If it is time to upgrade your Sage 100 system, why not save money by performing it with Secure Cloud Hosting? SWK Technologies will host your Sage ERP in a private server that allows you to streamline the updating process as well as test out functionality to ensure maximized performance. With a cybersecure environment optimized for the particular intricacies of your Sage accounting and business management software, your systems and data will both be better protected against external cyber threats and streamlined to make sure you get the most out of your investment.
Here are the top reasons to perform your Sage 100 upgrade in a cloud-hosted environment:
Upgrading Your Sage 100 Version
Even in the best case scenario, a full ERP version update for an on-premise solution is never relatively easy, fast or simple. There are so many moving parts involved that it always inevitably takes on some level of complexity, not to mention the number of hands that need to be onboard from the IT department to accounting and finance. With all that said, however, there are still many reasons why your system needs to be upgraded, including maintaining adequate security for contemporary threats and ensuring continued functionality with modern equipment and integrations.
Sage 100 vs Sage 100cloud
A point of confusion that often arises among Sage ERP users is the name changes to many products, namely those first started in 2017. Sage Group plc launched the Sage Business Cloud and rebranded several products to reflect their transition to a “cloud-connected” environment, including switching the new version of Sage 100 to Sage 100c. Unfortunately, this change does not actually denote that the solution has been migrated to the cloud, only that the application itself can be integrated with SaaS add-ons – which the old version cannot be without significant customization and big security risks.
For more information on the differences between Sage 100cloud and actually cloud hosting Sage 100, read SWK’s blog here.
New Updates for Your Sage ERP
Sage ERP are updated regularly, including major annual releases that add new features as well as critical data for compliance, such as the latest tax tables for payroll. Remaining on a previous year’s version not only denies you access to new functionality and regulatory information, but also puts you at risk of emerging cyber threats such as new malware that can breach your system from an Internet-connected device.
Software and Hardware Requirements
As both software and hardware systems age, the more likely it becomes that they will become incompatible with new programs and equipment. Just as Sage 100 has minimum physical requirements that need to be met, the inverse is also true for any servers you choose to install it on. Additionally, any middleware, operating systems (OS), integrations or any other applications that need to connect to your ERP will have their own minimum requirements that your accounting software will likely be too old to meet, as well as feature specifications that are no longer supported by modern technology.
Upgrading Sage 100 with Cloud Hosting
There is no getting around the fact that upgrading is the best way to ensure that you continue to get the most out of your Sage 100 investment, between receiving new features, access to the cloud, reducing cybersecurity risks and ensuring continued compliance as well as compatibility. However, the biggest obstacle to an overhaul is making sure that nothing goes wrong, which is its own challenge in an on-premise environment – this is where Secure Cloud Hosting comes in.
Here are the top benefits to performing a Sage 100 upgrade in a cybersecure, cloud-hosted environment:
Secure Your Environment
When your software lives in an onsite server, upgrades have to be handled manually in the actual system and carries the risk of the application still being used live by local users. Even worse, if data is exposed to outside connections it can be corrupted beyond use or infected by malware, and without reliable backups made before the point of loss there may be no way to recover critical files. Cloud hosting Sage 100 during the upgrade lets your provider spin up a test environment that is sterile, meaning that there will be no risk to your data.
Reduce Costs
If anything goes wrong with an upgrade project in an on-premise environment, especially is data is corrupted, then everything will have to be redone. This means that all costs incurred during the process – including losses from downtime – will be re-incurred as you start over. A hosted environment ensures that you can update your ERP at once and not have to repeat the project, or the expenses that come with it.
Test Out Customizations or Integrations
It is rare that every application fits “out of the box” with your existing workflows perfectly, and even rarer for all third-party add-ons to connect to your core system seamlessly or for customizations from scratch to work as intended with no fine tuning. Using the cloud allows you to test out all user activities, integrations and more without compromising a live environment and ensure everything works as needed before you push it into real-world usage.
Optimize Performance
When hosting any ERP in an onsite server, you are limited to the existing hardware capabilities, which becomes a problem if during the upgrade you find it does not meet your requirements. Using a cloud environment versus an on-premise one to test performance lets you get a better sense of your resource needs and determine if you need to scale up bandwidth to get everything you want out of your software.
Let Users Gain Experience
A cloud-hosted test environment gives you several more options that using a live on-premise environment cannot, including allowing you to train your Sage 100 users during the upgrade process. Letting employees work directly with the new features and system changes will save considerable time in reacclimating to the software, reducing the learning curve during the go-live stage and as well productivity loss post-upgrade.
Save Costs on Your Sage 100 Upgrade with Secure Cloud Hosting
Ensure your Sage ERP updates go smoothly with Secure Cloud Hosting, enabling you to save costs by streamlining the Sage 100 upgrade process and keeping everything consolidated to one sterile test environment that lets your users accomplished everything they need without compromising your data. Let SWK Technologies help you take away the headaches of migrating your system to a new version and make sure you capture your full ROI from your software implementation.
Contact SWK here to get started on your Sage 100 upgrade in the cloud with our secure hosting environment.