Is your outdated software holding you back?

Why upgrading your finance solutions will save you money and help you remain compliant

At TSG, we talk a lot about new and innovative technologies and how they can help your business become smarter, more productive and ultimately more profitable. But we also talk about the solutions that have stood the test of time; the likes of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Sage 200, both big players in the ERP space.

The thing with innovative technologies is that many businesses think they’re out of reach financially. Whether it’s an upgrade to an existing system or a brand-new solution, purse strings are often tightened when it comes to IT.

Our whole ethos at TSG is to help our customers use technology in a way that benefits your business. Our consultative approach means we don’t just propose the flashiest or newest technology, but the one that’s right for you. We also make it our job to let our customers know when technology will become a burden, costing more than it makes. A lot of the time, this is down to legacy systems.

There are many reasons why a business might remain on a legacy piece of software. Budget is often a common constraint; why pay money to upgrade my system when it still does the job? A new version is released every year, so surely my software will become out-of-date again quickly? Many businesses might have heavily-customised legacy solutions that they believe would be difficult to upgrade. There’s also a fear of the unknown; an Oracle survey suggested one of the biggest barriers in businesses moving to the cloud is resistance from departments like finance and HR – two areas that are most likely to use legacy systems.

Let’s take finance for example. Most ERP systems are used daily by colleagues in the finance department. Many of them have a similar look and feel, as well as a lot of the same core functionalities you’d expect from a finance solution. For that reason, it’s easy to get comfortable with the solution you use all day, every day. Why would you need to upgrade when it already does everything you need? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you think.

The dangers of this school of thought mean many businesses continue to operate on outdated and unsupported solutions. Pegasus Opera II, for example, will very soon be end-of-life, meaning it will no longer be supported by Pegasus and won’t receive HMRC-mandated updates that help you to remain compliant. But thanks to its ease of use and reliability, its user base is incredibly loyal.

A system that is no longer supported by the organisation that built it – think Pegasus, Sage, Microsoft, Apple… – leaves it particularly vulnerable to security breaches. Software and hardware vendors are constantly releasing security patches to thwart zero-day threats and fix discovered vulnerabilities, but you won’t receive these vital updates.

With every day that you remain on that unsupported system, you become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks that continue to evolve at a lightning pace. Should you experience a data breach of the incredibly sensitive information in your ERP system (because it’s no longer secure), you could be heavily sanctioned by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) because you didn’t take the necessary steps to secure your data in light of GDPR. That fact is more important than actually experiencing a breach. The risk of a system failure also vastly increases, risking downtime for your business. You’d be surprised how much that could impact your bottom line…

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you the consequences of operating on a solution that is not compliant with the likes of HMRC. From this coming April, Opera II will not only be unsupported, but it won’t be compliant with HMRC regulations; April 2018 was the last legislative update applied to Opera II Payroll. Our experts have been busy helping customers understand not why remaining on unsupported and non-compliant systems will cost their businesses more money than upgrading both in the short and long term. What’s more, Pegasus is regularly reducing the discount provided to upgrade from Opera II to Opera 3, meaning the longer a business waits to upgrade, the costlier it will become.

In a similar vein, many Sage 200 customers will be required to take action ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline in April 2019. There are a number of options available to those customers, the most cost-effective and logical of which is upgrading to the latest version of Sage 200. This comes with the added benefits of a truly transformative piece of technology that includes an integration with Office 365, bank feeds that eliminate a lot of manual data entry and a dedicated invoicing module. Older solutions won’t have these integrations with newer, more innovative platforms available; the Oracle survey also found integrating new and legacy systems to be a difficulty when moving to the cloud.

The time and money involved in upgrading is off-putting to a lot of people. And whilst it’s true that upgrading these solutions – particularly from very old versions – can take time, it’s not only essential but greatly beneficial. And for those that worry about their software quickly becoming out-of-date, upgrading costs significantly less, the later a version you’re on; i.e. upgrading from Sage 200cloud winter 2017 edition to the 2018 spring release, which is the first MTD-compliant version, will cost far less than upgrading from a 2013 version. Upgrading annually, or even every other year, will be more cost-effective in the long run.

We’re dedicated to helping our customers get the most out of the technology they’ve invested in. Whilst costly upgrades can be unappealing to budget-holders, they must take a strategic approach to their software. Older solutions, particularly those that are unsupported or non-compliant, will cost significantly more in the long run for a number of reasons including security issues, an increased risk of system failure and the disparity between that system and the upgraded version. Meanwhile, newer technologies will not only be more cost-effective, but come with a wealth of innovative features including integrations with the other systems you use every day, and functionalities that will save you time and make your staff more productive.

The question you need to ask is: why am I still holding on to my legacy software?

Why upgrading your finance solutions will save you money and help you remain compliant

At TSG, we talk a lot about new and innovative technologies and how they can help your business become smarter, more productive and ultimately more profitable. But we also talk about the solutions that have stood the test of time; the likes of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Sage 200, both big players in the ERP space.

The thing with innovative technologies is that many businesses think they’re out of reach financially. Whether it’s an upgrade to an existing system or a brand-new solution, purse strings are often tightened when it comes to IT.

Our whole ethos at TSG is to help our customers use technology in a way that benefits your business. Our consultative approach means we don’t just propose the flashiest or newest technology, but the one that’s right for you. We also make it our job to let our customers know when technology will become a burden, costing more than it makes. A lot of the time, this is down to legacy systems.

There are many reasons why a business might remain on a legacy piece of software. Budget is often a common constraint; why pay money to upgrade my system when it still does the job? A new version is released every year, so surely my software will become out-of-date again quickly? Many businesses might have heavily-customised legacy solutions that they believe would be difficult to upgrade. There’s also a fear of the unknown; an Oracle survey suggested one of the biggest barriers in businesses moving to the cloud is resistance from departments like finance and HR – two areas that are most likely to use legacy systems.

Let’s take finance for example. Most ERP systems are used daily by colleagues in the finance department. Many of them have a similar look and feel, as well as a lot of the same core functionalities you’d expect from a finance solution. For that reason, it’s easy to get comfortable with the solution you use all day, every day. Why would you need to upgrade when it already does everything you need? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you think.

The dangers of this school of thought mean many businesses continue to operate on outdated and unsupported solutions. Pegasus Opera II, for example, will very soon be end-of-life, meaning it will no longer be supported by Pegasus and won’t receive HMRC-mandated updates that help you to remain compliant. But thanks to its ease of use and reliability, its user base is incredibly loyal.

A system that is no longer supported by the organisation that built it – think Pegasus, Sage, Microsoft, Apple… – leaves it particularly vulnerable to security breaches. Software and hardware vendors are constantly releasing security patches to thwart zero-day threats and fix discovered vulnerabilities, but you won’t receive these vital updates.

With every day that you remain on that unsupported system, you become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks that continue to evolve at a lightning pace. Should you experience a data breach of the incredibly sensitive information in your ERP system (because it’s no longer secure), you could be heavily sanctioned by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) because you didn’t take the necessary steps to secure your data in light of GDPR. That fact is more important than actually experiencing a breach. The risk of a system failure also vastly increases, risking downtime for your business. You’d be surprised how much that could impact your bottom line…

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you the consequences of operating on a solution that is not compliant with the likes of HMRC. From this coming April, Opera II will not only be unsupported, but it won’t be compliant with HMRC regulations; April 2018 was the last legislative update applied to Opera II Payroll. Our experts have been busy helping customers understand not why remaining on unsupported and non-compliant systems will cost their businesses more money than upgrading both in the short and long term. What’s more, Pegasus is regularly reducing the discount provided to upgrade from Opera II to Opera 3, meaning the longer a business waits to upgrade, the costlier it will become.

In a similar vein, many Sage 200 customers will be required to take action ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline in April 2019. There are a number of options available to those customers, the most cost-effective and logical of which is upgrading to the latest version of Sage 200. This comes with the added benefits of a truly transformative piece of technology that includes an integration with Office 365, bank feeds that eliminate a lot of manual data entry and a dedicated invoicing module. Older solutions won’t have these integrations with newer, more innovative platforms available; the Oracle survey also found integrating new and legacy systems to be a difficulty when moving to the cloud.

The time and money involved in upgrading is off-putting to a lot of people. And whilst it’s true that upgrading these solutions – particularly from very old versions – can take time, it’s not only essential but greatly beneficial. And for those that worry about their software quickly becoming out-of-date, upgrading costs significantly less, the later a version you’re on; i.e. upgrading from Sage 200cloud winter 2017 edition to the 2018 spring release, which is the first MTD-compliant version, will cost far less than upgrading from a 2013 version. Upgrading annually, or even every other year, will be more cost-effective in the long run.

We’re dedicated to helping our customers get the most out of the technology they’ve invested in. Whilst costly upgrades can be unappealing to budget-holders, they must take a strategic approach to their software. Older solutions, particularly those that are unsupported or non-compliant, will cost significantly more in the long run for a number of reasons including security issues, an increased risk of system failure and the disparity between that system and the upgraded version. Meanwhile, newer technologies will not only be more cost-effective, but come with a wealth of innovative features including integrations with the other systems you use every day, and functionalities that will save you time and make your staff more productive.

The question you need to ask is: why am I still holding on to my legacy software?