Faced with the dilemma of keeping up with service packs, advisories, and upgrades, Prince Hamlet of Kronosland despondently asked, "To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question ---." Painful reference to Shakespeare aside, should your organization upgrade now? Should you wait for the java-free Kronos version 8.0? The Kronos Upgrade conversation often centers on the decision to upgrade, without focusing on “why” the decision to upgrade is necessary. Strategically planning if, when, and how to upgrade entails understanding the reasons why a Kronos upgrade would be beneficial for your organization (or why it might be time to wait).
Here are some of the most important reasons to upgrade:
1. Legislative and Compliance Reasons
If you have regulatory labor reporting requirements, keeping current with Kronos keeps your organization up to date with new or changed legislative and compliance regulations, including improved reporting capabilities. An upgrade also affords the opportunity to re-assess business processes, including how source data is managed and any related process improvements. Validating source data results in accurate reporting and improved compliance.
2. Increased Functionality & Intellectual Capital with New Versions
Depending on your prior version, new functionalities may be available to you that impact:
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Budgeting
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Forecasting
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Scheduling
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Analytics
Optimized Kronos functionality not only potentially increases overall productivity, but also allows you to achieve improved ROI. The new functionality can also increase the organizations’ intellectual capital. Use of a newer version of Kronos will increase the technology savvy quotient, improving collective intellectual capital across the organization.
3. The Sunset Factor
The Sunset Factor refers to the age of your Kronos version. The older the age of your version, the higher the risk of limited technical support becomes. The longer the upgrade is delayed, the more the potential grows for complications from workarounds associated with supporting outdated versions. In some cases, vendor support will even end, and a concrete “point of no return” sunset date will be set. If your Kronos application remains at a sunsetting version and encounters a serious complication, there may be no vendor to work with the outdated system, leaving your organization exposed.
4. Upgrades Support Enterprise Centralization and Better Business Decisions
There is nothing that makes management happier than streamlined reporting or data collection. When your Kronos application is upgraded, you can be confident that your reporting and data collection are performing optimally. Streamlining these processes can significantly reduce administrative overhead. Beyond reduced costs, better data supports better decision-making. Depending on the nature of the upgrade, the outcome may produce better data and benefit the decision-making capability of the organization. Better decisions equal better results, and better results equal happy management.
Now that you understand the “why” behind upgrading, is it time for your organization to upgrade?
If you would like more information on Kronos upgrade methodology, download our presentation "Should you Upgrade?" by clicking on the button below.
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