During these unique and challenging times, I’ve been talking with clients on how planning is more important today than ever before, so you can be prepared. One of the topics of questions is upgrading. I had a client ask me “Why is it important to upgrade?” My first response was, “Don’t you want to protect your investment?”
In today’s world, systems are different than they were back in the Y2K era, even from 10 years ago. Technology is changing at such a rapid pace that you need to make sure that you are utilizing your investment to its maximum potential. That means you need to upgrade and take advantage of the latest technology. Your ERP system is an investment in your business, it is the tool that you use to run your business and provides you with the insight and data to make the necessary business decisions for your business to be successful. Think about it this way, if you were to buy the latest cell phone in market for $1,000, would you never apply an update to the operating system? Or never update the apps that you use on your phone? Of course, you would, because you invested in that phone and want to take advantage of the newest features, apply the latest securities and have the most recent technology. That is the same concept around why you should upgrade to the latest version of Acumatica ERP.
Acumatica has announced in their Product Lifecycle that they will be releasing two major releases per year and support that release for approximately 22 months.
When version 2020R1 was released on March 19th, 2020, that was the official announcement that 2018R2 was set to be out of support on July 31st, 2020. As we are all looking to find a silver lining during this COVID-19 pandemic, here’s one. Acumatica has announced that they will not be moving 2018R2 out of support until October 31st, 2020, they have extended the life so clients can prepare. Thank you, Acumatica!
What I recommend to clients is this, look at your slow season or when is your busy season. Plan to schedule an upgrade during the slower season or opposite of your busy season. Plan for a 30-60 day project timeline and execute during that timeframe on a yearly basis. If you plan and coordinate enough in advance, you should always be on a supported version and not have to worry about reacting and putting your company at risk.
You might ask, what happens if I do not upgrade and am not on a supported version. That is dependent on what license type you have, and you need to discuss with your Crestwood Client Account Manager as to what that means for you and your organization.
At Crestwood, we are here to help you with your upgrades and making sure that you are taking advantage of your investment!
Read about some of the new features in Acumatica 2020 R1.
