The job of a software company is to bring their customers applications that will allow them to manage a piece of their business, communicate with their customers, solve a problem, fill a need, etc. …you know what they do.   Once they have filled that void, they have to manage to stay in business.  That requires the continued sale of their products and services.

Over the years, most software companies have developed a plan to bring annual upgrades to their customers.  That coupled with their annual maintenance plans create an annuity, or recurring revenue stream that they can rely on.  With these revenues, hopefully they then build more value (features and functionality) into the products.  That sounds good to me.  We as customers get software to meet our needs and they continue to keep the products relevant and up-to-date.

But, not so fast…What if a developer upgrade does not have new features and functionality that you can take advantage of?  There’s nothing in the release that matters to you.  I have seen software releases that basically include bug fixes and the developer tried to pass it off as an upgrade.  Are you paying for that?  I know none of my clients will.

So, what’s the deal?  When is it time to upgrade your software?

I often get this question and my answer is simple…

If there are features in the new version that can save or make you money, then the answer is YES!  It’s worth it.  Otherwise, the only reason to upgrade would be because the computers, servers, and/or operating systems you have deployed throughout the company are old and outdated.  If you have to replace your hardware, and the older version of the software you’re using will not run on the newer computers, then you’ll need to upgrade.

We have seen exceptions to this rule and one applies to an upcoming release of Sage Timeslips.  Sometimes you can get caught in a trap.  Be sure you don’t…attend our webinar to avoid a costly mistake…