EnterpriseOne Upgrade – A Capitulation – Part 1

Recently we were designing a data migration tool when discussions about Implementations and Upgrade Methodologies cropped up. It was a very focussed discussion on Data Migration which is an activity within either processes.
Then it dawned upon us that we are showcasing the tool to customers who may, or may not do an Implementation/upgrade. If a customer has decided upon, say an upgrade, he must already have made up his mind on what to do next, where to shop for, and what processes to use.
The thoughts of E1 Upgrade – a very common affair these days, kept poking my mind. Hence thought of sharing the Upgrade Methodologies here. Lets try the 5 W’s and H.

Why would an organization propose/need an Upgrade?

Typically following are the points that drive an enterprise towards Upgrade.

1. Business issues
   • Support Dates
     -Your current product’s support ends soon. (check your End Of Life for JDE)
   • Competitive advantage
     -Gives better solutions, integrations, look and feel
   • Functional improvements
     -New and Improved solutions
   • Technical improvements
     -New functionalities, performance, advanced end-user capabilities and usability.
   • Investments and innovations
     -Better integrations with 3rd party apps, and lower TCO.
2. Resources for building your upgrade business case
   – Upgrade assessment etc.
3. Upgrade vs. Implementation
   – Decide what is better.

But in reality pushing a client towards upgrade is a difficult task. There are many questions asked, many crucial points brainstormed, WHY, wHy, whY is asked every time.

1. CFO : What do I get if I go for an upgrade? What is our Cost to Benefit?
2. CIO : What will be the business Impact? Can we deliver on time and within budget?
3. IT Mgmt : Can we upgrade without losing the current functionality? Can we migrate/utilize newer processes?
4. Users : Will an upgrade address our issues? Can we get the new features and modules that other competitors have?

Finally convincing each of these sect will lead to an upgrade. You could visit http://goo.gl/e7bCSF for more information on Key Upgrade Drivers.
Please put in your comments, tips and questions. Lets build up ourselves.
Next we will look upon the Types of Upgrade, or Upgrade Paths. Continued here…!