Whenever we are talking with a prospect about potentially buying new on premise software, we discuss the relevant system specifications to be sure any critical requirements are met before implementing the new system. Even with hosted systems, there may be browser or operating system requirements that need to be considered. The key is that software is not implemented in a vacuum and it is important that the software environment meet published requirements. 

Where things sometimes go wrong is after a user has been up and going with the software for a while. As things move forward, and new software updates are released, there may be changes to the system requirements that if overlooked could have a negative impact on software performance as well as complicate or negate the ability to get support when issues are encountered.

In order to be sure your system is running at peak performance, we recommend that you don't reach too high or too low but rather stay firmly within any published specifications. For example, with Abila MIP Fund Accounting™ you need to be running specific versions of SQL Server or SQL Express.  If you are not confirming the specs, and updating these if needed, as you update your MIP software, you may end up with an unsupported version of SQL.

But, along the same lines, you don't want to jump into the latest and greatest version of SQL if it has not gone through full quality assurance testing with the vendor and been published as part of the accepted system specifications.  This could have just as much of a negative impact as an older version might have.

The easiest way to keep on top of this is to make it part of your upgrade checklist and verify that any changes that have been published to the system specifications are met before updating to the latest version.

If you're using MIP Fund Accounting, here are a couple of helpful action items to verify that you stay within the system specifications:

1. Review link to Abila's system requirement's landing page which is updated as changes occur: MIP Fund Accounting System Requirements ›

2. Check in with your IT specialist and be sure they are registered for our mailing list so they can be up to date with new release information.

Soft Trac is a woman-owned business and accomplished team of nonprofit software consultants.  We believe in making nonprofits "do good" better.   For more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog or to learn more about the software products and services we offer, please  CONTACT Soft Trac.

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