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HansaWorld Updates 101
By: Brendan Peo, General Manager for HansaWorldCompanies big and small always strive to minimize concerns that arise during the post-purchase evaluation. Companies try to lower any potential cost related risks to near zero. This so-called “cognitive dissonance” causes companies to question the correctness of choices made. In some instances, it is not uncommon to even have a certain feeling of regret or frustration. This concept applies to any type of purchases and even more so to ERP software by virtue of the technology constantly pushing the envelope of the entire IT industry at a very high rate.
The job of any ERP software vendor is to properly educate their clients about aspects of the ERP system ownership so that at no point in time a company would feel uncomfortable about the choices they had made. There are many such aspects. While some are trivial, others are very important. One of these critical aspects that companies should always be aware of are version updates. There are a number of reasons why a company would want to do a software update.
- New features One of the main reasons to update is to be able to use new features. These new software features could be something that HansaWorld developed or perhaps it is one of your wishes that has materialised. It could just be that one feature that your company has been waiting for to make your business run smoother and more efficient. HansaWorld encourages its partners and customers to provide feedback on existing and desired features. We do our best to accommodate the wishes and by updating frequently your company has a better chance of getting the desired features.
- Bug fixes Lets be honest, unfortunately, there is no such thing as software without bugs. Every software has bugs. While some bugs could live within the code and have absolutely no effect on your work, some could potentially cause your company some grief. Of course, the number of potential bugs in a particular piece of software is dependent on a number of things. HansaWorld's Quality Assurance department uses best practices to ensure that the bugs are dealt with swiftly and efficiently. Our development cycle gives our customers the opportunity to increase the chances that bugs that could affect their business are dealt with before each new version is released.
- Legislation and Compliancy Business software must always remain compliant with all of the outside changes imposed on businesses by various legislations. Be it a new tax law, new currency or any accounting related regulatory change. All companies affected by new government developments have no other choice but to conform to these changes. While these changes do not occur too often, HansaWorld is always prepared for them and always incorporates and thoroughly tests these changes within its software. We aim to deliver such changes on or ahead of time to all of its affected clients, allowing for our clients to be compliant when they update on time.
- Other reasons to update Other external factors can pressure companies to do a version update for their software. Hardware upgrades, operating system updates or new peripherals are among these other reasons. HansaWorld advises all of its customers to update to every release version or at the very minimum once every 18 months. It is better to plan and budget your updates ahead of time, than fall behind and encounter unforeseen expenses and other complications associated with running a business.
- HansaWorld software development cycle Over the course of nearly 2 decades of development, HansaWorld has been perfecting its software development cycle. While not entirely unique, our methods allow for our customers to be directly involved in the process, thereby letting them be even more so in control of their own success. We always say that our software is flexible. Now we take it even further. How many big ERP vendors can say that they allow their customers to be truly involved in the development of their product? HansaWorld has many examples of dynamic collaboration between our development and product management team with our clients that resulted in creating features and modules that are now available as a part of our standard Integrated Business Platform.
- Test version - development phase This is the "creation" phase of the development process when our development team make significant additions and alterations to the code. During this phase the software can change very rapidly. This version is tested internally with the help of our partners and some special test customers that are willing to allocate their time and resources into the development process. This version is not recommended to be tested on a “live” system without understanding and agreeing to the risks associated to being on this version.
- Test version - locked phase Once the development and product management team are satisfied with the code changes of the “new” version, the real testing begins. The database is locked and very few, if any database changes are made. During the locked phase, our development and product management efforts are focused on verifying and fixing bug reports. Contrary to popular belief, the best time to start the version update process is during the Locked Version phase. A large percentage of the verified bug reports are fixed during this period. Many of our customers that are willing and can afford to use this version are encouraged to run this version as a “live” or “test” system. This is the best way to ensure that the part of the system that your company uses the most is stable and without critical bugs. After all, who if not you, can put the software through all of your routine processes to find and report the serious bugs that affects your business.
- Release version This is our release version and the version that is being sold to new customers. After releasing our new version, all of the development efforts are shifted towards the new test version. And so the development cycle begins again. We very seldom fix bugs in released or old versions. Only very serious and critical bugs are fixed once a version is released. That does not mean that you should stop reporting your bugs to us when you update to a release version. Bug reporting is a crucial aspect of our product development and your bugs and concerns help to improve future release versions. On average, we produce one release version every year.
- When is the best time to update? Most customers tend to believe that the best time to update their system is “some time after” the release version is out. They don’t want to be the early adopters of the latest software version. Instead, they want to let other people use it, then wait for the system to stabilise and only then they become interested in updating of their software. This conventional wisdom is not encouraged when using HansaWorld. We encourage our customers to update to the newer version when it is in the locked phase of the test version. This is when our development team is focused on getting verified bugs fixed. One of the benefits to updating to our locked version is that you actually have the opportunity to get your few concerns addressed before the version is finally released.
- What can you expect during updates Unlike our competitors, we don’t want to mislead you by saying that the updates always go smoothly and will be hassle free. You should expect problems and be prepared to find bugs in the software. Updating your Integrated Business Platform is a very delicate task that could get progressively difficult depending on a number of factors. These include but are not limited to modifications previously made, the last update made, the thoroughness of the testing checklist and unrealistic expectations. What we can assure you of is that on average, updating HansaWorld software takes much less time and effort than any of our competitors'. We have customers that are using our latest version and have regularly updated for over 10 years following our suggested update schedule. This is not the only thing that sets us apart from other ERP vendors. Most HAL (Hansa Application Language) customisations can be updated with the rest of the software. HansaWorld improved software best practices allows our clients to carry their customisations over from version to version with relatively little extra effort compared to our competitors. Most of our competitors’ products will not update at all or will require a hefty re-investment to make the modifications work.
- Major updates vs. updates Some updates will require more effort than others. Any “major” update will generally require more time. Major updates are updates made from one release version to another. In those rare cases when a critical bug was discovered in a release version, a patch is made available and will require, in some instances, another update. These updates after the version has been released require very little time and effort and is considered a "minor" update.
- HansaWorld recommended update path We advise our customers to update at least once every 18 months. We encourage our clients to start the update path as early on in the Locked phase as possible. The update path consist of at least one "major" update and several "minor" updates.
- Planning and budgeting By now, it should be clear that the best time to update is early on during the locked stage of the test version. On average our locked stage last between one to two months. In order to get the timing right it is important to understand the window of opportunity in order to take advantage of the benefits when updating to the locked phase. We plan to lock our latest version 6.2 during the second week of August 2010. We encourage our clients to plan their "major" update during the month of August or September and one to two minor updates between four and six weeks intervals after the "major" update. Clients should budget for one to two days per update excluding time spent on updating customisations and keep a reserve budget of one to two days incase problems arise after the update has been completed. Clients with customisations should budget during each update for approximately 10 minutes development time per HAL file.
Conclusion
We hope that we have shed some light on most of the aspects when updating your software with HansaWorld. As mentioned earlier, we feel it is the responsibility of the ERP software vendors to provide as much information as possible with regards to postpurchase experiences. We feel confident that after reading this you will feel much more informed on this delicate subject too often left untouched during the ERP system sales processes.
Press contact:
HansaWorld UK Limited
Brendan Peo
Country Manager
Email: Peo@hansaworld.com
BY THE NUMBERS
18 monthsNumber of months during which our clients are advised to update at least once.
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