Are you considering upgrading your ERP system? Organisations of all sizes are increasingly dependent on ERP solutions to manage their business. For many enterprises the diversity and complexity of the application landscape continues to grow and evolve in order to meet new challenges. Competitiveness is closely linked to the ability to adopt new technologies, interact more efficiently with business partners and reduce costs. All of these business drivers are enabled to some extent by ERP solutions and, as many organisations will previously have invested significantly in ERP, the notion of upgrading or extending the footprint of existing systems is worth consideration. This white paper, 'Upgrading your ERP Systems' examines the drivers to upgrade, budgeting for an upgrade, the upgrade project including upgrade steps, project team, testing strategy, risk management, issue resolution and change control.

1. Upgrading your ERP
Systems
July 2014

2. Page 2 of 4
Introduction
Organisations of all sizes are increasingly dependent on ERP solutions to manage their
business. For many enterprises the diversity and complexity of the application
landscape continues to grow and evolve in order to meet new challenges.
Competitiveness is closely linked to the ability to adopt new technologies, interact more
efficiently with business partners and reduce costs. All of these business drivers are
enabled to some extent by ERP solutions and, as many organisations will previously
have invested significantly in ERP, the notion of upgrading or extending the footprint of
existing systems is worth consideration.
If your organisation uses ERP then the chances are very high that the software will be
upgraded at some point in the next three to five years. A 2012 survey of 327 enterprise
application and business managers, conducted among members of the Oracle
Applications Users Group (OAUG), showed that 80% of respondents have upgraded,
are in the process of upgrading or plan to upgrade within the next 24 months.
Figure 1: Current Enterprise Application/ERP Suite Upgrade Plans
This chart is adapted from ‘ERP Upgrades: What’s Your Philosophy? 2012 OAUG Survey on Enterprise
Application/ERP Suite Upgrade Strategies’ by Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst. Produced by Unisphere
Research, a Division of Information Today, Inc. February 2012

3. Page 3 of 4
Making the Upgrade Decision
2.1 Upgrade Drivers
When considering an upgrade to a newer version of your current system there are two
key areas to focus on. The first is to identify areas of the business where systems are
not working as effectively as they could, potentially resulting in negative effects on
revenue generation, costs, efficiency and customer service. Secondly, organisations
should perform a critical evaluation of new capabilities and enhancements provided by
the latest version of the software. This approach holds true whether the initial
motivation for the upgrade is voluntary (where you decide to upgrade to improve the
system) or forced (where you are obliged to upgrade for technical, regulatory or end-of-
life reasons).
A firm grasp of the new or enhanced functionality in the system and where
improvements are required in the business are essential to evaluate the value that will
be gained through your organisation’s investment in an upgrade. At the same time, it is
worth gaining an understanding of the proposed pipeline of functionality in future
releases of the software package and when it’s likely to become available. (Indeed,
some vendors facilitate user groups which can influence product development
roadmaps).
Other technical factors may also come into play at this point. Organisations should
consider their current hardware and communications environment and whether the
infrastructure currently in place meets the needs of today as well as the demands of
the business for the next three to five years. Where the existing system is running on
multiple instances the upgrade analysis should examine the value of incorporating
instance consolidation into the upgrade project.
Finally a detailed cost benefit analysis should be complied to quantify the value
proposition.

4. Page 4 of 4
About Lumenia
Lumenia is a boutique management consulting organisation, specialising in the
development of business systems strategy and the selection and implementation of
enterprise applications – particularly ERP and CRM systems. Operating from offices in
Ireland and the UK we have delivered ERP or CRM projects in well over 100
organisations across the world.
To download the full copy of this report for free,
visit our website and register at:
http://www.lumeniaconsulting.com/resources/re
ports-white-papers/upgrading-your-erp-systems
Copyright BSM Ireland 2014. Lumenia Consulting is a registered Business Name of BSM Ireland Ltd. All rights
reserved. No unauthorised reproduction without the Author’s written consent. All references to this publication must cite
Lumenia as the author and include a link to Lumenia’s website. Lumenia is not liable for any errors contained within this
Report.
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