Lawson with no support

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Terry P
Veteran Member
Posts: 234
Veteran Member
    With the ever increasing cost of Lawson (and other reasons), our Districts are considering moving away from Lawson to another product. We would like to convert at the end of a calendar year end (December 31st), but our support agreement is on a fiscal year basis (July). Lawson has indicated they would not provide support for a six month period. So I have a few questions:

    1) Has anyone ran Lawson without Bronze or Silver support? If so, what problems did you encounter?
    2) Are there any other way to get "patches only" without full support? Specifically year end?
    3) How much of a risk is it to run Lawson for 6 months with no support?

    We have been on Lawson 9.0.1 (iSeries) for about a year now. We don't plan to implement any new core or application upgrades unless needed. We also have source code and staff that can fix and modify any minor bugs that comes up.

    You can respond here, or privately to me at:

    Terry Pickering
    Business and Student Systems Manager
    Clackamas ESD
    tpickering@clackesd.k12.or.us


    Thanks!
    TRACY
    Veteran Member
    Posts: 58
    Veteran Member
      I just sent you a email as we would be very interested in talking further as we are also considering other options. Thanks.
      SWilkins
      Advanced Member
      Posts: 28
      Advanced Member
        Over the years I've been at three companies that were "off support" for multiple years and all managed to survive. As long as you understand the risks and have knowledgeable staff to support yourself you'll probably be fine (espesically just for six months). The end of year patches for 2012 will likely just be the normal AP 1099 and W2 formatting changes for the AP and Payroll modules. If you have Payroll you of course are always subject to patch needs based on specific state or federal changes for taxing calculations which given the current political environment could be volitle but I wouldn't rush to spend the cash just for that reason. Depending on your annual costs with Lawson just weigh the pros/cons with Sr management so you've got some cover in case something does come up or your timeline extends beyond the end of year.
        Shane Jones
        Veteran Member
        Posts: 460
        Veteran Member
          Terry,
          Some of the consulting companies will provide support for "off support" products. You could consider contacting an approved vendor and get a reduced cost support option or a support if needed arrangement...

          I have been reviewing options if I have an unsupported operating system for Lawson at the end of this year and I have already already found a consulting company that could provide support if the year-end patching creates problems for us.

          Good luck
          Shane Jones
          Tools: HR, Payroll, Benefits, PFI, Smart Office, BSI, Portal and Self-Service
          Systems: Lawson, Open Hire, Kronos, Crystal Reporting, SumTotal Learning
          ** Teach others to fish...
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