Cooper Software’s Managed Service Desk expands to offer IFS Update Support

We are pleased to offer IFS customers currently running IFS Applications 9 and 10 an exclusive update support service. Running alongside our existing managed support offering, the new service is designed to make the adoption of core IFS solution updates as smooth as possible.

Issued quarterly from IFS, an update is essentially a cumulative set of fixes and improvements for the core version of IFS software and is delivered by IFS Product Development. Each update mainly contains patches, legal requirements, new capabilities and security vulnerability and bug fixes. They are a key element of how IFS supports their customers and is a method of ensuring that they can continuously deliver a quality experience.  

Despite being designed with ease of deployment as a key principle, the installation of a new update does require a certain level of planning from the customer. We understand that setting aside time for updates can be difficult for customers to prioritise. This is largely due to the level of time involved in reviewing the updates and the critical need to gain a full understanding of what is contained within each update, what parts are relevant to your individual business and most importantly, carrying out the appropriate level of testing to determine the overall impact deploying the update will have on your existing processes.

By offering our IFS Update Support service, we can alleviate these issues. We will work with IFS Applications 9 and 10 customers to proactively monitor all future update schedules and when an update is due for release, we will liaise with you to put a robust update plan in place. As part of the plan, we will review the content of the update you are due to move to. What’s more, using our own in-house tool, we can analyse which areas will be impacted by each update and can then advise on the best, most efficient test plans for your business. This will drive the requirement for the overall level of testing of critical business flows.

The outcome is a clear update strategy that guarantees that your IFS solution will be continuously refreshed with the latest IFS Product Development offering and kept up to date with minimal effort. Most importantly, having a proper update strategy in place will reduce the time, expense and frustration caused by unplanned emergency patching and allow for controlled maintenance periods which will improve both processes and performance.

Commenting on the new Update Support Service, Lee Mackreath, Head of Service Desk at Cooper Software said, “We have recently helped several customers to successfully identify, plan for and implement updates.  We recognise that without a proper update system in place, customers are needlessly falling behind on updates, resulting in them experiencing performance issues further down the line. By offering support in this area, we are helping IFS customers to ensure they are always on the latest version of the software while successfully making any required process improvements that directly affect their business.”

To find out more about our Update Support Service, please get in touch.