Update Policies
Introduction
On a periodic basis all PMC solutions for an ERP version are collected in so-called Collections. At the end of each period, all solutions created in the preceding period will be collected together in one dump file and this dump file is published. The frequency of creating collections differs per ERP version and can be a weekly or monthly frequency (refer to Appendix A).
The individual solutions must be downloaded and installed one by one. Collections can be downloaded and scanned in one action. While scanning, the collection dump file is split into all individual solutions that were included in the Collection. Afterwards the individual solutions can be installed, either in a selective of collective way.
These Collections can be used in two ways:
– Pro-active installation. The user downloads and scans a Collection, afterwards all individual solutions of the Collection are installed by the user. The user runs the most up-to-date version of the software, including the latest released fixes.
– Corrective installation. All available Collections are downloaded and scanned, but the individual solutions of the Collection are not installed. The solutions have status ‘Available’ in the PMC registry. Only when the user faces a problem and a solution is advised for the problem, that solution plus all dependent solutions will be installed.
It is not possible to state that one update policy is better than the other; the most optimal update policy strongly depends on the user’s situation. Every user should independently decide for the most suitable and best fitting policy. The subsequent section can be helpful in making the right choice.
Pro-active versus corrective updates
From a theoretic point of view the pro-active update policy is the most optimal one. When applying this policy, the user will always have installed ‘the latest and the greatest’. However, in practice there will be aspects that will make the pro-active approach less feasible or even not possible at all.
The installation of every solution is accompanied by a certain risk. In general the overall risk proportionally increases with the number of solutions being installed. When applying the pro-active update policy, the number (or volume) of solutions being installed will always be higher than when applying the corrective update policy.
The following risk factors can be distinguished. Every user should weigh and balance these risk factors and choose an update policy based on this:
– Risk of incompatibility between standard products and customizations
The presence of customizations at the receiving system will often play a big role when choosing a specific update policy. In general customizations have a seamless fit with the standard ERP product; updates in the standard product can cause compatibility breaks. The chance of incompatibility is determined by the nature of the customization; the following factors play a role:
– Degree of overlap with the standard product. A customization can consist of standard Infor components which are customized and/or fully new, independent customization components. Compatibility risks for customized standard components are in general higher than in fully new, independent customization components.
– Overall size of the customization. In general the following counts: the bigger the size of a customization, the higher the number of integration points with the standard Infor product will be and the higher the risk for compatibility problems.
– Maintenance sensitivity of the customized area. Some areas in the ERP software are more complex than others, and related to this more sensitive for maintenance. Maintenance sensitive areas will have a higher volume of solutions and related to that a higher risk of compatibility problems.
Because of the volume aspect, a pro-active update policy will have a bigger impact on the before mentioned factors than a corrective update policy.
– Risk of incompatibility risks between standard product and not fully synchronized derived products
Infor offers a number of derived products (or add-ons) for the various standard ERP versions. These derived products can be localizations (fulfilling the requirements of a specific market).
Most of the derived products owned by Infor are fully synchronized with the standard product. Solutions made in the standard product are immediately ported to the derived products and the solutions for the standard and derived products are published simultaneously.
A few derived products owned by Infor are not fully synchronous with the standard base product. In addition to this, it also can be the case that add-ons are being used which are created and maintained by other vendors than Infor. In this situation the derived product will in most cases per definition not be synchronized with the corresponding standard ERP product. Standard solutions will be retrofitted periodically to the derived product with a frequency that differs from the frequency with which the standard collections are created by Infor.
When having a not fully synchronized derived product at the customer system, it will be less feasible to apply a pro-active update policy, unless the update for the derived product becomes available soon after the publication of the collection for the standard product.
– Risk of linguistic inconveniences
Individual solutions can contain changes in or additions to the language dependant part of the user interface. This is often related to the introduction of functional changes and enhancements. Individual solutions (and with this also Collections) are available in a limited number of primary languages (refer to Appendix A). Customers using other languages than the primary ones can be faced with English prompts in the user interface after installing updates. Because of the volume aspect of the pro-active update policy, the chance to be exposed to this risk will be higher compared to the corrective update policy.
– Risk of incorrect solutions
Infor strives for the best quality of solutions and has various internal processes in place to meet the highest quality standards. However, maintenance always remains an activity of human beings and it is not feasible to fully banish the creation of incorrect solutions.
Because of the volume aspect of the pro-active update policy, the chance to be exposed to this risk will be higher compared to the corrective update policy.
– Risk of functional changes and enhancements
It is Infor’s policy to keep the number of functional changes and enhancements in released products at a minimum. However, there can be situation in which it is inevitable to introduce functional changes. This can be due to legal requirements, defects etc. Infor visualizes functional changes by documenting and flagging them in a specific way. So customers will be informed timely. However, functional changes and enhancements always have to be reviewed and a decision must be made to implement it or not.
Because of the volume aspect of the pro-active update policy, the chance to be exposed to this risk will be higher compared to the corrective update policy.
Appendix A: Maintenance characteristics by ERP version
Version |
Collection Frequency |
Languages of Individual Solutions |
BaanIV |
Weekly |
English, German, French, Dutch |
Baan 5.0b |
Monthly |
English, German, Dutch |
Baan 5.0c |
Monthly |
English, German, Dutch |
ERP LN 6.1 |
Monthly |
English |