The term maintenance means all activities necessary for the flawless operation of the software, which includes assistance during setup, upgrades and migration, general user support, and other. Datalab bills such procedures in accordance with the service price list, but you can also conclude a maintenance agreement with which you’ll be entitled to a certain amount of support time (based on the type of contract), cheaper support fees, and priority treatment.
Our primary goal is the security and satisfaction of our users. Due to Datalab’s business structure – whereby Datalab develops the software suite, while other partner companies may be responsible for maintenance, implementation and training – a situation may arise, when a user is not satisfied with the services provided by a partner.
Datalab gives users the option to select any support partner they want without question. Users can choose their own support partner and can change it as they see fit. They only need to send an e-mail or call Datalab to let them know that they’re ending the cooperation with Partner A and are changing to Partner B or to the Datalab HQ.
Licenses and all paid-for services are the property of the user and are not bound to a partner, and are valid no matter how many support partner changes they have made.
We would like to add that each support partner best knows their users. When changing your support partner, it’s important to note that the new support partner will need to learn about the user’s business from scratch, which can lead to higher costs.
When an upgrade is triggered, PANTHEON sends the upgrade server information about the current software version.
Users may have different upgrade schedules: User A upgrades PANTHEON every month, user B skipped the last version, and user C upgraded their applications six months ago.
PANTHEON does not send any other data to the server except for system data about the installed PANTHEON software. We guarantee that your business data are kept secure during upgrades.
- Step 2 – Distribution of registration codes and change logs
The upgrade server uses the version data to compile a list of changes that the user needs to install a new version.
If the user acquired new licenses (e.g. to increase the number users, extend their upgrade subscription, add new modules, or change the their licensing model), the server calculates new authorization codes and sends them to PANTHEON.
- Step 3 – Downloading changes
PANTHEON uses the change log to determine which new versions to request from the upgrade server. It downloads the new versions to the upgrade directory on the local server, from which the upgrades will be installed on users’ workstations.
Because the server knows which versions the user has installed, it doesn’t download all upgrades from the very first version, but only the difference relevant for the user and the currently installed version. This means that instead of 60MB of data, only approximately 10MB have to be downloaded on average. The upgrade costs are therefore much lower.
- Step 4 – Database upgrade
PANTHEON then runs a database structure upgrade. During the upgrade, it fixes the database structure, updates reports and procedures stored on the SQL server.
- Step 5 – Installation on users’ workstations
There are usually several workstations running PANTHEON in one company. To avoid having to upgrade each user’s workstation individually and avoiding unnecessary stress for systems administrators, PANTHEON automatically checks whether updates exist and installs these updates for each user.
This means that information system maintenance requirements are reduced, and upgrading is centralized. The administrator knows that by upgrading the system from their workstation, they can upgrade all workstations in the company.
Business ERP is like a living organism, ever changing and evolving.. External pressures such as changes in legislation require adaptation, meaning software updates. Even more changes come from within, leading to the development and advancement of the information system, which in turn becomes even faster, more stable and generally better to use. At the same time, the underlying technology is changing as well.
It gives the user the possibility to use the latest version of Datalab PANTHEON and its new features, and ensures compliance with legislation and the environment, in which PANTHEON is used (Windows OS, Android).
For this purpose, regular software updates have to be installed, which are called upgrades. You’re entitled to an upgrade if you’ve concluded an upgrade subscription. The upgrade subscription is not included in the price of licenses, except in the case of PANTHEON Cloud.
ERP business solutions are living organisms, and as such must change and adapt. Even external demands (legislation changes, for example) mandate new software versions. An even greater number of changes and enhancements are the result of the development of the operating system itself, and serve to make it easier to use, more stable, and faster. The technology that serves as a base of IT changes as well.
For this reason the program must be upgraded to newer versions. You are entitled to an upgrade or keeping the software up-to-date if you concluded an Update agreement. Otherwise upgrading is not included in the license price, except in PANTHEON Cloud.