What does ‘end of life’ mean for your payroll product?
Is your current payroll product coming to an end? What does that really mean? What happens next, and how can your business prepare?
As products come to the end of their life there are a few things you as a customer need to make note of, and options you should be considering.
What does end of life mean, and why is my payroll product coming to an end?
Typically, a software company will ‘end of life’ a payroll product due to its poor customer suitability, continued negative customer feedback, ageing infrastructure and down-right ‘not-fit-for-purpose-ness.’
Odds are if your product is coming to the end of its life, there’s good reason for it.
Is your payroll product coming to the end of its life? Here’s what to look for.
Sometimes you must ask yourself, is the writing on the wall?
- Is your product running slower?
- Has development ground to a halt?
- Are issues you’ve flagged multiple times not being addressed?
- Are you still dealing with on-premise software?
- Have you been dealing with more and more security breaches?
- Is your software clunky and hard to navigate with no signs of improvement?
If that’s the case, it could very well be that your supplier is planning to discontinue the product.
Alternatively, your supplier might be up front and honest with you and give you plenty of notice that your product is coming to an end.
What should I be asking my payroll provider if my payroll product is coming to an end?
While your payroll provider might promise “we’ve changed, this time we’re different” be wary. It’s no surprise that your provider will want to retain your business, that means they’ll want to get you on another product as quickly as possible.
Make sure you’re asking these all-important questions before saying yes to their replacement product:
- How will this new solution benefit me and my employees?
- What additional improvements come with this product?
- Is it a cloud-based solution, how are infrastructure updates made?
- Is it suitable for my employee count?
- Do I need training on this new system, is this going to cost me even more money?
- How long will migration to your new product take?
What are my options?
While a break-up is never easy, an end of life product might be the kicker you need to start looking at your other options. According to our Annual Payroll Survey 2021, 28% of people have been with their provider for 10 or more years, with a huge 33% stating switching is ‘too much hassle.’
Well, we say in for a penny, in for a pound. If you’re going to switch from one product to another it might as well be a good fit, and the truth is switching payroll provider doesn’t have to be all the hassle it’s cracked up to be. So, here are a few things you should be looking out for in your new payroll product.
Data security you don’t have to think twice about
35% of cyberattacks seen during the pandemic were from previously unseen malware or methods.** We all know cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and the shift to remote working has made it even easier for payroll data to get into the wrong hands. So, ask yourself, is this solution cloud-based? Is security continually monitored, or is it an annual tick-box exercise? You’ll want to be able to trust that your solution protects your important and private people data.
No more worrying about compliance
The holy grail of managed and payroll software. There are at least 174 pieces of regulation affecting payroll in the UK, and with so many additional ‘need to knows’, it can be difficult to know where to begin. That’s why you need to be confident your software stays up to date with the latest changes to payroll legislation.
Less wasted time on manual calculations
In the CIPP’s report (2020) they found 86% of respondents believe automated business processing will reduce transactional responsibilities. Manually pulling calculations outside of payroll is not only time consuming, it’s liable to human error. Automating your payroll processes – where possible – is vital.
Expert advice when you need it
No matter whether you’re opting for a managed payroll or payroll software, the level of support needs to be up to scratch. Look into how requests, complaints and issues are processed. Is it a long drawn out ticketing system, slow call backs, or outsourced to none certified experts? Be careful what service you settle for.
Integration to save you time
Gone are the days where we need to input the same data in every system. Great payroll software will integrate into your other tools like HR software, employee benefits and finance. Whether it’s a truly integrated system or an open API infrastructure. Look for integration on the label.
Is your payroll product end of life? Not feeling prepared? Moorepay’s payroll solutions are built on over fifty years of expertise. Talk to us about how we make switching easy.
**Impact of COVID-19 on Cybersecurity (Deloitte, 2020)
