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Why and How a Staffing Software Provider Develops an Upgrade Version

Posted: Tuesday, February 17, 2009

by Phil McCutchen
VCG, Inc.

Why should you upgrade your staffing software?

For some staffing and recruiting firms, the thought of going through a software upgrade causes an anxiety attack. After all, you've invested a lot into the software you have now, and you know that change may be painful. So why change?

The short reason is that the upgrade will be good for you and your business. However, let's go into a little more detail. There are five major reasons why your provider develops an upgrade, all of which relate to improving your ability to work more profitably.

First, your software should mature in its capabilities and value to your business. Over time, your business will change in how it works with customers, candidates, and the market. Business changes require software upgrades that add new functionality or features. These enable you to deliver better service, remain competitive with the marketplace and improve your operating efficiency.

Second, you can never have enough performance. Your software's speed, reliability, scalability and other factors that affect business productivity are always targets for improvement. Upgrades that use new software or hardware technologies can greatly increase the performance of your staff and your business.

Third, compatibility with your shifting business needs and other technologies often requires software upgrades. A good example of this is the need for code changes to enable your software to work with Microsoft VISTA.

Fourth, upgrades can make your life easier. Usability how easy it is to get work done within the software can only be improved with study over time. Your provider, observing how you use the software, will find ways to simplify its use. The resulting upgrade will have a more appealing, streamlined and intuitive user interface, helping you accomplish more with less effort.

Fifth, your software provider wants to fix the bugs. Developing software is a complex task, and no software is error free. As part of its maintenance process, your provider will look for and correct errors and defects that have a significant impact on performance, usability, reliability, etc.

How does a software vendor go about developing an upgrade?

Software customers often ask, "Why can't I get this one little feature?" For software vendors, that question is weighed against other factors, such as business value, complexity of the changes required, development cost, and so on. For providers then, developing software upgrades is an ongoing practice to assure both its increasing usefulness and marketability.

When it comes down to "how" providers go about developing their upgrades, process is fundamental. While a number of process methodologies are available, iterative and agile development processes that focus on speed to market and user feedback on evolving software have strong appeal and benefits to customers and providers. These processes have the following characteristics.

Collect and analyze user requirements. Gather market and customer data on business needs, software performance, user interactions, and broader market influences then analyze that data to determine relevant goals for the software upgrade.
Design a solution approach and a framework for that solution. Once the provider has determined "what" is going to be in an upgrade, they then figure out "how" to build the upgrade to meet expectations effectively. Providers also evaluate how an upgrade will influence the deployment of the software as well its support and maintainability.
Develop the software code and test. Code changes that affect one area of the software can and will affect another area it is vital that testing be thorough.
Document, deploy and review. Updated user documentation eases training and simplifies support. Following deployment of the upgrade, reviews of the entire process help improve the procedure next time.

By following a well-defined process, software providers deliver upgrades with enhanced usefulness to you. The result then is that you get software that delivers advanced business benefits that help improve your success in the marketplace.

END

Phil McCutchen is the Marketing Manager for VCG, LLC (www.vcgsoftware.com and www.pointwing.com), a leading supplier of fully-integrated staffing and recruiting software since 1976. With an extensive background in B2B marketing, Phil has been with VCG since 1991.

Phil McCutchen, in positions as marketing, communications and advertising manager, has created and delivered marketing, advertising and PR results for technology-driven business-to-business companies for more than twenty years. www.philmccutchen.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/phil-mccutchen/1/6aa/a72

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