Install Software again?

Don’t shoot the messenger! Why do they keep telling us to upgrade or install software these days?

This is my first time at writing one of these blogs so be kind to me the views and opinions below are only from myself and my colleagues experiences and no others should be implied.  I will be covering two items in this blog

Well as an IT support company we are seeing this day in and day out now from all vendors including Microsoft© and Sage©.  In the old days the  vendors would actually try and work out what the issue or conflict was!  Today the common response from third party windows application providers is “Well it must be a problem with windows!”, Windows will just complain that there is a corruption and you should run a repair and if that doesn’t fix it reinstall Windows.

The real issue probably lies somewhere in the middle.  As you can imagine since the beginning of windows the third party applications available has grown at unbelievable rate thus the problems have also grown which in turn has put the support time and costs up.

So where does this leave the average user?  Well in simple terms you need to know a few things that might minimise your down time.

1. First make sure you have all the files/CD/DVD and the details i.e. license/keys you will need should anything go wrong. Always keep these in a central and safe location.
2. Never run updates without backing up your data (this includes application data).
3. Plan your upgrades. We recommend doing them at a time in the business week when the impact will not be critical.  If it goes wrong make sure you have a plan be it support or data recovery.
4. Try and not put off the installation of critical updates (once a week is normally safe to run them) as this can put your system at risk. Please read the release notes to make sure you understand the updates if you’re not sure contact your IT support company. Do your best to make sure your third party software will continue to work with the upgrades.
5. Once the upgrades have completed keep an eye on your data is the last entry into your application before the upgrade still there? Be alert.

If you have to reinstall an application then make sure before you start you have the current version of software and the data backed up including all the details required get back into the application user name passwords etc..

Use the vendors preferred method to remove and the re installation of the program and data.  If you’re not sure contact them try and get it in writing,  our experience shows they are more likely to provide prompt support if they advised you and it was gone wrong.

Why do they want me to upgrade!

This is more to do with the decay in what is known as the software support life cycle.  The companies today are developing the software to be run in the cloud (internet) this in many ways simplifies the process for the vendors you pay a subscription and included in this are automatic upgrades.  As an example Office365© the platform continually evolves (it has been suggested soon you may not even be able to buy Office as a one off payment) as such the product adds and modifies the features include and varying rates and in today’s rapid developments companies cannot afford to support software that is 10 years old.  Ask almost any web developer to come in after your website (regarding SME companies) is 6 years old and tell them I just want to change a few pages and most will tell you it is not worth it, it would be more cost effective to start over.

Sorry to tell you but it’s how I can see most of the software going.

If you need help or assistance with your business software, keeping it updated or updating it get in touch. We’re a friendly bunch, you can call us on 0345 450 7876 or use our contact form here.

Microsoft  and Office365© MIcrosoft Corpration https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb

Sage© https://www.sage.com/en-gb/