Does it seem like upgrading has been on your to-do list forever? If so, it’s not your fault. There are plenty of reasons why organizations put off upgrading — worries about the size of the project, learning curves, employee resistance, and more.
But there’s also something that many miss.
Upgrading isn’t just a project that needs to be completed … it’s a huge opportunity to leverage the latest integrations and access new features, many of which allow you to recapture time and money.
Tapping into new capabilities
Many of the features and capabilities available in an upgraded version improve functionality. Here are a few examples:
Access to entirely new data sets. Experts say that data is “the new oil” because it allows you to uncover insights that weren’t previously available. When you upgrade, you tap into new data sources and integrate them with other systems. As a result, you’re able to more easily spot patterns and trends.
Compatibility improvements. What many don’t realize until it creates havoc is that not upgrading may result in losing capabilities. Upgrading, however, allows you to leverage more-current capabilities and protect against losing functionality.
Enhanced security. Anytime you have an internal system calling out to a third-party system, security features and protocols exist that are essential to safeguarding sensitive data. Upgrading helps enhance security between existing and new integrations to support improved security.
Rethinking “spend” versus “ROI”
When considering an upgrade, one of the primary considerations is cost.
How much is this upgrade going to cost?
It’s a fair question.
But upgrading isn’t only about the upfront cost; it’s also about the ROI and the potential savings. This often gets overlooked when organizations don’t dive deeply enough into ROI.
When you upgrade, you have more automation capabilities. Over time, these capabilities help reduce manual workloads, improve productivity and seriously reduce costs. With continued savings month after month, the ROI becomes very high.
And then there’s the customer experience. Faster workflows means greater efficiency, which empower employees to help customers more efficiently, improving their experiences. And anytime you improve the experience, you have the potential to positively impact both retention and growth, which, of course, contributes even further to your ROI.
A story of success
Upgrading can positively impact time savings and productivity, but what does this look like for a business? One of our clients recently completed an upgrade that allowed them to leverage the integration capabilities of two of their major external integration systems.
After the upgrade, the company improved capabilities around tasks such as chart merging and captured entirely new capabilities, such as tying metadata to patient charts. Additionally, they could access new integration capabilities and functionality, such as intelligent data capture, which allowed them to automate data extraction.
Leveraging these new integration capabilities has allow this customer to reduce manual intervention on critical business process documentation, saving tens of thousands of dollars in labor cost.
Upgrading successfully
Upgrading is a process. It takes a strong internal team and a solid partner to help guide you. But when you have these partnerships, you can proactively chart the best path, see any potential challenges before they happen, and upgrade with greater success — and set your organization up for an even stronger ROI by leveraging new integration capabilities to save time and money while creating savings that will continue to contribute to a positive ROI month after month.
It’s time to flip the script. Stop thinking of upgrading as an expense and see it for what it really is: An investment in growing your business.
