Written by Travis Pryor, Digital Account Strategist
There are few days that are as exciting as the day you upgrade your cell phone.
Think back to the last time you upgraded your cell phone. That day was full of excitement, and fear
.
You’re excited because you are about to get something new and shiny that promises to deliver more features, faster processing, better photos, more storage, etc..
You’re fearful because you are deciding about a product that you will always carry with you, use for hours every day, and are stuck with for the next year or two.
For the most part this is true anytime we upgrade anything in life. We have grown comfortable and accustom to using the current generation of the product, but inevitably a new version arrives on the market and even if you’re not the first adopter eventually you will be forced to adopt.
Remember VHS tapes and DVD’s?
I think you get the point I’m trying to make, so let me give you a few reasons why you should upgrade your Kentico Content Management System (CMS) and not be fearful.
1. Save Money
Upgrading your Kentico CMS can be an expensive endeavor. There are license renewal fees, development cost, and possible support ticket fees. However, there will be a cost reduction over time because of future development time. When you upgrade your CMS you are upgrading with current custom development trends, security features, and various bug fixes, which will allow your development time to more quickly assess and make necessary changes to your website.
2. Easier Upgrade in the Future
What most people don’t understand about upgrading their Kentico CMS is that you cannot jump from version 7 to 10. You must first upgrade from 7 to 8, 8 to 9, and 9 to 10. There are maintenance renewal fees associated with each version upgrade as well as a development fee. This can prove to be very expensive and time consuming. If you are up-to-date with the most current version of your CMS you are going to have an easier path to upgrade, which will be less expensive, less time consuming, and more productive for your website.
3. New Features
As User Experience (UX) changes with the shift from personal computing to more mobile browsing, you need a CMS that is full of features for your user. With each upgrade made, you are gaining access to different features that allow your target audinece to have a better experience with your website. The nice thing is that your user may not even realize that changes have taken place, but they certainly may notice if you haven’t upgraded and are out of date. All it takes is one great experience on a competitor’s website to realize that your website is not offering a comparable browsing or e-commerce experience.
Should you choose to ignore the available upgrades there are some things you should consider:
- You may miss out on critical security updates.
- You might outdate your systems, making them more difficult to maintain and develop.
- It can be difficult to support emerging technologies (like IoT) in the future.
- Your version of the platform may no longer be supported. (After 3 Versions)
- New documentation and materials will most likely be targeted to the latest version of the platform.
- You may not be able to take advantage of any financial incentives related to upgrading.
- As the years pass by, data adds up, tables and indexes become fragmented, and legacy systems get older.
At Bitwise, we like to focus on what is important: relationships. Rather than being seen as just another “vendor,” we like to "Partner" with our clients to build a relationship based on trust. Specializing in Marketing, Creative, and Custom Development, we are your trusted Carmel web design and development solution specialists.
Sources:
https://devnet.kentico.com/articles/so-your-cms-released-an-upgrade-now-what
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