Replacing old software

Replacing a software that you have been using for years is not a simple task. You are an experienced user, you know the product pros and cons.
Just analyzing what tasks and processes will be affected can be very difficult. Additionally, you need to make sure that you make the right decision when selecting your future solution.

But how can you be sure that you make the right decision?

Today about 75% of all our new projects are replacing competitor products, so let me share with you our experience, hopefully, that will make this process easier for you.
There are many reasons why you may be in the market for a new solution. The product you have is no longer supported, no one internally knows how to operate the product, expensive paying consultants for changes or you simply need more functionality to accommodate business requirements.

So what to do?

Logically, you would start by building up a requirement list reflecting the pros and cons of the old product including new requirements plus the conversion of all templates. A list could consist of basic output features like quick template designs, no programming, PDF support, 2D barcoding, printing capabilities, etc. Basically, the things you need to run your business.

Our experience is that such a requirement list is often modified after we have had the first session with a potential customer. Let us say you have had your old product for 15 years, which is very normal, then you most likely have not spent too much time studying competitive products.

We know that, so we make sure that you are introduced to all the tools matching your requirements that you don’t know about. Typically, it turns out that customers are able to replace additional products with InterForm because it comes with the functionality they did not know about. We also have a handful of other topics that we address making sure that you get a solution that matches your current requirements and your long-term IT strategy.

Conversion

The last thing I want to focus on is the conversion of old designs/forms/templates. Some customers have hundreds of templates so they instantly mark that as critical/very important. In theory, it sounds great but the reality based on our experience shows something else.

By simply converting templates individually, at the very least you get the minimum standard in a new product! Perhaps forgetting the main reason why you wanted to replace the product from the beginning.

Nothing like 100 % conversion

There are no 100 % conversion tools out there, and the time spent on improving conversion numbers normally supersede the return. You may come close but I explain below why this approach is not recommended.

Let me explain. When you started with the old solution and made your first template, you most likely had no clue where you would end up. Meanwhile, several people have worked on your setup resulting in an inconsistent structure. Not to forget when you had to hurry up and create a new template and you simply made a quick and dirty “save as” version of an existing template. Most customers we help have a ton of unused templates. This is not really ideal for any conversion tool.

On the other hand, you now have a golden opportunity to build the right template structure, reduce the total amount of templates, and make sure that you get a much nicer and cleaner setup. The time saved on future maintenance is enough to make our product worth your while.

Typical benefits InterForm customers get:

• Best practice is introduced
• New designs are more efficient and perform better
• Change logo, font, or footer on all templates in seconds
• One template including language layers instead of one version per language
• Each template has a documentation layer

If you are considering replacing your old forms management or printing solution, then don’t hesitate to reach out to us. With InterForm, you get a vendor that lives and breathes output management since 1987.