Acumatica is a powerful ERP system, but even the best software needs regular maintenance to keep it running at peak performance. In this article, we’ll share 7 simple strategies for maintaining Acumatica that will help you maintain your system like a pro in 2024. From regular updates and robust backup plans to performance optimization and customization guidelines, these tips will ensure your Acumatica ERP continues to drive your business forward.
Whether you’re a seasoned Acumatica user or just getting started, these strategies will help you:
- Keep your system up-to-date and secure
- Optimize performance for maximum efficiency
- Plan and execute successful upgrades
- Leverage customization for tailored functionality
So, let’s dive in and discover how you can keep your Acumatica system in top shape for the year ahead.
Acumatica Maintenance Best Practices for Peak Performance
- Keep Acumatica up-to-date for optimal performance and security
- Establish a solid backup and recovery plan to safeguard your data
- Provide ongoing training to ensure users leverage Acumatica effectively
Maintaining Acumatica: Keeping Your Acumatica System Up to Date
Regular updates to your Acumatica system are essential for maintaining optimal performance and ensuring access to the latest features, bug fixes, and security enhancements. Staying current with updates helps prevent compatibility issues with integrated systems and third-party applications, minimizing the risk of operational disruptions.
Acumatica typically releases updates every six months, supplemented by minor updates and hotfixes as needed. The update process varies based on your deployment model.
Cloud—Software as a Service (SaaS)
With Acumatica’s SaaS model, your system operates on a public cloud provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). You pay a fixed monthly fee, and Acumatica manages your IT infrastructure and updates. This fully outsourced, genuine “Cloud” solution ensures ease of use and low maintenance.
SaaS subscribers can choose between two programs:
Acumatica Always Current Program
- Automatic Upgrades: Enjoy automatic upgrades to the latest Acumatica version.
- Predictable Schedule: Upgrades occur twice a year, typically in March and September.
- No Additional Cost: Included in the subscription fee.
- Testing Environment: Access to a test environment for pre-upgrade testing.
- Minimal Downtime: Scheduled upgrades minimize user disruption.
Benefits:
- Stay Current: Always have the latest features, enhancements, and security updates.
- Predictable Costs: Avoid surprise upgrade fees.
- Efficiency: Less effort required in managing upgrades.
Acumatica Flex Program
- Custom Upgrade Schedule: Flexibility to choose your upgrade timing.
- Access to New Versions: Request new versions when needed.
- Upgrade Support: Guidance provided during the upgrade process.
- Customization Management: Handle customizations on your terms.
Benefits:
- Control: Align upgrades with your business needs.
- Customization Management: Flexibility in handling customizations.
- Budget Planning: Costs are predictable based on your chosen upgrade timing.
In summary, the Always Current Program ensures seamless, hassle-free upgrades for SaaS users, while the Flex Program offers more control and customization options for those requiring flexibility.
SaaS Upgrade Process:
- Contact Your Partner: If your Acumatica instance is cloud-hosted, reach out to your partner organization to submit an upgrade case with Acumatica.
- Scheduled Downtime: Coordinate the upgrade for a time when system usage is low.
- Customization Testing: Test customizations in a sandbox environment before upgrading.
- Latest Version Recommendation: Upgrade to the latest version available (e.g., 2024 R1) during this process.
Hosted—Private Cloud Subscription (PCS)
For those who prefer more control, the Private Cloud Subscription (PCS) allows you to host Acumatica on a private cloud of your choice. This model provides the freedom to decide the hosting environment and update schedules, though it demands more management effort.
PCS Upgrade Process:
- Â Involve Partner or IT Personnel: Your partner or IT team will manage the upgrade if you host your Acumatica software.
- Practice Upgrade: Conduct a practice upgrade and related testing, like the SaaS process.
- Customization Considerations: Ensure customizations are compatible with the new version.
- Upgrade to Latest Available Version: As with SaaS, we recommend upgrading to the latest available version.
Maintaining Acumatica: Planning for Updates
Regardless of your deployment choice, planning your updates in advance is key to maintaining Acumatica. Consider business cycles, resource availability, and testing requirements. Communicate the update schedule to your team and stakeholders to minimize disruptions and ensure everyone is prepared for the changes.
Maintaining Acumatica: Establish a robust backup and disaster recovery plan
Protecting your Acumatica data is essential to ensure business continuity and minimize the risk of data loss because of system failures, cyber-attacks, or other unforeseen events. A comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plan should include regular backups of your Acumatica data, testing of your backup and recovery processes, and secure off-site storage of your backups.
Acumatica provides built-in backup and restore functionality, allowing you to schedule automatic backups and store them locally or in the cloud. For SaaS customers, this happens automatically. Â However, it’s essential to supplement this with additional backup measures, such as third-party backup solutions or manual backups, to ensure you have multiple layers of protection.
Key components of a robust backup and disaster recovery plan
1. Define your recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) to determine the frequency of backups and the maximum acceptable downtime in case of a disaster.
2. Implement a combination of full, differential, and incremental backups to balance storage requirements and recovery speed.
3. Regularly test your backup and recovery processes to ensure they function as expected and you can execute them within your defined RTO.
4. Store backups in secure, off-site locations, such as cloud storage or geographically distant data centers, to protect against local disasters.
5. Document your backup and disaster recovery procedures and train your team to execute them effectively in case of an emergency.
Maintaining Acumatica: Provide ongoing training for users
Acumatica is a user-friendly ERP system, but like any complex software, it requires ongoing training to ensure users can leverage its full potential. By providing regular training sessions, you can help your team stay up to date with new features, improve their efficiency, and reduce the risk of errors because of improper system usage.
Ongoing training is key as your business grows, and new people join your team. A well-structured onboarding process that includes Acumatica training can help new employees get up to speed quickly and contribute to your organization’s success.
Effective training strategies
1. Develop a training plan that covers both basic and advanced Acumatica features tailored to the specific roles and responsibilities of your users. A good starting point is Acumatica Open University. For more customized training options, your Acumatica Value Added Reseller (VAR) aka partner, should be able to help.
2. Use a variety of training methods, such as in-person sessions, webinars, video tutorials, and hands-on exercises, to cater to different learning styles.
3. Encourage users to explore Acumatica’s built-in help resources, such as the user guide, context-sensitive help, and the Acumatica Open University.
4. Foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging users to share their knowledge and tips with their colleagues.
5. Regularly assess the effectiveness of your training programs and gather feedback from users to identify areas for improvement.
By following these steps for maintaining and optimizing your Acumatica system, you can ensure peak performance, minimize downtime, and empower your users to leverage the full potential of this powerful ERP solution. While Acumatica is user-friendly and easier to learn compared to more complex ERP systems like SAP, investing in ongoing training and support is essential to maximize your return on investment and drive long-term success.
Optimizing Acumatica Performance for Maximum Efficiency
- Boost Acumatica’s performance with strategic optimizations.
- Recognize and address obstacles that are causing delays to improve the user’s experience.
- Implement continuous improvements to ensure a lean, efficient system.
Acumatica’s performance directly affects user productivity and satisfaction. By optimizing your system, you can ensure that your team can work efficiently without frustrating delays or system hiccups. Let’s explore some key strategies for getting the most out of your Acumatica installation.
Maintaining Acumatica: Monitor system performance regularly
Proactively monitoring your Acumatica system is crucial for identifying performance issues before they spiral out of control. Acumatica provides built-in tools that allow you to track key metrics like response times, resource utilization, and user activity.
Use built-in tools to identify performance bottlenecks
Acumatica’s Performance Monitor is a powerful tool that helps you pinpoint performance bottlenecks. It provides real-time insights into system performance, allowing you to quickly identify and address issues. Be sure to check the Performance Monitor regularly, especially after system updates or significant changes in user activity.
Track key metrics like response times, resource utilization, and user activity
Keep a close eye on response times, as slow responses can frustrate users and hinder productivity. Monitor resource utilization to ensure that your system has sufficient capacity to handle your workload. Tracking user activity can help you identify peak usage times and adjust resources accordingly.
Address performance issues promptly to maintain optimal system health
When you identify performance issues, address them promptly to prevent them from escalating. This may involve optimizing queries, adjusting system settings, or upgrading hardware. By staying on top of performance issues, you can maintain a healthy, responsive system that supports your team’s productivity.
Optimize database indexes and queries
Efficient data retrieval is essential for optimal Acumatica performance. By optimizing your database indexes and queries, you can significantly reduce processing times and improve overall system responsiveness.
Regularly analyze and optimize database indexes for faster data retrieval
Database indexes help Acumatica quickly locate and retrieve data. However, over time, indexes can become fragmented or outdated, leading to slower performance. Regularly analyze your indexes using Acumatica’s built-in tools or third-party solutions. Optimize indexes by rebuilding or reorganizing them as needed to ensure efficient data retrieval.
Review and optimize complex queries to reduce processing time
Complex queries can be a major performance drain, especially if they involve large datasets or multiple joins. Regularly review your queries and look for opportunities to optimize them. This may involve breaking complex queries into smaller, more efficient ones, or using indexes to speed up data retrieval. For example, the Acumatica ERP Connector for Adobe Commerce can help synchronize data in real-time, reducing the need for complex queries.
Consider archiving or purging old data to reduce database size and improve performance
As your Acumatica database grows, it can become less efficient, leading to slower performance. One way to combat this is by archiving or purging old data that is no longer needed. This reduces the overall size of your database, making it faster and more manageable. Be sure to follow Acumatica’s guidelines for data archiving and purging to ensure data integrity and compliance with retention policies.
By monitoring system performance, optimizing database indexes and queries, and implementing these guidelines for customizations and integrations, you can ensure that your Acumatica system runs at peak efficiency. This not only improves the user’s experience, but also helps your team work more productively and effectively.
Customizations and Integrations: Handle with Care
Customizations and integrations can significantly enhance Acumatica’s functionality, tailoring the system to better meet your business needs. However, improper implementation can lead to performance issues and incompatibility. By following recommended methods, you can make sure that your customizations and integrations work well with your system.
Follow Acumatica’s Guidelines for System Customizations
Acumatica provides detailed guidelines to help ensure your customizations are compatible with future updates and do not introduce performance issues. It’s crucial to review and adhere to these guidelines meticulously during development to maintain system stability and avoid conflicts with upcoming releases.
Work with Your Acumatica Consultant for Effective Customizations
Collaborating with your Acumatica consultant is essential when designing and implementing customizations. Your consultant brings invaluable expertise and experience, helping you navigate the complexities of customization while aligning changes with best practices. They can assist in strategic planning, ensuring that your customizations meet both current needs and future growth. They ensure seamless integration with other systems, provide rigorous testing, and offer ongoing support, making them a critical partner in achieving reliable and effective customizations.
Key Reasons to Partner with Your Consultant:
- Knowledge and Experience: Use their expertise to create customizations that follow industry standards and meet your business objectives.
- Strategic Planning: Ensure customizations align with your long-term strategy and are not just short-term fixes.
- Seamless Integration: Ensure new customizations integrate well with existing systems.Testing and Validation: Conduct thorough testing to prevent issues before deployment.
- Compliance and Security: Maintain compliance and safeguard against security vulnerabilities.
- Ongoing Support: Benefit from continuous support for troubleshooting and updates.
Thoroughly Test Customizations and Integrations Before Deployment
Before deploying customizations or integrations to your production environment, it’s essential to test them extensively in a separate development or staging environment. This testing phase helps identify and resolve any performance issues or bugs before they affect your live system. Incorporating load testing can also help you understand how your customizations will perform under real-world conditions.
Document Customizations and Integrations for Easier Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Proper documentation is critical for maintaining and troubleshooting customizations and integrations. Clearly document the purpose, functionality, and dependencies of each customization or integration. This documentation will be invaluable for troubleshooting issues or making updates in the future, facilitating smoother maintenance and reducing the risk of errors.
Maintaining Acumatica: Planning and Executing Successful Acumatica Upgrades
- Ensure a smooth transition to the latest Acumatica version
- Minimize downtime and disruption to business operations
- Leverage new features and improvements for enhanced productivity
Upgrading your Acumatica system is crucial for maintaining optimal performance, security, and functionality. By carefully planning and executing the upgrade process, you can minimize disruption to your business operations and ensure a seamless transition to the latest version.
Develop a comprehensive upgrade plan
Before initiating the upgrade process, it’s essential to create a thorough plan that outlines the steps and resources required. This plan should address the following key areas:
Identify the new features and improvements you want to leverage
Review the release notes for the new Acumatica version and identify the features and improvements that align with your business goals. Prioritize the ones that will have the most significant impact on your operations and productivity. For example, Acumatica’s upgrade process involves reviewing release notes to identify changes that may affect customizations or standard features.
Assess the impact of the upgrade on your customizations and integrations
Evaluate how the upgrade will affect any customizations or integrations you’ve implemented in your current Acumatica system. Determine if these customizations and integrations will be compatible with the new version or if they require modifications. This assessment is critical, as major version upgrades can introduce significant changes to code and schema.
Create a detailed timeline and checklist for the upgrade process
Develop a timeline that outlines each step of the upgrade process, including testing, data backup, and deployment. Create a checklist to ensure that you complete all necessary tasks and don’t overlook any critical steps. A comprehensive checklist can include items such as scheduling system lockouts, testing in a sandbox environment, and reviewing release notes.
Communicate with stakeholders and users
Effective communication is key to a successful Acumatica upgrade. Keep stakeholders and users informed throughout the process to ensure a smooth transition and minimize resistance to change.
Inform stakeholders and users about the upgrade timeline and expected downtime
Communicate the upgrade timeline to all relevant parties, including management, IT staff, and end-users. Provide clear information about any expected downtime and how it may affect their work. This transparency helps users plan their activities accordingly and reduces frustration.
Provide training on new features and changes introduced by the upgrade
Offer training sessions or materials to familiarize users with the new features and changes introduced by the upgrade. This training should cover any modifications to user interfaces, workflows, or processes. By empowering users with the knowledge they need to use the updated system effectively, you can minimize productivity losses and ensure a smoother transition.
Gather feedback and address concerns to ensure a smooth transition
Encourage users to provide feedback and voice any concerns they may have about the upgrade. Address these concerns promptly and provide solutions or workarounds where necessary. This open dialogue helps build trust and ensures that users feel supported throughout the transition process.
Perform thorough testing and validation
Before deploying the upgraded Acumatica system to your production environment, it’s crucial to conduct extensive testing and validation to minimize the risk of disruptions or errors.
Test the upgraded system in a staging environment before deploying to production
Set up a staging environment that mirrors your production environment as closely as possible. Perform comprehensive tests on the upgraded system in this staging environment to identify any potential issues or incompatibilities. This approach allows you to address problems without affecting your live business operations.
Validate that all customizations, integrations, and business processes work as expected
Verify that all customizations, integrations, and critical business processes function correctly in the upgraded system. Test various scenarios and edge cases to ensure that the system behaves as expected under different conditions. If you identify any issues, collaborate with your IT team or Acumatica partner to resolve them before proceeding with the production deployment.
Conduct user acceptance testing to ensure the system meets user requirements
Involve a representative group of end-users in the testing process to validate that the upgraded system meets their requirements and expectations. The user acceptance testing (UAT) helps validate that the upgraded system meets the requirements and expectations of the end-users, while also identifying any usability issues or workflow bottlenecks you may have overlooked during the technical testing phase. Incorporate user feedback to refine the system and ensure a positive experience for the user.
By following these steps, you can ensure a successful Acumatica upgrade that minimizes disruption to your business operations and empowers your team to leverage the latest features and improvements for enhanced productivity and efficiency.
Leveraging Acumatica Customization Tips for Tailored Functionality
- Tailor Acumatica to your unique business needs with customization options
- Follow best practices for developing and maintaining customizations
- Regularly review and update customizations to ensure optimal performance
Understand the different customization options
Acumatica offers several customization options to help businesses tailor the software to their specific needs. The built-in customization tools allow users to change screens, fields, and workflows without requiring extensive coding knowledge. For more advanced customizations, the Acumatica Cloud xRP Platform provides a powerful development environment that enables businesses to create custom modules, integrate with third-party applications, and extend the functionality of the software. The Acumatica Customization Guide provides comprehensive instructions for businesses to create and manage customizations, detailing the customization flexibility offered by the Cloud xRP Platform.
When evaluating customization options, it’s essential to consider the specific requirements of your industry and business processes. Third-party extensions and solutions can offer pre-built customizations for common industry-specific needs, such as manufacturing, distribution, or professional services. These solutions can save time and resources compared to developing customizations from scratch.
Case study: Titan Sales & Consulting
Acumatica’s powerful customization features played a crucial role in transforming TITAN Sales & Consulting, an adhesive manufacturer, from a company struggling with QuickBooks limitations to a modern, efficient operation. Facing challenges like poor inventory control, redundant manual processes, and database errors, TITAN implemented a customized Acumatica ERP system.
The implementation, conducted in two phases, addressed critical issues by integrating financials, CRM, and manufacturing modules tailored to TITAN’s needs. Custom features, such as a mobile sales order system and automated customer notifications, streamlined processes and improved inventory control.
Ultimately, Acumatica’s flexibility provided TITAN with real-time data insights, enhanced project management, and scalability, driving significant business growth and operational efficiency. This case highlights how Acumatica’s customization empowers businesses to meet their unique requirements and achieve their goals.
Guidelines for Maintaining Acumatica: customization development
Following best practices during the development process is essential for ensuring that Acumatica customizations are sustainable and perform effectively over time. Use version control systems like Git to manage customization code and configurations, making it easier to track changes, collaborate with team members, and roll back to previous versions if needed. Adhere to Acumatica’s coding standards and naming conventions when developing customizations. This consistency helps improve code readability and makes it easier for other developers to understand and maintain the customizations in the future. Thoroughly document customizations, including their purpose, functionality, and any dependencies. This documentation serves as a valuable reference for future maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Regularly review and update customizations
Regularly reviewing and updating your customizations is essential as your business grows and Acumatica releases new features and updates. Monitor the performance and usability of customizations over time to identify any issues or areas for improvement. User feedback can provide valuable insights into how well the customizations are meeting their needs and if any changes are required. For example, the Acumatica Year-End Checklist highlights the importance of reviewing and updating customizations to ensure compatibility with new features and fiscal year changes.
When new Acumatica releases new features, evaluate whether they can replace or enhance existing customizations. Updating customizations to align with new features can help maintain compatibility and leverage the latest improvements in the software. Similarly, as business processes change, companies may need to update or retire customizations to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
Customization audit checklist
To effectively manage customizations over time, consider conducting regular audits using the following checklist:
1. Review customization usage and performance metrics
2. Gather user feedback on customization effectiveness and usability
3. Evaluate compatibility with latest Acumatica version and features
4. Identify any redundant or outdated customizations
5. Update documentation and knowledge transfer materials
6. Plan for necessary customization updates or retirements
By following these guidelines and regularly reviewing and updating customizations, businesses can ensure that their Acumatica implementation remains tailored to their unique needs and optimized for performance.
Mastering Acumatica Maintenance in 2024
Acumatica is a powerful tool for your business, but like any software, it requires regular maintenance to keep it running at peak performance. By following these simple strategies, you can ensure that your Acumatica system remains efficient, secure, and tailored to your unique needs.
From updating to the latest version and establishing a robust backup plan, to optimizing performance and leveraging customization options, these tips will help you maintain Acumatica like a pro. Remember, investing time in training users and communicating effectively during upgrades will also contribute to a smoother, more productive experience for everyone involved.
As your business grows and changes, so will your Acumatica system. By staying vigilant and adapting your maintenance strategies, you’ll be well-positioned to maximize the value of this powerful ERP solution for years to come.
Ready to take your Acumatica maintenance to the next level? Start by prioritizing the strategies that will have the greatest impact on your organization and seek guidance from Acumatica experts when needed. With a solid plan in place, you can confidently navigate the ever-changing landscape of business technology and stay ahead of the curve.
Now, it’s your turn. What’s one aspect of Acumatica maintenance you’re most excited to optimize in the coming year?
