QAD EE Upgrade Approaches
Posted on: May 8, 2023 | By: Emily Aro | QAD Business Process, QAD Distribution, QAD Financials, QAD Manufacturing
QAD EE Upgrade Approaches
Thinking about upgrade approaches for QAD EE? As most QAD users know, the upgrade to QAD’s Enterprise Applications Enterprise Edition (QAD EE) from older versions of QAD’s ERP software could be a significant undertaking. Prior upgrades over the last 20 years could largely be completed as technical exercises, assuming that few customizations and business processes change. The underlying technical architecture of QAD SE from one version to another is mainly the same. With a few significant functional changes, these had to be absorbed as part of an upgrade that required user involvement.
Release of QAD EE
The changes to the financial functionality and architecture result in new challenges and opportunities for a QAD upgrade. For the purpose of this discussion, operational changes in the distribution and manufacturing functionalities between SE and EE are not substantial. The transition of a user who works primarily in these areas is manageable and minute. Additional training should only be necessary if there are changes to the user interface (Character to .Net for example) or changes to any processes. The main change to the software is a complete re-write of its financial functionality. QAD has used this release to move its ERP software into a competing position with Oracle, SAP, and other large-scale ERP packages in supporting organizations with global financial requirements. The financial capabilities in QAD EE are greatly improved but are functionally different compared to its QAD SE predecessor. At minimum, the scope of an upgrade and implementation of QAD EE will include implementation of the following functionality:
- General Ledger and General Ledger Reporting.
- Accounts Payable and Related AP Banking.
- Accounts Receivable and Related AR Banking
Upgrade QAD EE Approaches
QDT Conversion Approach
The QDT Conversion Approach is a like-for-like conversion of data from the prior QAD version to QAD EE using the QAD Deployment Toolkit (QDT). This approach consists of a series of audit reports run against the source database to ensure the data has the integrity required for a transition to the new QAD EE structure. Additionally, financial data setup must be completed in QAD EE to support the destination database and the conversion of the operation data to QAD EE. New data elements that did not exist in prior versions of QAD, such as Business Relations, must be defined as part of the upgrade to support the operational data.
The QDT approach becomes a very iterative and repetitive approach of audit reporting and fixing data due to the re-running of audit reports until the source data is deemed acceptable for the upgrade. Historical data is converted in all areas as part of this approach, but it is important to recognize that the QDT conversion approach may only work for some data areas but not others. All data will be converted as-is. Delete/Archive utilities can be used along with this approach as they can at any other time before or after an upgrade.
New Database Approach
Logan Consulting finds that most of its upgrade customers prefer a different approach to an upgrade to QAD EE. This involves the creation of a new QAD EE database, then cleaning and converting data into that environment. We will call this the New Database Approach. In the New Database Approach, users take the opportunity to extract, cleanse and purge source data prior to conversion into the new QAD EE environment. This approach involves more user time on the front end to evaluate the data for cleansing and purging, but the result is an up-to-date ERP environment with more relevant and accurate data. Many of our clients have been using QAD for many years but their businesses have changed and evolved due to many factors such as acquisitions, divestitures, changes in product line mix, etc. This results in the desire to remove data associated with prior operations that is no longer needed today. Customers are often frustrated and sometimes even surprised at the preemptive effort required to upgrade to QAD EE, but regardless of approach, an upgrade to QAD EE gives these companies an excellent opportunity to review their data and cleanse it.
Regardless of the approach used, an upgrade to QAD EE must include the following tasks:
- Project Team Training in EE Financials
- Process Design for EE Financials
- EE Financials Configuration and Data Setup
- New User Procedures (Work Instructions) for EE Financials
- End User Training in EE Financials
Next Steps
If you are interested in learning more about QAD QAD EE Upgrade Approaches, contact us here to find out how we can help you grow your business. You can also email us at info@loganconsulting.com or call (312) 345-8817.