ERP Implementation Archives - Page 11 of 18

ERP Training After Go-Live

by EstesCloud | Mar 22, 2021 | ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation

Make Training Part of your ERP Project Plan

Your employees just had a grand celebration. Your ERP project is complete! The months of hard toil, testing, trepidation, and training are in the past. Or, maybe the education has only begun?

Here are some considerations for the post-go-live phase of your ERP project:

Replacement personnel

People come and go normally in any business. A usual process is for the outgoing person to train the one incoming. Often that works adequately well. But a better way might be to enroll the new person in formal training where they get instructions in precisely the methods preferred by the business along with training in how their new tasks relate to the overall processes.

Knowledge Capture

Your employees and ERP users develop improvements in the ways they work every day. Could the improvement found by factory quality assurance people benefit accounts payable? A training specialist would recognize the improvement from a broader perspective and include it in future training for A/P and other functions.

Feedback

The initial training provided to everyone incorporated the best processes known at that time. People will complain if that process is cumbersome and will suggest improvements. Listening to feedback from every source allows processes to improve and future training to enable those improvements.

New requirements

Your customer asks for a change after go-live. Your supplier wants to change some delivery options. Changes occur frequently and ongoing training allows all to be properly trained so that those changes in requirements can be met.

Improvements that were not part of requirements

You had a list of requirements the ERP was intended to resolve. You might also have had a second list of improvements desired but not part of the requirements. Now that the requirements are complete, begin implementing some of those “nice to have” features that will help. Ongoing training is the way to implement those changes across your enterprise.

Process validation

Your ERP project was intended to bring cost savings and many other benefits to your business. Those benefits provided the return on your investment. Now, after implementation, measure the results. Are you getting what was expected? Is the use of ERP part of any shortfall? Better training might bring the system use up so the results you want are still achievable. You could also determine further process changes are needed to get those results and people will need training to use those improvements.

Ongoing review training

Implement an audit system to verify people are using the ERP system properly and completely. No training will cause a complete change of behavior. We all slide day by day and begin to take shortcuts. An audit will find behavior slippage and provide a chance for correction. The same audit might also find someone has worked out a better process that ought to be shared around the company.

Technology updates

Network and computer systems gain new technology regularly. Maybe there is a process that can now be sped up? Maybe there is another that now can be automated. Take advantage of these gains and update your training at the same time. Your ERP provider improves their software and makes these changes frequently. If you have a system in the cloud, like SYSPRO, those improvements are there immediately for your use, and an auxiliary solutions, like ERP hosting, can improve everything from cybersecurity to business process management. Pay attention to the updates, many can be used to your benefit right away and others could help with a small process change on your side. As with hardware updates, update your training too.

Continuous improvement

Training provides a path for continuous improvement. You can develop a great training program as part of your ERP project. Keep it alive and help your business thrive.

Do you need help with planning or implementing an ERP training program?

Contact us to learn more about EstesGroup ERP training options.

Watch some ERP education in action

Partnering with your ERP Consultancy

by EstesCloud | Mar 15, 2021 | ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, ERP Risks and Challenges

How the Right ERP Consultancy Can Take the Risk Out of ERP Implementation

Implementing ERP presents many challenges. One of these involves the simple dilemma of finding good help. Implementing ERP is not a one-man band, but rather a symphony of interconnected members, each doing their part in the performance. Your ERP consulting partner is one such member of the overall team and can significantly impact the success of an ERP implementation. With that in mind, here are a few considerations that will help you make the best choice when finding a consulting partner.

An ERP Consultancy Provides a Path of Success

Scope

At the beginning of your project, define what completion is and how to objectively measure the project’s completion. That definition might evolve as the project moves along, but it’s helpful to define your destination before you embark. This helps you understand how long you will need consulting assistance — completion means the consultant can move along to their next client. You will need to write that final check. Completion also means it is time for you and all the people in your enterprise to sit back and smile. Plan for that success.

Requirements

Consider the needs of your organization and the expertise you already have within your business. You might have a person you think is ready to lead your project: they have the skills and training, but a consultant could guide them and provide experienced mentorship along the way. Or, you might have a very lean organization and need to use a consultant as a full-time manager of the project and then plan to cut the consultant loose when the project is complete.

Culture

Culture is a very important consideration. The consultant who is successful working with a strict top-down leadership style will be different from a consultant who would succeed in an environment where each manager is independent and is expected to make decisions on their own. Your consultant must fit into your existing style and work well with your personnel.

Business Interaction

Negotiations with your consulting partner will begin with senior members of that organization. Those people might not be the same people who will actually work at your business with your own employees. Part of your agreement with the consultant should be control over consultant staff and their ability to get along with your employees.

Logistics

Provide your consultant with access to your systems, a place to sit, and an open communication line to everyone. Introduce the consultant to your staff and let people know who they are and the important work they will be doing on your behalf. Reinforce the call to open communications as needed throughout the project. Many ERP projects are a means of providing tools for future expansions or other plans that likely are confidential. Ensure the consultant understands and has signed appropriate non-disclosure agreements.

Change Management

You will hire a consultant that has the expertise to work with your business eventually to a successful completion of your ERP project. The relationship is not entirely technical. Your employees and system users all react to change in their own unique ways. Some will adapt quickly and embrace the new processes. Others will fight to keep the old process they are already comfortable using. Most will fall somewhere in between, neither fighting change nor immediately accepting change but will, in the end, use your new ERP system. A few might never accept the changes and will part from your business.

Managing change and helping your people along is one of the critical components of your ERP project. The ERP consultant you hire probably has the expertise you need in this area and you should take full advantage of it so your people can stay satisfied.

Data Management

Part of the ERP project will be data conversion from your legacy systems and loading that data into the new ERP. Many IT staff do not have the bandwidth to handle this work in addition to their current jobs. Often this work will be managed by your consultant. Consider who will handle data not only during the project’s duration, but also who will pick up the responsibilities thereafter.

Verification

As the project moves along, you will test specific transactions and the overall system to ensure the results meet your needs and expectations. Use your own people for some of the manual tests. Not only will they help with the project step, they will gain some training and become ambassadors representing all of your ERP users. The consultant will be a guide to setting up and managing testing. The consultant might have automated test processes too which will perform tests that follow your processes and repeat tests 24 hours a day. You will gain many additional test cycles and avoid human errors in testing.

Training

Think about how to train your people to use ERP when the project is complete. You can train a few to train the many and use your existing resources. You could also use the consultants to design and implement needed ERP training for you and your team.

Collaboration With Your ERP Consultancy of Choice

Fundamental to the idea of ERP is the notion of collaboration. Enterprise applications build bridges within the enterprise, and between the enterprise and the outside world. The act of implementing ERP is similarly an act of collaboration. In this light, when choosing a system integrator, ensure that they are an implementation partner, and not merely a consultancy for hire — for it is through people and partnership that the true benefits of ERP are realized.

Want to learn more about how an ERP consultancy can help your business?

Talk to a leading ERP consultancy now

3 Things to Consider When Upgrading From Epicor 905 to E10

by Brad Feakes | Feb 16, 2021 | Epicor 10, ERP, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, ERP Risks and Challenges

People, Infrastructure, and Scope in an Epicor 905 Migration

A customer on the front end of an upgrade from Epicor 905 to E10 asked me for advice on ERP upgrade planning. I’ve long reflected on some of the keys to a successful Epicor 905 upgrade to E10—the lessons learned by decades of experience, and collected across countless end-of-project reviews. In light of wins and losses of the past, I’ve put together some thoughts on successfully upgrading an ERP system.

Working with consultants often helps in transitioning from a legacy ERP and gaining traction with the new version. This is especially the case if your business intends to leverage the upgrade as an opportunity to perform process changes, implement additional modules, or take advantage of new functionality. All of these things involve risk, largely due to the complexity of data amassed in the process. But if you consider your people, your infrastructure, and your scope, then an upgrade will be the best decision you can make for your future.

Your People & Your Partners

Upgrading your ERP system is all about the people.

The people your upgrade will support
The people who will help make your application meet your goals

The Philosophy Behind Your People

Methodology: You want to work with folks who have a process for taking your company through the steps, so ’tis not a hodgepodge of random activity.

Expertise: I’d recommend you work with a consultancy rather than an independent “jack of all trades” — generalists are good for what they do, but I find the overall solution is superior when delivered by a coordinated team of folks. Look for specialization: Operations, Finance, Tools, Installation, etc.

Knowledge: This is where you want some good generalist know-how accessible to you when needed. For example, if you’re upgrading Epicor from 905 to E10, you’ll want someone around who has knowledge about 905 and expertise about upgrading to E10. This is especially helpful for tools considerations and code conversion, but not really important otherwise. The data from 905 to 10 is generally the same, and the functionality is also quite similar. If you have ABL code that you need to convert, you’ll want to partner with a team that has these skills.

Experience: This is key. In an Epicor upgrade, for example, you need folks who are strong in E10 and can recommend how the system will best run in 10, so that your transition is smooth and effective.

The Technical Nature of an ERP Upgrade

These considerations apply to any ERP, but I’m going to walk you through this with my Epicor consulting experience coloring the waters. In general, the move from Epicor 905 to 10 is technical in nature, with the change of the database and business logic layers from Progress to .net & SQL Server. Here’s a quick summary of some of the major changes and their implications:

Core Modules: These are very similar from 905 to 10 with some new sub-modules and lots of new bells and whistles. You’ll find many opportunities for changes in configuration, and some of these can create unexpected behaviors, so test carefully.

Updatable BAQs & Dashboards: These generally come over uneventfully, with a few tweaks. If they contain ABL code, some rewrites are required.

Embedded Customizations: These also generally come over uneventfully, with a few tweaks.

BPMs: Anything with Progress 4GL ABL code will need to be rewritten.

Configurators: Similar to BPMs, anything with Progress 4GL ABL code will need to be rewritten.

SSRS / Crystal Reports: 905 primarily uses Crystal Reports. In 10, these have all been converted to SSRS. If you have a lot of custom Crystal Reports, you’ll want to consider whether to rebuild these in 10 or deploy Crystal in the E10 environment.

At all levels, you have to assess the ERP system and the technology that supports it. When you’re upgrading a legacy ERP, should you also upgrade your servers? Will your system require new data management solutions like cloud-based disaster and recovery services? Are you facing new cybersecurity and compliance decisions?

Technical Considerations

Upgrading an ERP system demands skillful handling of data. This includes both the mind and soul of the ERP: the strength and spirit of the application. With on-premise, hosted, and SaaS solutions now available as ERP infrastructure options, your upgrade should include technology assessments both in and out of the software.

Upgrade vs. Reimplementation

Think about whether you want your ERP upgrade to be a straight, utility-driven upgrade from the legacy to the current version or a reimplementation. We’ve worked with customers who have gone either way. We’ve found that reimplementation efforts tend to take longer and cost more, but leave you with a much cleaner data foundation.

A Data-Driven Epicor 905 Upgrade

If you’re trying to pull off some configuration/business process changes as part of the upgrade, this is easier to do as part of a reimplementation. If running Epicor and you’re looking to do the straight, utility-driven upgrade, I would recommend partnering with Epicor specifically to do the database conversion/upgrade. They have proprietary tool (“Cirrus”) that performs this upgrade, and it’s really the best way to do this. In the past, with early versions of 10, the upgrade toolset was part of the Admin Console, and partners like us performed the upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, we also had to request data scrubbing programs to run in 905 prior to the actual upgrade. These helped prepare the data for the 905 > 10 conversion.

Over the course of the last few years, Epicor developed the Cirrus toolset that performs the database uplift. This incorporates all that scrubbing and referential integrity stuff to successfully migrate the DB. These capabilities are not built into the admin console upgrade capabilities, so my understanding is that a better-quality uplift is achieved by working though Cirrus. As a customer, I would be working through Epicor to get the DB upgrading it, and not relying on the admin console. In reviewing the feedback from the Epicor user community, I think that the general consensus would be to leverage Cirrus when possible.

The Project Scope: Budgets & Ongoing Planning

Begin with your history. How to handle your historical data is unique to your project, and you might want to bring in a consultant to help you make decisions around the complexities. There are a number of additional budgetary/planning considerations that should be made at the onset of an upgrade project. Here are several that we normally work though with our customers:

Project Management: Do you have an on-site PM who will handle more of the PM duties, or do you want the partner to assume those?
Server Install/Configuration/Tuning: Who do you have for technical staff to assist with server-side activities, or do you want the partner to assume those?
ABL Code Conversion: Who do you have for development staff that can assist with code conversion, or do you want the partner to assume those?
Cirrus Upgrade: Are we working through Epicor to do the Cirrus upgrade? If doing a Cirrus upgrade, you should plan for that cost.
Delta Education: Do you want to self-educate or have your partner provide ERP training and support?
On-site Consultation: Do you want to have consultants on-site to assist, or do you want to have the partner working remotely and on-site on an as-needed basis?
Milestone Prep: Do you have resources that can perform the prep activities, or do you want the partner to assist?
Milestone Verification Events: Do you want to conduct CRP and UAT events on your own?
Gap Closure: Do you want assistance with gap closure, or do you want to spearhead this?
Customization/Tools: Do you have an internal resource to perform any new tools work (customizations, BPMs, reports, etc) that would be part up the upgrade project?
Data Conversion/DMT Assistance: Do you have a data-savvy resource who can own DMT & data questions and query the data out of the existing system, manipulate it to load into Epicor, and run the DMT tool to load?
On-site Support at Cutover: Do you want on-site support at cutover?
First Month-End: Do you need on-site finance support for the first month-end after cutting over, or do you have strong Epicor-savvy internal financial resources?

Upgrading an ERP system can be challenging. It’s a highly rewarding endeavor, and the outcome justifies the move. Good luck on your journey, and reach out to our experts with any questions you have along the way!

Epicor Part & MOM Settings: Learning By Example

by Brad Feakes | Feb 11, 2021 | Epicor, Epicor 10, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation

Epicor Cover: Lessons From the Trenches

Sometimes the best way to understand the inner workings of an ERP system is to review examples of its activities and to trace them back to the underlying setup that generated the activities themselves. In the Epicor ERP context, I’ve encountered challenges in helping users understand the impact of some core part settings. Like many ERP systems, Epicor’s part master file is fundamental in governing how these parts flow through the ERP application. There are a handful of “big little checkboxes” that radically change the system’s behavior, and understanding these system settings is a core building block to successfully configuring your Epicor ERP system.

To that end, I’ve put together a few examples that help demonstrate Epicor part and Epicor MOM setup, and their ramifications on Epicor job structure. In fact, Epicor job MOMs are highly dependent on the upstream settings, and without this understanding, the structure of an Epicor job MOM can be confusing. Such principles as Epicor job materials, make-direct materials, and job subassemblies are all traced back to a few small settings. Let’s look at some examples and see how they play out.

The Difference is in the Settings

Fundamental decisions create a stable core
Successful configurations come from experience
Subtle variations significantly alter outcomes

Enterprise Resource Planning Project Team Meeting

In my examples, I utilize Epicor’s training database.

I begin with a few existing parts, and make small modifications to demonstrate the different scenarios.

Let’s begin with part DSS-1000.

This part came directly from the Epicor training database. The key material, part DSS-1010, was also pre-defined. Part DSS-1000 occupied material sequence 10 of parent part DSS-1000. This serves as the baseline for subsequent scenarios.

From here, I copied parts DSS-1000 and DSS-1010 multiple times and made subtle variations.

The following component materials are used in the subsequent scenarios:

DSS-1010: Directly from the training database. Stocked MFG Part (i.e: not Non-Stock).
DSS-1010NS: MFG, Non-Stock: Used for Make-Direct and Subassembly examples.
DSS-1010NSPB: MFG, Non-Stock Phantom BOM Part.

The following higher-level assemblies are used in the subsequent scenarios:

DSS-1000: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010) is a stocked material.
DSS-1000MDM: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NS) is a Make-Direct material.
DSS-1000SUB: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NS) is a Job Subassembly.
DSS-1000PBOM: Mtl Seq 10 (DSS-1010NSPB) is a Phantom Assembly.

Interaction between Part Master, the Engineering Workbench, and the Epicor Job

It is fundamental to understand that the part master settings affect the default settings in the Epicor Engineering Workbench and that both the Engineering Workbench and the part master affect the final job MOM. The default behavior can be described as follows:

Non-Stock > Pull as Assembly > Job Subassembly
Not Non-Stock > Not Pull as Assembly > Job Material (Issued from Stock)

Default Behavior: Stocked Part from Part Master to Job MOM

Let’s explore Epicor’s default behavior in handling a Stocked Material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010 is a stocked part.
Part DSS-1010 is a not flagged Pull as assembly material on Part DSS-1000, material sequence 10.

The outcome: Material sequence 10, part DSS-1010, shows up on the job as a material that is issued from stock (not Make-Direct).

Default Behavior: Non-Stocked Part from Part Master to Job MOM

Let’s explore Epicor’s default behavior in handling a Non-Stocked material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010NS is a Non-Stocked part.
By default, Part DSS-1010NS is flagged Pull as Assembly on Part DSS-1000, material sequence 10.

The outcome: Part DSS-1010NS shows up on the Job as a Subassembly. Material Sequence 10 no longer exists on the Epicor job bill of materials.

Override: Processing Non-Stock Part as a Make-Direct Job Material

By default, a Non-Stock Material would be processed as a Subassembly (Pull as Assembly). But this behavior can be overridden, in the Epicor Engineering Workbench, resulting in different downstream behaviors. Unchecking the Pull as Assembly flag for a Non-Stock material will cause the material on the job to be supplied in a Make-Direct manner: Non-Stock > Not Pull as Assembly > Make-Direct Material

Let’s explore Epicor’s behavior in handling a Non-Stocked material. In this example, the following parameters exist:

Part DSS-1010NS is a Non-Stocked part.
Part DSS-1010NS is not flagged Pull as assembly material on Part DSS-1000MDM, material sequence 10. We have overridden the default and unchecked the flagged Pull as assembly flag.

Outcome: Part DSS-1010NS shows up on the Job as a Make-Direct Material on the Job.

As you can see, the decisions you make when handling Epicor’s part settings can significantly impact the Epicor jobs created to manufacture them. Hopefully these examples have assisted in your understanding of the factors that affect Epicor’s job bill of materials.

Watch a video from one of our ERP events for more tips from Epicor consulting experts.

ERP Implementation Best Practices: Closing the Gaps

by Brad Feakes | Dec 3, 2020 | Epicor 10, ERP Consulting, ERP Implementation, ERP Selection

ERP Implementation Challenges

Bridging functionality gaps in ERP is one of the great challenges in an Epicor implementation, or of any enterprise resource planning project. There are often visible gaps between a company’s business requirements and the system’s ability to address them. In a perfect world, the needs of the company perfectly match the capabilities of the system they are implementing. In practice, the gaps between an organization and its ERP application can be significant, and closing these gaps can take significant effort. The inability to successfully close these gaps is a leading cause of project failure. This guide will help you understand a few ERP implementation best practices to help address the great challenge of closing the gaps.

ERP Customization

Find creative ways to use the system’s standard configurations to address the needs of your business.
Adjust your business processes to conform to the system’s recommended best practices.
Tailor the software in one form or another to provide needed functionality.
Combine the above methods to achieve a hybrid solution.

So why do businesses feel the need to tailor the applications they implement? ERP software customization is a means of closing gaps. Sometimes, it is the preferred means of addressing challenges before they start. Often, gap closure will involve some form of customization. The overall level of ERP project complexity will expand with increasing challenges and risks. In general, the different types of obstacles encountered in an ERP project can be grouped under one of a few headings. Customizing an ERP application allows you to do a number of things and to circumvent a number of issues:

Automate tasks. The standard system is too transactional and user-intensive.
Prevent errors. The standard system allows for too many points of failure as a function of user entry.
Integrate with third-party systems. The standard system does not provide specific functionality, necessitating a tertiary application. Similarly, the standard system does not integrate with the third-party module in question.
Extract and display data. The standard system’s out-of-the-box reports do not present the necessary information needed by the business.
Add business logic. The standard system does not possess logic needed by the implementing company.

The Total Cost of Ownership of an ERP Solution

The rule of thumb that came out of the first generation of ERP systems was simple: avoid customizing the ERP system at all costs. Fit the business to the software, not the software to the business. Considering the comparatively rigid systems of the era, this recommendation seemed valid. Earlier-generation ERP systems contained limited toolsets for tailoring the application to meet the needs of the implementing organization. As such, customization essentially implied a source code modification, and such changes were detrimental to the long-term maintainability of the systems involved.

ERP Implementation Best Practices Evolving

Next-generation ERP systems contained improved toolsets to provide non-source-code customizations that were upgradable and maintainable, but the disruptive effects of customization on the implementation projects nevertheless continued unabated. Why do ERP customizations continue to create challenges to organizations?

Customizations are disruptive—they introduce logic to the application that is not native to the core system. They may also behave in ways that are unlike the rest of the system, and tend to be less comprehensive than the source code that they are layered upon.

As they are developed and refined, they often contain bugs. For example, the custom business logic may be invoked at times when it isn’t expected, or may not be invoked in all cases that require it. Working though these bugs can be challenging. Moreover, when customizations run into bugs or undocumented features of the core application, an abundance of unexpected behaviors can result.

ERP Toolsets & Project Success

Everything said, how do companies successfully leverage the customization toolsets available? How do they provide the necessary functionality to their organizations without compromising project success? Consider the following observations:

On one hand, we’ve seen companies significantly customize their application in an organized and methodical fashion. Therefore, the customizations produced a limited disruption to the implementation.
On the other hand, we’ve encountered other companies that only modestly customized their application. The modest number of customizations significantly disrupted the implementation. Why?

Organize to Optimize Your ERP Software

The level of customization and the level of organization of a project are closely tied. Therefore, companies that organize their customization efforts carefully are much less likely to experience problems caused by customizations. Conversely, poorly organized customization efforts will create additional issues that will add complexity and disruption to an implementation that is already, by its very nature, complicated.

Quantifying the impact of these two variables (customization and organization) can be difficult, but a simple mathematical model might help to model their interaction.

Assume that a project’s level of disorganization can be scored on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being highly organized and 10 being highly disorganized.
Similarly, assume that a project’s level of customization can be scored on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being lightly customized and 10 being highly customized.
Additionally, assume that a project’s success can be scored on a scale of 1 to 100, and anything over a score of 20 is a bad thing. For example, the project could be over budget, behind schedule, or low in scope or quality. In this context, a score of 30 might imply a project that went live late, or had to cut scope, or exceeded the budget, while a ruination score of 100 might represent a project that is years late, millions over budget, and so poorly designed that it will fail to go live.

A score of 1 (very low customization, very low disorganization) represents a very low risk score and a score of 100 (very high customization, very high disorganization) represents immense and catastrophic risk to your ERP and to your business:

The simple lesson to be learned here is that an organization can perform reasonable amounts of customization to their ERP application without destroying an implementation. A company needs to take steps to utilize an organized approach to customizing their application.

ERP Risks

A challenge with this dilemma is the reality that most companies do not launch an ERP implementation project believing that they will customize the application significantly. As a result, when these change requests surface, they are normally ill-equipped to handle them, and things soon spin out of control. As such, many customers come to us asking the simple question: What does it mean when one’s customization methodology is highly organized?

ERP Project Risk Management

There are a number of characteristics that an organized implementation possesses. They include the following:

First and foremost, governance is in place, to control when customizations occur. Governance is the best way to keep the degree of customization from spinning out of control.
Solutions are tracked. The implementing company understands which modules have been customized and which reports have been altered. They have identified all truly custom entry screens, reports, and dashboards. This information is put to use whenever an ERP upgrade occurs or a new site goes live.
Business requirements and functional specifications are developed as solutions are developed, and these solutions are constructed using these specifications.
Guidelines are defined ahead of time. These are conventions that describe how custom solutions are to be constructed, organized, and named.
Solutions go through careful testing. They receive a unit test to ensure that the basic requirements have been met, and then a regression test, to ensure that they function appropriately within the overall application, and don’t break anything else.
Solutions go through careful deployments to the production environment. When old solutions replace new solutions, the old solutions are removed from the environment as part of the deployment, to prevent the environment from getting cluttered with old, inactive solutions.
When an ERP module is customized, the developers take into account the full suite of new and pre-existing customizations, as to ensure that new elements are optimized to efficiently work in concert with existing custom solutions.
Environments are constructed as to segment various activities such as functional design, custom solution development, and upgrade verification. When these activities overlap, conflicts invariably arise, and these can slow down the progress of a project and create needless confusion.

The Goal of an ERP Implementation is Twofold

How do you implement a system that satisfies the needs of your business? How do you stay scalable and maintainable and also support the future requirements of your organization?

The future of your business is always unknown, and often unpredictable. Therefore, cutover will surely present new unknowns. Heavy system customization often results in the achievement of the goals of business needs. Unfortunately, this can risk the long-term maintainability of your ERP system. An organized and methodical approach to system customization supports a more successful implementation. Moreover, it provides easier long-term maintenance of your application. Likewise, it holds the ability to support the business requirements of the future.

After the ERP Vendor, the Software

Are you trying to improve your manufacturing processes? Do you need user training to empower your ERP project team? Are you looking for the competitive advantage that cloud ERP offers? Do you need help with data migration to an ERP hosting environment for a complex enterprise resource planning software like Prophet 21, E10, or Sage? We have experts for everything ERP, whether you need Epicor consulting assistance or QuickBooks hosting guidance.

For 17 years, EstesGroup has served clients at every step of the ERP implementation process. We offer real-time support 24/7/365 for your implementation team. We optimize your technology, and we lighten the burden on the precious human resources that make your company unique. Your team can work according to their talents, while we do the routine work involved in managing your ERP software and the technology that supports it.

Learn More About ERP Implementation Best Practices for Cloud

A good ERP balances your budget, opens your resources to new possibilities and opportunities, and improves everything from customer relationship management to industry-specific compliance and cybersecurity. ERP cloud hosting provides an ideal platform for your work. Request an ECHO demo today to see how EstesCloud managed services can help your business.

Epicor ERP Database Upgrade Considerations

by Brad Feakes | Nov 2, 2020 | Epicor, Epicor 10, ERP Implementation

Technical Considerations for an Epicor Upgrade

As more and more Epicor users moved from Epicor 905 to E10, the new world of upgrade challenges leveled off into old world reflection. As a customer, I once watched my company implement Epicor’s Vantage 803 platform and flirt heavily with a disastrous 904 release before upgrading to 905.600B. They finally settled on 905.702A. Since then, they’ve been in a holding pattern, and their jump to E10 is now, essentially, a ground-up ERP reimplementation.

If you’ve made the decision to upgrade, you need to consider everything from old data to new cloud-based servers. Because I’ve seen Epicor consulting on both sides of the give-and-get (as a customer and as a consultant), I’ve collected quite a few answers to questions surrounding your Epicor ERP database and your decision to upgrade.

Epicor ERP Database Technical Conceptualization

The Epicor ERP Lifecycle

For customers already on E10, the burdens of keeping your system up to date are much less worrisome. Epicor’s release cadence is now a metronome of consistency. New versions address the bugs and bothers seen in earlier iterations. Epicor consistently provides new functionality to the software and enhances existing capabilities. To this end, it is important to understand Epicor’s support cycle, and the difference between active support and sustaining support. To begin with, active support relates to the full breath of assistance provided by Epicor, and is reserved for versions that have been released roughly within the last two years. Epicor produces a new release (for example, from 10.2.600 to 10.2.700) every six months. That means if you are four releases behind the current release, you’ve moved into sustaining support.

Epicor System Support: Version Control

For an example, let’s say you implemented Epicor on version 10.2.300, and Epicor’s most recent release is 10.2.700. This means active support for your old version expired, just as the new version became generally available. As of release .700, Epicor would now only provide active support to versions 400-700. As such, release 10.2.300 would now be on what Epicor refers to as “sustaining support.” Sustaining support significantly limits the level of assistance Epicor will give you, whether it be support through their help line, bug fixes, the ability to purchase new ERP modules, and even the ability to obtain ERP consulting support. To make the most of your support fees, it is normally a good idea to keep your application’s version current.

Epicor ERP Upgrade Q&A

For companies falling behind on release upgrades, we can (with minimal angst) get the systems updated. First, we can ask a number of questions regarding the mechanics of the upgrade itself. Then, we can work from the solid foundation of a successful upgrade plan. With this all in mind, I collected some of the questions we normally ask a customer during the consulting process when helping form an Epicor ERP database upgrade plan.

Detail Your Current ERP Environment

App Server(s): How did you deploy your production application? Is it deployed on a single server or on multiple servers? Are your test environments deployed on the same server as the production environment, or are they deployed on separate servers? Is your environment deployed onto a physical server, a virtual server on physical hardware, or to a cloud-based VM? What is the version of your operating system? Is it up to date? What are the physical properties of your application server environment(s)—RAM, CPU, hard drive?
SQL Server: Is the SQL Server installed on the same server as the application or to its own server? What version of SQL Server Management Studio are you using? Is it up to date? What are the physical properties of your database server—RAM, CPU, hard drive?
Epicor Applications: What version of Epicor are you on? To which version of Epicor do you intend to move? Is it supported by your OS and SQL Server versions?
Epicor Extensions: Which Epicor extensions are currently in use (Web Access, Mobile Access, Enterprise Search, Social Enterprise, Education, Information Worker, Data Discovery)? Do you intend to utilize the same extensions when you upgrade?
Third-Party Tools: Do you have any third-party tools or integrations that will need to be in use when you upgrade (CRM integration, External Configurator, Ecommerce, etc)?
Client Installation: How is your user community connecting to the application? (Client install? Terminal Server? Web access, etc.)? Do you intend to utilize the same installation methodology when you complete your Epicor ERP database upgrade?
Backup Policy: What is the current backup solution and disaster recovery policy? Do we need to carry this forward, or will we make changes to this as part of the upgrade?

Clarify the Future-State Server Map

Live Server: Do you ultimately intend to deploy the upgraded Live environment onto a new application server or utilize the existing server?

Test Server: Will you be using a new Test server or utilize the existing server, with the intent of running two versions concurrently during the upgrade phase?

Database Server: Will you be deploying to a new database server or using the existing server?

If a new server, have you procured your additional SQL Server licenses?
If a new server, who will we be installing the SQL Server application?

Roles and Responsibilities: For all new servers, what tasks will be the clients responsibility?

Provisioning new servers
Providing new OS licenses, installing operating systems and enabling RDP
Providing the agent-based backup solution
Supplying any anti-virus exclusions

Server Access: What is the preferred method of attaining server access?

Remote connectivity agent
VPN/RDP
Virtual Desktop
RMM

Order of Operations: What does the upgrade and verification process look like? Are we upgrading test application first?

Verification Plan: Is there a testing qualifications checklist? Have you identified the scenarios, products, and business processes that you wish to use for testing? Finally, have you identified all the customizations, dashboard, and reports that you will want to verify as part of testing?

A New View From an E10 Upgrade

So far, we’ve looked at questions surrounding primarily technical considerations. However, with all the discussions of feeds and speeds, it’s not uncommon to have a customer come to us asking, “What does an Epicor E10 upgrade actually look like?” To begin with, answering the above questions will go far to understanding the shape of the upgrade. Next, moving beyond the technical considerations, we can identify a basic flow of activities. Moreover, this flow can help customers understand just what needs to be accomplished and in what order.

While each upgrade looks a little different, based on the specifics of the organization, most upgrades follow a sequence similar to the following:

First, spin up any new servers and install operating systems and SQL Server as required.
Then, install a new version of the Epicor application to a designated application server and/or upgrade the existing Epicor application on an existing Test server.
Meanwhile, take a copy of the production environment database to create a Test environment database on the SQL Server.
Next, upgrade the Test environment database from the Admin Console on the application server.
Perform testing activities to determine whether the new version works as anticipated. Perform remediation where gaps or issues are found and retest.
Once approved, schedule live upgrade, client deployment plan and communication plan.
Then, focus on upgrade production application and upgrade client deployments.
Support end users during post-upgrade period.
Finally, decommission any old application install and/or servers that are no longer required.

An Epicor Database Ace

Beyond version support, you can find many good reasons to keep an up-to-date Epicor ERP system on your side. Primarily, updating to the current version of the application allows you to leverage the cutting-edge features of the system for your users. So give some thought to sprucing up your data with an Epicor ERP upgrade.

Do you have a question for an Epicor consultant? If you need an answer to an ERP question, please fill out the form below, and we’ll talk to you soon. Likewise, you can use the chat to ask your questions, and we’ll talk to you within seconds or minutes. For more Epicor consulting advice, read one of our ERP white papers. If you’d like to know more about hybrid and private cloud ERP, watch a webinar on virtual office cybersecurity. Then read about our managed IT solutions that are perfect for any ERP system.