10 Risks Associated with Older ERP Versions

5 September 2018 in Epicor Enterprise, Epicor ERP, ERP Insights, ERP Solution Selection

10 Risks Associated with Older ERP Versions

For some businesses, software maintenance feels like a never-ending cycle of updates and upgrades, more than they want to keep up with. As a result, they opt out of their annual maintenance and support plan without much thought. It will be there when they need it. Whether or not your maintenance and support plan is there later when you need it depends on how old your system is. Vendors don’t always provide updates for older ERP versions of their software, and outdated ERP software can present business risks.

The point of software updates is naturally an exercise to keep the software up to date, to avoid the problems associated with older ERP systems. Updates include new features or enhancements, bug fixes, and support for newer technologies. From a software vendors perspective, it’s easier and more cost effective to keep as many customers as possible on the most recent release.

The vendor side makes business sense; supporting, maintaining, testing and updating fewer products is optimal for them. What about your business? What makes most sense from your perspective?

10 Risks Associated with Older ERP Systems

For most businesses it makes sense to stay current on maintenance. Whyy? Because there’s a certain amount of risk associated with running your business on an older ERP system. The risks associated with using an older, out-of-date ERP system include:

Risk of paying maintenance for software versions that the ERP vendor is no longer supporting
Risk of the hardware not supporting the ERP solution
Risk of being out of compliancy with new tax laws, data security, PCI and other areas, based on the nature of the business, that need to be conformed to
Risk of audits becoming more difficult to produce
Risk of security breaches such as cyber attacks due to the older software versions not being up to date and able to combat current security threats
Risk of unexpected downtime
Risk that if the software were to crash that the vendor would not have a solution to get the older, unsupported version back up and running
Risk of loss in efficiencies
Risk of not being able to find a qualified consultant that can support your older software
Risk of not being able to support customers the way they expect to be supported in today’s competitive environment

Like your PC’s operating system, as newer technologies and software updates continue to be released, the gap between the features, functionality, and speed of older vs. newer systems increases and becomes more apparent. The further the gap, the higher the risk to your business.

Before deciding to let your mainteance lapse, consider the points made here. If you’re a small business without the internal resources to support your ERP system adequately, then you’re might be thinking that software updates are too expensive by the time you pay for a consultant to help with the installation. If this sounds like you, then you might want to consider a SaaS solution like Epicor ERP SaaS. With SaaS solutions, a monthly fee is paid to the software vendor. In essence, you are leaasing the software and in return the software vendor provides the updates and upgrades as they become available.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this blog, or would like to learn more about Epicor ERP, Epicor ERP SaaS, or pcFinancials Performance Management Software, contact MIS today! MIS can proudly say that we are the longest standing Epicor partner. We’ve been helping business conquer their business goals with technology solutions for over 30 years. Don’t forget to ask us about Exceptional ERP!

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