Upgrades are essential when it comes to keeping software current, well-functioning, secure and compatible with new hardware or other software components.
Upgrading your equipment finance software to a more current version or release is a necessity for your business. These upgrades could include bug fixes, security patches, new features or improvements in performance and stability. Upgrades are essential in order for software to maintain its functionality, to be secure from vulnerabilities and compatible with newer hardware or other software components.
Each organization may have variations in their software upgrade process based on specific needs, compliance requirements and the complexity of their IT environment. Adjustments may be necessary to accommodate unique circumstances and ensure a successful software upgrade.
Planning and Preparation
Depending on how long it has been since your last upgrade and how many changes or updates have been made, it could be a large release. You may also decide that you do not want to go straight to the latest and greatest version to give others the opportunity to kick the tires and work out any bugs that may be identified.
Start by reviewing the release notes to eliminate modules and features that aren’t being used by your company. Assess the new modules and features to determine what you may want to implement, either during the upgrade or at a later date. The remaining items will be bug fixes and enhancements that will need to be tested to ensure they are working as intended.
You are now ready to estimate the time it will take to perform the upgrade, determine the resources that will be needed and the availability of these necessary resources.
Verify if the new version is compatible with existing hardware, operating systems, interfaces and other software dependencies. Then, perform a full backup of all critical data and configurations to avoid data loss during the upgrade process.
Testing
Testing is an imperative step when upgrading software. Consider the following steps in your testing process:
- Project Plan/Test Cases: Create a project plan outlining the business process categories and the test scenarios/descriptions. The items can be related to just the release upgrade, including any incidents your company has reported. You may choose to do full or partial regression testing. Create clear functional test and use cases, including positive and negative test scenarios, to be used for executing testing activities and validating results.
- Development/UAT Environment: Create and test the upgrade in a development or staging environment that mirrors production or a recent month-end instance. You may need to roll the system forward during testing to initiate processes within the application.
- Functionality Testing: Execute all test cases and validate that the reported defects are fixed. Engage end-users and SMEs to ensure that all critical functionalities and features work as expected in the new version. Log any bugs or issues found, including the steps to reproduce and expected vs. actual results. Pay special attention to previous customizations to ensure they have not been affected by the upgrade. Examples are custom reports, user defined fields or field labels that have been changed to meet your business needs.
- Performance Testing: Evaluate the performance of the upgraded software under different loads to identify any potential bottlenecks. Monitor the performance of critical functions to ensure stability and reliability.
Deployment
Once you’ve done all necessary vetting and testing of the upgrades, it’s time for implementation, with a few key considerations:
- Scheduling: Plan a suitable time for deployment that minimizes disruption to users and operations. Typically, this is scheduled over a weekend, and you may also choose to avoid month-end.
- Back-Up Strategy: Create a plan for restoring the most recent backup if the upgrade fails. This is crucial to minimize downtime, data loss and operational disruptions.
- Installation: Install the new software version and any SUPs on production systems according to vendor guidelines and best practices.
- Configuration: Configure the software settings and parameters as required for your organization’s needs. Update any applicable tables that may have changed based on new functionality.
- Validation: Perform smoke testing to verify that all functionalities and integrations are working correctly post-upgrade. Obtain feedback from users to ensure their needs are met and address any issues promptly.
Final Steps
The work isn’t done quite yet. Once an upgrade is properly considered, tested and deployed, you’ll want to take the following steps:
- Monitoring and Optimization: You’ll want to continue to monitor the performance of the upgraded software to identify and address any performance issues. Fine-tune configurations and settings to optimize performance and resource utilization.
- Documentation and Training: Update user manuals, operational procedures and system documentation to reflect changes introduced by the upgrade. Provide training to users and IT staff on any new features, changes or procedures associated with the upgraded software.
- Post-Upgrade Support: Ensure that adequate support resources are available to address any issues or questions from users following the upgrade.
- Feedback and Iteration: Prepare retrospective documentation to gather feedback from stakeholders and users to improve future upgrade processes. Learn from the current upgrade experience to streamline and enhance future upgrades.
A lot goes into a software upgrade to ensure that everything goes smoothly. It requires a significant amount of effort, planning, meticulous testing, effective communication and resources to execute it successfully.
JDR Solutions is recognized for our expertise in managing and implementing software upgrades. We can assist with an end-to-end solution or collaborate with the software provider if necessary. Utilizing our track record, extensive knowledge of the equipment finance industry, software environments and ability to align with your business goals enables us to deliver value. It also allows you to mitigate risks, optimize costs, focus on strategic priorities, and maintain a competitive edge in the industry.
If you have any questions, or if we can help in any way, contact us at 317-863-7676 – info@jdrsolutions.com.
