Enterprise software - Business solution - Odyssey Computing Inc

Managing Enterprise Software Upgrades and Updates: Tips and Best Practices 

As businesses increasingly rely on Enterprise Software to manage critical operations and processes, it’s important to ensure that these applications are kept up-to-date and functioning at peak performance. However, the upgrades and updates can be a complex and time-consuming process that requires careful planning and execution to avoid disruptions to business operations. 

In this blog post, we will explore some tips and best practices for managing enterprise software upgrades and updates. These tips and best practices can help you navigate the process more efficiently.

Develop a clear plan and timeline for updates 

You need to create a precise plan with goals, deadlines, and a detailed schedule for updates. Contingency plans should also be included for resolving unforeseen problems or delays.

Test updates in a controlled environment.

It’s crucial to test updates in a controlled environment before deploying them to production. It will let you identify and address potential issues or conflicts.

Communicate changes to users and provide clear instructions and support

Make sure that you inform users of any changes that will affect their daily work and provide clear instructions and support to help them adapt to the updates. 

Implement a structured change management process.

To ensure a smooth transition, it’s important to have a structured change management process in place. You need to identify the key stakeholders in the company. It would be beneficial as well to provide training and support to users. Most importantly, you need to track the impact of updates on business processes and operations. 

Monitor performance and address issues promptly.

It should be done as soon as the updates have been rolled out. Check out any issues or bugs promptly. It will help minimize downtime and ensure systems are functioning as intended. 

Why Hiring a Custom Software Development Company is Important?

Hiring a custom software development company would be a great idea for enterprise software updates and upgrades due to their technical know-how. Their experience managing complex projects and ability to scale resources as necessary are crucial for success. If you are looking to get a tailored solution that will satisfy your business requirements this can be an ideal option. It will allow you to focus on risk management to minimize disruptions to business operations.

It is important to talk to experts when it comes to enterprise software because they have the knowledge, expertise, and experience necessary to identify business requirements and recommend the best software solutions to meet those needs.  

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It is a well-known fact that clients are undoubtedly one of the vital pertinent influences, for initiating and retaining a prosperous company, in today’s competitive market. Hence, it is very valuable to have a good, constructive, and positive relationship with current clients because it will result in their trust in you and would increase the chances of repurchase intentions.

Another solid foundation you can create for a long-term client relationship is by asking yourself a few questions; How do you handle your existing or potential clients? Why is having good connections with clients so significant?

If you are catering to them correctly, it will enable your company to be more appealing and trustworthy to potential and existing clients. Additionally, even if your clients do not come back, they can always refer your company to their coworkers or friends.

Let’s dive into these five guidelines to create an everlasting relationship with your clients.

Bracing Your Clients

From a marketing perspective, it is a wise decision to maintain and outgrow your connections with the clients. It will allow you to predict the client needs and the constant changes they may demand, even after the project completion. For instance, sometimes clients are experiencing a technical issue that they cannot resolve.

At this point, you need to be present for them and make them feel listened to. Having solved your client’s problems on time would put you in a more robust state to achieve client loyalty with your services. In such scenarios, most clients take it positively, and acknowledge the fact that you genuinely helped them out, and this can optimistically help you sustain your client-relationships for future projects.

Become an Outstanding Communicator

This is considered the most critical step in maintaining a positive client relationship. Almost every organization, as well as management studies, focuses on this aspect more than anything else. Discussing relationships, you must strengthen the practice of effective communication by responding to client’s emails, calls and queries daily.

For instance, you can maintain daily check-ins, connect through social media, and share product and project planning updates directly with the client. Resultantly, this would make them feel valuable and being listened to. Every customer wants to engage differently. Developing the desired networking channels for them will be a big plus. Some of them will appreciate emails, while others may expect a phone call, or an in-person meeting and so on.

Regularly Exceeding Client Needs

Sometimes you will hear, “This is what I expected from the product,” and these types of comments will give you a feeling that you are going in the right direction. Surpassing client’s expectations is a great way to develop and maintain long-term positive and healthy relationships.

On the other hand, when you get a remark like, “I did not expect this from the product or I had something else in mind”, at this point you need to take immediate action right away. Do not let the dissatisfied clients turn away because this may affect your reputation and would damage future work potentials as well. Hear out their concerns, perform a detailed survey, pinpoint the underlying issues and solve their problems, and retain them for as long as you can.

positive client relationships

Positive Attitude

Another way to establish a strong relationship with the customer is to maintain the right attitude. It is the hardest part of the job, but you have to be an encouraging person/company to ease the customer. If you give importance to what the client wants and their perspective about their brand and products, they would not doubt the results produced by you.

Furthermore, usage of comforting words, such as expressing concern for a client’s condition, apologizing for any discomfort, and offering help in stressful circumstances, will adequately motivate the client.

Define and Fulfill Expectations

Lastly, from the beginning, you should proceed by maintaining achievable goals for your client’s work. It gives you a fair idea about your available resources, time for all the upcoming deadlines to meet. Being transparent about what the client should expect, from the beginning till the end. Talk about post project services to maintain a meaningful conversation with the client. You have the authority over your organization, its resources and services. Provide the customer with positive, transparent, and reliable information concerning the procedures and technologies associated with it.

Also, ensure to put trust in your client with a relaxed, composed, and a cheerful attitude. However, if you face any shortcomings, remain truthful with what you promised and cater to the client’s needs beyond expectations.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that you must invest into building positive relationships with your clients just as you would want to build positive relationships with other people in your life. Clients are humans, and they prefer to be treated like one before anything else. Focus on building a strong foundation of trust. And the key to building trust is with honest communication, being approachable and reliable, and constantly delivering on your promises.

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Our work at Odyssey revolves around our clients’ projects. Over time, we have seen what makes projects successful. Whether it be large- or small-scale, it all comes down to planning. Project planning may take time, but the benefits are tremendous. Better communication and clearer expectations will always ensure a greater chance of success. Potential mistakes or any required clarifications are also handled right from the start.

Project planning comes down to three basic parts. First, your objective and the scope of the project, the general “what”, “why” and “how.” Second, your schedule and milestones, your “when” and “what.” And third, your budget, another component of “how.” Defining these parts from the outset will help set you up for great success.

Through the project planning process, it might help to think of the SMART framework. The SMART framework requires that your goals, or in this case your project, be the following:

1) Specific: defined and clear;

2) Measurable: tangible and objective data to determine the success;

3) Achievable: agreeable to everyone involved;

4) Realistic: relevant and resourced as needed; and

5) Time-based: scheduled or trackable with time.

Your Objective and the Scope of the Project

These come readily to most people who are seeking to embark on a project already. Your objective is what you are looking to do, and your scope is the general to-do list for it.

But it is likely that your project involves many other parties. You should discuss the objective and scope of your project with them. Include your stakeholders and even your customers, as they may have other ideas. Those involved with the project, e.g. the lead designer and software architect, should be part of the round table. This way, you can hear out any initial ideas, requirements, and concerns from all around. Your objective and scope of project will be better defined and make it easier to determine the rest.

When determining this, it is also helpful to include in your plan some more basic details. This can include the contact information of people who are executing the project, or any relevant addresses for the project.

Your Milestones or Deliverables, and Your Schedule

Your schedule for your milestones needs to be realistic. It should consider many factors, like any possible delays or the ease of certain steps. This will vary from industry to industry, from team to team. This is also why it is important to talk to all involved parties, so that you can determine these factors.

Your milestone schedule might include things like a limit to the billable hours per week. Some have an indefinite part to the project, like ongoing software support. In any case, your milestones or deliverables must be clear and defined to anyone involved.

If you are working with a contractor like us, then you will likely be dealing with a statement of work (SOW). The SOW describes all three basic parts in detail and one of the main documents that both you and the contractor will build on and from.

Your Budget

Like your schedule, your budget should be realistic. Underestimating the budget may mean constraints that you did not expect. Overestimating may lead to unnecessary spending.

Do your research and call for quotes throughout this process if needed. Include your project scope or deliverables when inquiring. Delineate your budget into its purposes or intentions. It will aid in determining for the future what a successful and quality project may cost. It may even help in determining why a vendor may have charged more than expected.

As you search out vendors, you will likely come across two different kinds of pricing: fixed cost and variable cost. Both have their pros and cons, but usually fixed cost will be easier to factor into a budget and a schedule. We have found that variable cost tends to work best if the scope is currently undefined or too vague for a complete SOW.

One More Thing: Communication

Throughout your project planning, you should consider communication. Communication is the backbone of any project, because without it, the project struggles.

Try to find the best way to communicate with everyone involved. Keep your communication constant through that channel and set up regular check-ins. We have some suggestions in our post about remote solutions during COVID-19.

Checking in with your team will help keep your project on schedule. Reporting to stakeholders will keep them in the know and boost their confidence in the project. Communicating has everyone on the same page, and if they are not, you must try for it. Otherwise people may miss details, or expectations may go by the wayside.


Project planning may take a while, but it sets you up for success. We have worked with many clients over the years (since 1990!) and understand its value. We have continued to learn and hone our planning process with our clients. While every project is different, focusing on these three basic parts will help you get going. Having these parts answered already means that you’re on your way to a great project plan.

Here at Odyssey, we actively communicate with clients right from the start. For example, during the ideation phase, we take the time to start creating mockups and detailed wireframes. This way, we understand what the client wants out of the project. We clear out any potential miscommunication through illustrating what we interpret from the client’s objective. We carry this process throughout the entire project, so that we can stay on the same page.

Contact us today if you have a project that you would like to discuss!

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