Test of ERP system upgrade and integration

 

Note: copyright of this ArticleECFAnd HP.

 

The ERP system has been used for a long time, or has been abandoned after it has completed its historical mission, or has transformed the original system based on new business needs, just as it is easy to write on white paper, the new ERP system is easy to launch. As long as the business is clearly organized, it is relatively easy to implement the system, however, if you want to transform the original system, it will be very difficult and highly risky.

To transform the ERP system, we must first clarify several problems:

1. Does the historical system still have suppliers? There are many historical systems that may not be able to find the original suppliers, and systems without suppliers may mean that there is no code, no development documentation, naturally, there is no possibility of another transformation or upgrade. Of course, from this perspective, it is important to choose a focused and sustainable ERP supplier.

2. Have the software supplier launched any products of subsequent versions? If the software supplier is continuously operating, we should pay attention to whether it has continuously upgraded and transformed the product. If there is a new version of the product, or we can solve many of our business needs, without the need for separate stove customization. Of course, if we evaluate and determine that the new version meets the current or future business needs of the Enterprise, we can directly adopt the new version of the product for implementation.

3. Is it necessary to upgrade all products or only some modules? Many business processes (such as the sales business process) may change dramatically, but many business units (such as financial processes) are relatively stable ), at this time, we may need to consider upgrading the entire ERP system, but also upgrading some modules. If only some modules are upgraded, we need to consider the following question: Can ERP software vendors support integration between modules of different versions? For example, the sales module uses version 2.0 and the finance module is only version 1.0. The key is that the two versions must be compatible with each other to ensure smooth communication between modules. Of course, the biggest risk of system integration is whether the underlying platform of the software system can coexist, including whether the business master data can communicate smoothly. If integration between modules is not possible, the upgrade method is used.

4. There are two different ERP upgrade strategies: one is to perform secondary development on the functions of the existing version to directly meet the business needs of the enterprise, this method is suitable for the scenarios where the workload for implementing new business needs is not large, and the original version of the system has been developed with enough personalization, and these features are not included in the new version, the disadvantage of this mode is that the system is increasingly moving towards a personalized development system, and the standard version of the software supplier is moving farther and farther, the application life cycle of the system may not be too long. Another way is to upgrade to the new ERP version, and then focus on implementing the original personalized functions on the new system, the advantage of this method is that it is basically consistent with the software vendor version, and there is a possibility of another upgrade in the future, of course, there is also a difficulty in doing so: How to migrate historical data and how to develop personalized features repeatedly. Either way, these two strategies should always be a choice that CIOs must make. Otherwise, you will see your ERP system go into a recession.

 

Note: copyright of this ArticleECFAnd HP.