Technology

Kirk Hoaglund,
Clientek:
612.379.1440, ext.101
ki***********@******ek.com
www.clientek.com

It’s time to upgrade
computer systems;
Here’s why and how

by Kirk Hoaglund

FOR MANY COMPANIES, 2007 will be a year of upgrades for your computer systems. And it is time to start thinking hard about how you’ll get that done.

Why is it important and what can you plan to get in return for that hard work and expense? Read on.

First, some background
The computer systems and software that automate your office are complex. Over the past 15 years vast amounts of time and money have been put into addressing common business problems and delivering to you the features you need.

Something as ubiquitous as your e-mail program is a carefully engineered machine with lots of moving parts. Getting it right, making it stable, and ensuring that it meets the needs of a wide range of users is long, hard work.

Microsoft and all of the other makers of your office and server software started working years ago on improvements and updates that are arriving in 2007. They’ve compiled vast lists of wants, needs, bugs, security problem and new ideas. They’ve talked with thousands of us to map that long list of features that we want and will pay for.

They’ve talked with each other to assure that the different parts can be made to work together, so your accounting system can work with your HR system, can work with your e-mail system, and can run on your server.

And of course, just like the rest of us, the software people want to find more ways to make money. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have software at all. Maybe the good news would be we wouldn’t have to worry about updates, upgrades, downloads and downtime. But the bad news is that our spreadsheets would be written on yellow legal pads.

Keeping up
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should buy upgrades because you owe it to these people for all their hard work. You need to keep up and you need to do it for several very pragmatic reasons.

The new features are good. Big software companies such as Microsoft spend lots of money researching your needs when they choose features for new versions of the program. They do that because you won’t buy it if they don’t.

Everyone else is doing it. So, you are negotiating the biggest contract of your life. You write a gorgeous proposal and e-mail it just ahead of the deadline to that lovely new client. But they can’t open the document because your word processing software is so old. They’ve upgraded, you haven’t. All that work on the proposal will never be seen – and what an impression you’ve made!

You can get support. Ever try to buy a carburetor for a ’57 Chevy? Ever try to get IT support for DOS 2.0? The entire industry moves on after a major upgrade. When you look for consultants, support technicians or sales people you’ll find they’ve all just been trained on the new stuff. They’d love to support the new stuff and they’ll know how.

Manufacturers are already working on the next thing. Microsoft startedworking on Vista five or more years ago. This is their new, cool thingand they like it. And as soon as it goes out the door, or even before,they are working on the next cool thing. We are all human: How muchattention do you think you can get for something that is just not thecool thing anymore?

You can get good deals. All informationtechnology people want you to upgrade because it makes their jobseasier and they can serve you better. They will encourage you toupgrade with better prices and better deals and they’ll be excitedabout it. Once the new, new thing is old, the good deals fade and theexcitement dies down.

Regular upgrades make a smooth road. Trying to jump from version 1.0 toversion 5.0 of any software package is very difficult. Too many thingshave changed. Going from version 6.0 to version 7.0 is going to be mucheasier with much less risk to your data and systems.

How to do it
Here’s the good news: It is easier than you think. The bad news: It will cost some money. But start now.

Work with a trusted IT provider to analyze your current systems. Paythe most attention to those things that are used every day or arecritical to smooth business operations.

Map out all of your existing pieces and define the ways that they do orneed to work together. This should look like an inventory of systemsand a block diagram of business processes with lines connecting thepieces. “Inventory Control” runs on its own server and connects to the”Accounting System.” “Accounting” shares a server with “HR” and the twosystems exchange salary information.

Identify the exact names and versions of each of the software andhardware components. This isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds and your ITprofessional should be able to do this very quickly and accurately

Create an upgrade timeline that balances your budget, your criticalbusiness functions, and the practical availability of new software withtime to install it.

Work with your vendor to find creative ways to get this done andcreative ways to finance it. Remember, your vendor wants to make a dealand will have incentives and special offerings from the manufacturer.

Before each upgrade, back up everything, then test to be sure that theback-up worked. Sounds like a no-brainer, but this is very importantand not to be skipped.

Build verification steps into the timeline so that you are sure thateach piece has been upgraded properly and is working correctly beforeyou get to the next thing. The “Big Bang” approach is way too risky.

Stick to your timeline. The pieces are dependent on one another, so stick to your plan as much as possible.

Save everything. All of the steps you take this time can be repeatednext time. Take notes and ask for plenty of documentation from yourservice provider. It will save time and money when you need to do thisagain.