and get you familiar with a new abbreviation, “GIGS”, garbage in garbage stays! Every system accumulates garbage, it is a natural part of what computers do. The computers ability to remember everything means it keeps everything. Sooner or later the garbage man needs to come and clean up. Normally the MIS manager has been putting out fires on a daily basis for the past several years and the garbage detail has been postponed. There is no time like upgrade to review the files and see what can be tossed!

Case Three – Two For One Special
Normally the upgrade process is fairly straight forward, you upgrade your test account, try everything out then set a cutover date. Those folks that know what they’re doing can use the upgrade process as an opportunity to re-evaluate where they stand on their software and the related paperwork procedures. Your new software contains some new features and also improvements on existing processes. While you are updating your software is the perfect time to complete that project you didn’t get around to at the go-live process. The idea here is that most companies purchase software and install it and use it on a daily basis. They get into a rut and use the same features never bothering to explore the power of the software. Several times I have been working with distributors that were so frustrated with their existing software they had actually started looking at replacements. I came along and did an upgrade and heard their complaints and pointed out that their existing software handled the processes they were looking for and that buying new software would be a huge unnecessary expense. These companies never would have uncovered these forgotten features if they hadn’t tried the upgrade.

Case Four – Reviewing The Basics
The three basics of running a computer system are easy to remember. Back it up, Back it up & BACK IT UP.
Like real-estate where location is the end all and be all of determining a property’s value backing up your computer system is the single most important thing you can do. There have been numerous times when I’ve shown up to upgrade a customer system and stopped to check their nightly backup only to have found that the backup wasn’t being done or was not working properly. These customers were leaving themselves wide open for a disaster by not handling the basics correctly. But they never would have known that unless they took the time to have someone on-site to do their upgrade.

Distributors hate upgrades because they don’t’ want the hassle and the expense. Most of the companies that focus on the distribution marketplace offer free upgrades if you purchase their support and maintenance plans. Here we’re talking about the business software vendors and not your common PC software vendors. Companies like Microsoft and Adobe offered free support back in the days when dot matrix printers were the rage. Now you’re lucky if those same companies offer any type of support at all. Fortunately the business system vendors have not gone that route and still offer phone support. But distributors have come to realize that when it comes to upgrades free doesn’t necessarily mean no cash outlay. Please don’t fool yourself, these software companies love upgrades because they are a revenue source. Even when offering free upgrades they can still make money off of associated consulting and re-programming work. But there are ways a smart distributor can reduce the expenses associated with upgrades.

First, reduce the number of modifications that you have! Every upgrade is an opportunity to review the list of modifications you made to the standard software package and determine if you can get rid of them. Speaking as someone that has been on both sides of the software fence I can advise you that some modifications are needed but most are not. My rule of thumb is the half of all modifications paid for by the distributor are never used and 75% of all modifications are abandoned within 3 years of the go-live date. The idea here is that most companies are not willing to change their operational procedures when the take on a new piece of software so they create modifications to the standard package. In other words they make their new software do exactly the same thing their old software did. Over time they come to realize that the new procedures the software company was pushing were more efficient and can save a tremendous amount of effort. But what most distributors don’t realize is that paying to have a modification created is only the first half of expense. Now every time your upgrade your software you’re going to have to re-install that original mod. Yes, I know some of the new software allows you to embed the changes within subroutines that automatically called so the reintegration efforts should be a fraction of the original cost. The problem with that logic is that you are forgetting that the mod must still be tested with the new software version. The point to remember here is that regardless of the intelligence of your software, make modifications to your software means you are going to incur two cost, the cost of creating the change and the cost of keeping it around as long as you own the software.

Second, avoid the mistakes that can be the most costly by doing the process properly. Take the time to test all the features, not just the new ones but the ones that were enhanced also.

Upgrades are meant to keep your software up to date but they are also an opportunity to reassess how you are using your computer system and improve.

About Bob Boyles and Smarter Distribution:

Bob Boyles started his strategic consulting business in 2001 and focuses on the change that technology is forcing in the supply chain and how independent distributors can not only respond to that change but also maximize their return on investment. Bob spent a significant amount of time as an Installation Consultant for several of the big name software companies in the distribution market. Working with hundreds of distributors across the country on installing, upgrading and utilizing their software. Bob also worked as Corporate Systems Manager for one of the largest electrical wholesalers in the country as that company moved from a completely manual operation to an on-line real-time system.

Bob graduated from Appalachian State University (BS - 1981) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Graduate School of Business (MBA - 1985).

© Copyright All rights reserved 2002 Robert S Boyles, Jr. This article cannot be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Robert S Boyles, Jr.