Upgrade hurdles conquered with SAP Business One

The word “upgrade” has historically been an unpopular word amongst SAP customers due to the associated time, pain and cost of moving to a new version of the given software.

SAP Business One overcomes these issues as you can now reintegrate your modifications into new versions of the solution with minimal effort, virtually eliminating the frustration and costs typically associated with upgrades.

Once the hurdles have been overcome the benefits of upgrading can shine through. Why would you not want to take advantage of new innovative solutions which have been designed to better meet your needs? Improvements have been made with you in mind and the upgrade has been developed to increase and build upon the benefits that your current system provides. Upgrades are designed to support you in keeping your business in line with external environments and help you overcome the changing business challenges which you face.

Sports equipment designer, manufacturer and distributor Unicorn Products reports a successful upgrade from SAP R3 to SAP ECC6.

Unicorn managing director Ed Lowy explains that the company has been running on a SAP ERP system since 1999, but that it needed a system capable of managing the growing complexities of the organisation and improving efficiency.

"Unicorn Products has gone from strength to strength over the last 10 years and an upgrade was necessary to provide us with the maintenance and functionality we need to sustain our growth," he says.

According to an Upgrade survey carried out by Panaya, 2010, 79% of companies surveyed have definitive plans to perform an SAP upgrade in the next 16 months and 45% of those are upgrading in the next 6 months.
SAP Business One 8.8 is refined, simplified and faster.

The new SAP Business One release accommodates the continuous demands of the changing market by including an upgrade wizard that is simple and straightforward, reducing customer’s downtime to a minimum. In addition, the new release integrates to partner applications and business services. Based on the flexible business platform of SAP Business One, small businesses can quickly start with core business management applications and add additional capabilities over time with easy-to-consume business applications from SAP partners. In the future, customers will be able to more easily extend their solutions with cloud-based applications, mash-ups and mobile integration.

The upgrade takes less than four hours, and the benefits are immediate with more speed, nice new user interface, and embedded Crystal Reports.

To find out more about SAP Business One 8.8 and how you can upgrade, Contact sales@iisystems.net.

49 Do’s and Don’ts and Customer Lessons for SAP Upgrades

49 Do’s and Don’ts and Customer Lessons for SAP Upgrades

With SAP Business One 8.8 now in unrestricted shipment though always valuable the tips provided by Jon Reed, Top Contributor for the SAP Community Network 2008-2009 are even more pertinent.
They’re extremely insightful, useful and conveniently laid out. Evidently a lot more is needed than the widely available common sense principles to complete a truly successful SAP upgrade.

The tips are based on a compilation of the advice he received from industry analysts, project advisors, upgrade consultants and SAP users who presented trade show sessions after upgrading.
Four key areas have been addressed:

Vendor Selection
Pre-Launch Planning
Technical Upgrade Considerations
Upgrade Skills and Training

The Customer Lessons that have been included where applicable bring the Do’s and Don’ts alive placing them in context for the guidance seeker!

Don’t: Make the mistake of assuming that a consulting firm with prior upgrade experience will be the right fit for your company’s upgrade.
Do: Choose a consulting partner that has experience and customer references in your particular industry and your version of SAP.
Customer lesson: Prior to beginning their upgrade, Kraft Foods asked implementation partners IBM and EDS to “own” the implementation with them and assume collective responsibility for its success.

With the right vendor the upgrade should be unproblematic. Ideally they will support you prior to, throughout and after the upgrade and impart advice to ensure the “Don’ts” don’t transpire.

The full 49 tips can be found in the whitepaper, “49 Do’s and Don’ts and Customer Lessons for SAP Upgrades” via ITToolbox.com; http://sap.ittoolbox.com/research/49-dos-donts-and-customer-lessons-for-sap-upgrades-20637?sp=kw