Challenges You Face with Old BusinessWorks Systems
As you face the migration dilemma you’re going to have to make some very important decisions regarding the cost, transition pain, and timeline involved in converting legacy data. This Blog outlines BusinessWorks Migration options that reviews the risk of running unsupported software, see BusinessWorks FAQ for more on migration options.
Change is hard, we know that. But sometimes ignoring change and not moving forward can be more difficult and more costly than staying with the comfortable current scenario. We recently migrated a client from BusinessWorks to Sage 100. They had been using BW for over fifteen years; it was the system they implemented when they started their business. They grew up with this system. But, it was time for change. I sympathized with them. Letting go of your old car, the one that you relied on for so long can be painful. But, there comes a time when the pain of holding onto that old beater starts taking away your time and money. I understood this concept completely as my 1999 Honda Civic limped into the dealership to be traded in for a new car. I resisted upgrading to a new car for several reasons. But the number one reason was that I didn’t want a car payment.
However, it was becoming risky for me to drive long distances and expensive for me to maintain the old Civic when things broke. So, I threw money at repairs which were really just quick or temporary fixes. I had my brother install a new engine and I got another year out of my car. I soon realized I was putting more into repairs than I would have into a car payment. Does this sound familiar? Are you feeling this way about your current accounting / ERP system?
When it comes to upgrading your accounting software solution there are advantages and disadvantages. Advantages of not upgrading include: No immediate expense, no training of staff, and no immediate disruption of business. You can spend time limping along, like I did with the Civic, but this comes with risk. When the system fails, the expenses are higher as you aren’t just paying for the software updates but for the unexpected disruption of your business processes. It’s like missing work because your car broke down again. At some point you realize that you have put more time and money into an old fading product; instead of keeping up with your business needs and growth and getting that new, more efficient system. By not upgrading your current solution and “getting-by” with an old band-aided solution there are risks. These risks include: security risks, support risks, and overall business performance risks. Would your brother be able to drop in a new accounting solution if yours broke? So while all the reasons to do nothing make sense there is high risk in running old software.
Risks of Running Unsupported Software Include but are not limited to:
- Security Risks, such as viruses and spy-ware attacks, not meeting regulatory compliance such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).
- Support Risks, can you ensure that your staff has the skill to re-code or develop patches to support your legacy ERP system. What happens if this person who “knows” the system leaves the company, who will you fall back on?
- Business Risk. Unsupported software tends to have performance issues often resulting in system lock ups. Legacy systems tend to be a set of disparate systems. Older systems often don’t have the capability to run advance reports.
Read the case study on National Auto Lock and how the migration from BusinessWorks to Sage 100 helped them: reduce errors, eliminated double entry, become PCI compliant for credit card processing, and take advantage of a fully integrated inventory management solution. Change is hard but it is necessary and oftentimes more cost effective and efficient than doing nothing. RKL is hosting two educational webinars for BusinessWorks clients regarding migration options, how to plan for a product transition, and trade-in incentives.
Watch Youtube Video on Sage BusinessWorks Migration
