Every ERP upgrade project involves several critical steps, from basic technical updates to complex tasks requiring deep business insights. One of the most challenging aspects is managing modifications. Identifying customizations is difficult enough, but companies must also decide which to retain and which to replace with new features. The selected modifications then need to be recreated individually in the new ERP version.
This process recurs with every ERP upgrade, often delaying the project due to the complexity of modifications.
Novacura offers IFS Cloud upgrade services to help companies avoid these challenges.
Our Methodology – Key Facts:
Avoid ERP Modifications and Keep the Core Clean:
Traditional ERP upgrades involve identifying and evaluating numerous minor modifications, many of which must be replaced or recreated. Our approach implements most modifications as secure ERP applications using the Novacura Flow platform, which ensures data integrity and keeps IFS modifications separate. This simplifies the identification and maintenance of all modifications in a single platform.
Recreate Modifications Effectively:
Typical ERP customizations are complex and time-consuming. With Novacura Flow, a low-code platform, modifications are faster and simpler. Applications are created visually, like business processes, allowing business users to understand and contribute to development. This approach streamlines the ERP upgrade strategy, centralizing modifications in a low-code platform and enhancing efficiency.
Be Ready for IFS Cloud Evergreen:
Frequent upgrades bring repeated challenges with modifications. In 2021, IFS introduced IFS Cloud with an evergreen strategy, promising new versions twice a year. This could mean dealing with modifications every six months, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our “Modifications free ERP” philosophy keeps the IFS core clean. When a new version is released, companies simply reconnect their Novacura Flow applications with minor adjustments, avoiding the need to recreate modifications.
Untangle Integration Spaghetti:
ERP integration is often complex and challenging. The company uses Novacura Flow to create an integration layer between IFS systems and third-party systems. Novacura Flow offers over 50 connectors to various systems and technologies, reducing technical risks and keeping the IT architecture clear, eliminating the “integration spaghetti” effect.
Complete Missing Functionalities:
New ERP versions can sometimes deprecate old features or miss functionalities present in previous versions. IFS Cloud brings significant changes, and Novacura Flow can help fill these gaps by building applications that replicate the missing functions.
Connect Legacy Systems to IFS Cloud Despite the OData API:
IFS Cloud introduces a new API, replacing the old PL/SQL-based API with a stateless OData API. This change can pose challenges for legacy systems integrated with previous IFS versions. Novacura Flow acts as an “Integration Gateway,” utilizing our IFS OData connector to facilitate seamless integration with IFS Cloud and legacy systems, ensuring smooth transitions during upgrades.
Learn How to Use the OData API:
The new OData API in IFS Cloud can be confusing, even for experts familiar with the previous PL/SQL methods. Novacura helps improve OData competencies with our dedicated OData connector, which uses a no-code approach to simplify API function selection and syntax control. Our Marketplace offers a growing number of OData components, providing best-practice examples for common business cases.
By leveraging Novacura’s innovative approach to IFS upgrades, companies can avoid the typical challenges associated with ERP modifications, ensuring smoother, more efficient upgrade processes.
