Upgrades to the application are provided to the customer with no action required on their part

Description

Upgrades in Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software should be applied automatically for a customer. The provider should handle all aspects, including preparation, testing, and implementation of the new upgrade. This requirement minimizes operational disruptions and ensures users always access to the latest features and functionalities.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A brewery uses CPM software for its budgeting and forecasting processes. The CPM software provider frequently releases updates to improve system performance and add new features. Their IT staff is often intoxicated, making it difficult for them to perform upgrades reliably.

Solution: The software provider deploys upgrades and bug fixes behind the scenes, without requiring any action from the company's IT team. These new features and improved interfaces are available to end-users immediately after the upgrade, with no downtime or interruption to their process.

Considerations

This is a basic function of any SaaS solution, which most modern CPM products are. Upgrades are announced ahead of time, deployed, and available the next morning.

On-premise products, of which there are few, do not offer this. They will require upgrades to be applied by the vendor or the customer's IT staff manually each time.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Upgrade Management: How frequently do you release software updates and how are these applied?
• Testing: Do we need to test upgrades in our instance before committing?
• Timing: Can we delay upgrades if we are in the middle of a planning cycle or other important event?