Your organization has been using Deltek Costpoint for several years now, and it's time for an upgrade. Upgrading your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is a significant undertaking, akin to updating a house you've lived in for over 20 years. Over the years, your organization has likely accumulated a significant amount of data and processes that may need to be reorganized to work with the upgraded software.
To ensure a successful upgrade, it's essential to take several necessary steps. In this blog post, we'll go through our proven methodology for upgrading Deltek Costpoint and explain why each step is crucial for a smooth and successful upgrade.
1. Assess Your Current Environment
When preparing to update your house, you'll need to go through everything and sort out what you have. Similarly, when upgrading Deltek Costpoint, you need to know what you have in your current environment. This includes the number of modules, processes, customizations, and third-party integrations currently in use. By understanding what you have, you can better plan for the upgrade and ensure you don't overlook any critical components.
One of the most critical steps is risk assessment. Upgrading Costpoint often requires careful consideration of which customizations or integrations might create issues after a significant change. For example, changes to data structures or database tables might require additional data migration planning. During the upgrade process, it's important to identify and address potential risks to minimize disruption to your organization's operations.
2. Plan for the Upgrade
Once you've assessed your current environment and identified any potential risks, you can begin planning for the upgrade. This involves creating a detailed project plan that outlines the steps required to complete the upgrade successfully. The plan should include timelines, resource requirements, and potential roadblocks.
To ensure a smooth upgrade, it's essential to work with a knowledgeable and experienced partner. A reliable, proven, and trusted partner like Kinetek can help guide you through the upgrade process, offering insights and recommendations to minimize disruption to your organization's operations.
3. Refine Your Inventory
Before beginning a home renovation, it's important to take stock of everything you have and organize it by what to keep, donate, or throw away. Similarly, when upgrading your Deltek Costpoint software, it's essential to refine your inventory by removing outdated reports, eliminating duplicate data, and disabling inactive users. This step will help you narrow the scope of the project and minimize the potential for errors. By cleaning up your inventory, you can accurately estimate the size of the upgrade project and avoid budget overruns, which will increase team buy-in for the task at hand.
4. Use Sandboxes
When going through a home renovation, it's crucial to keep day-to-day living spaces separate from project work. Likewise, it's essential to use sandboxes when upgrading your Deltek Costpoint software. Sandboxes allow you to test your system in a controlled environment, ensuring that everything is working correctly without disrupting your daily business operations. It's also important to use sample data in your sandboxes to ensure accuracy.
5. Test, Analyze, and Test Again
When renovating a home, it's vital to ensure that there is enough storage space for the items you plan to keep. Similarly, during the Deltek Costpoint upgrade, it's imperative to test, analyze, and rework your processes and data to ensure everything is functioning as expected. We recommend testing cycles based on completion milestones, as this makes it simpler to identify what has failed and allows for easier label fixes to manage the process. Small batch testing also enables one-click deployment to production and relieves your power users of the test burden. This step will give you an idea of how the upgrade is performing for everyone involved.
6. Execute the Upgrade
Once you have a plan in place, it's time to execute the upgrade. This involves migrating your data, installing the new software, and configuring any settings, customizations, or integrations. It's essential to test the new system thoroughly to ensure that it's functioning correctly.
During this process, it's important to keep your team informed of progress, potential issues, and expected outcomes. This helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and can help troubleshoot any problems that arise.
7. Invest in Employee Training and Support
After the upgrade is complete, it's crucial to ensure that everyone is aware of the latest features so they can benefit fully from the improvements. Investing in employee training will help your team get the most out of the upgrade. When our kitchen was remodeled, I was thrilled to have new ovens, but moving from the barely functioning 1970s ovens to the brand-new ones meant I had to read the manual to understand all the amazing features I could now use. (P.S. It's been over a year, and I still haven't figured out how to use it to its full potential. There are options that I've never even heard of before!)
8. Utilize Project Management Analytics
One of the most critical aspects of our kitchen remodel was ensuring that the contractors stayed on track to finish the project. We had daily and weekly conversations about what had been accomplished and what remained to be completed. Any additional days would mean more money out of our pockets. The upgrade process can be lengthy and intricate, so it's crucial to utilize analytics to manage the project. By using work breakdown charts and pre-built progress reports, you can ensure that your project stays on track, within budget, and is completed on time.
9. The Big Unveiling (Going Live)
We all know that remodeling can be time-consuming and costly. However, once you've completed the renovation, it feels as though you've purchased a new home. It's enjoyable to use your new devices, and the frustration of burning your dinner due to an incorrect oven temperature is a thing of the past.
Just as with a home remodel, we recognize that completing your ERP software upgrade can be just as rewarding and exciting, by following these steps, you can ensure a smooth and successful process. You'll be able to upgrade your software with confidence, and your project teams will be able to discover the valuable insights that help your company stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, you'll save time and money. This euphoria will only increase with future upgrades like streamlined workflows and approvals, and extensibility screen enhancements further transforming and enhancing your Costpoint system.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, upgrading Deltek Costpoint is a significant undertaking, much like updating a house you've lived in for over 20 years. By following our proven methodology, assessing your current environment, planning for the upgrade, and executing the upgrade with care, you can ensure a smooth and successful upgrade that meets the needs of your organization.
Ready to take your Deltek Costpoint software to the next level? Don't let an outdated system hold you back. Act today and upgrade with confidence. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you upgrade your Deltek Costpoint software.