Companies that don’t go through a seasonal rush during the holidays may get bored between now and the end of the year. It’s as if American business had a huge “off” switch that gets thrown about a week before Thanksgiving and doesn’t get reversed until mid-January. In our view, this slow period presents an incredible opportunity to upgrade your ERP. Indeed, with Acumatica Cloud ERP, you can effectively upgrade your entire business operation in the process. Here are three and a half good reasons to consider upgrading your ERP before the end of the year.
First, the half reason
It isn’t a reason to upgrade, per se, but the truth is you can actually do a complete ERP upgrade before the end of the year when you’re operating in the cloud. We mention this because the phrase “upgrade your ERP” has traditionally referred to a huge, time-consuming project. Not so with cloud ERP. With Acumatica, you can be up and running quicker. You don’t have to buy any hardware or add new infrastructure. You could be checking your operations from the comfort of your own home using just a web browser.
Reason #1 – Your business will do well by moving off whatever system you currently run
If you’re running your business on a legacy ERP solution or QuickBooks, you owe it to yourself to upgrade. While we aren’t looking over your shoulder, we are virtually certain that you’re being held back by your legacy ERP. It’s probably difficult to change, to the point where you’ve slowed down your strategic agenda to accommodate the obsolete business processes it contains. That sound about right? Also, if experience is any guide, you’re likely having trouble connecting your legacy ERP with other systems like warehouse management and field service.
Companies using QuickBooks to run their entire business definitely need to consider upgrading to cloud ERP. While great for small companies, QuickBooks is only for accounting. In contrast, Acumatica offers a complete ERP suite that includes accounting among many other functions for operations, sales and marketing. And, unlike QuickBooks, Acumatica provides a complete audit trail
Reason #2 – You get all the financial and technical advantages of cloud computing
Cloud ERP enables you to maximize your IT spend and uptime by eliminating capital expense (CapEx) while simultaneously cutting down on ERP overhead for data center operations and administration. By upgrading your ERP, you gain the freedom to allocate your IT spend where it will deliver the biggest business results. If you have big plans for 2021, getting a new ERP in place before the end of the year can put you in a great position to make a roaring start on January 1.
Plus, Acumatica is cloud native. This means it was built for the cloud, so it works well as a cloud solution. Some ERPs that run in the cloud are actually on-premises systems that have been ported over to cloud hosting. It works, but you can usually tell the difference—especially when something goes wrong or you need to make a change or connect it to something else.
Reason #3 – Get the most out of 2020 R2 and 2021 R1
Acumatica releases two waves of updates each year, known as R1 and R2. 2020 R2 is now in effect, bringing with it a host of “Work Smarter, Not Harder” features. These include things like saving time and money by automatically creating accounts payable (AP) documents from vendor invoices. Acumatica 2020 R2 enables users to see up to 500 recently viewed records instantly. R2 also facilitates data retrieval with query join suggestions and previews, among many innovative new features.
By upgrading before the end of the year, though, you’ll be in position to benefit from 2021 R1, which will be announced at the annual Acumatica conference in Las Vegas. Yes, it’s happening, and it will be ultra-safe, according to everything we’ve heard. We don’t know what’s in 2020 R1, but it will likely add even more money-saving and revenue-favorable functionality. Upgrading now will allow you to be among the first to enjoy the new release.
To learn more about Acumatica ERP and why it may be a smart move to upgrade your ERP before the end of the year, contact us for a demo and free consultation.
Additional Resources
ERP Software Comparison Report: Compare 14 Providers
A 5-Step Guide to ERP Selection and Implementation