One of the biggest hurdles to selecting a new platform is recognizing when you should look for something different. In this five-part blog series, we’ll look at the top five reasons our customers make the decision to seek out a new system. If you recognize one of these in your current state, then you may want to pay close attention.

Reason #1: It’s been years since a platform upgrade

We’ll often encounter customers who implemented their current system more than five years ago and have not updated it since. Yikes.

Users of the system are typically unhappy because the system no longer works efficiently or doesn’t meet their current needs. There are several reasons why a system is installed and never updated. In some cases, a customer has customized the system so much that installing a new version is too risky, so no one is willing to attempt an upgrade.

With an older platform, the people who installed the system – who may have been the only ones that knew anything about maintaining it – could have left the company. Likewise, an agency could have been used to implement the original system and the company relied on them to maintain the software. Since then, a new agency can be hired, but the internal staff and new agency don’t know the platform.

Sometimes there just isn’t any budget available to pay for an upgrade or to install the maintenance provided by the vendor. As a side note, many of these issues are solved by using Cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) systems. Vendors will maintain the system, make frequent updates and upgrades, and keep the platform as current as possible.

If you are in this situation, you should consider upgrading the system to the latest version.  Unless you have customized the heck out of the system, then this is often the least-effort path to take. Many vendors provide easier upgrades to newer versions and can preserve some or all your existing content.

Too often though, we encounter users who are fed up with the current situation and will never accept a newer version of the same system. In this case, you should be looking for alternative solutions.

Here’s What You Should Takeaway

Before you start looking, you should document the current issues and identify the capabilities you need to support in the future, such as personalization, optimization, or better digital asset management. If you are a large organization, then make sure you capture this information from all the involved users. Many users will have very different perspectives on what’s wrong with the current system and what is needed in the future.

Learn more about our Platform Selection Jumpstart, which helps your business by evaluating your technology needs and key requirements to help you find and choose the right platform to alleviate your current issues and provide successful business outcomes in six weeks.

In the meantime, stay tuned for the next installation of our #reasonstoreplatform series. For any questions, contact our customer experience experts today.