Epicor and Sage and FRx: what deadline?
Rumor has it that Epicor and Sage have an extended agreement with Microsoft that will allow customers to continue purchasing FRx until 12/31/11.
I heard this a few months ago and I’m really hoping it’s true. I tried contacting both Sage and Epicor so that I could hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. My efforts were ridiculously (or ridonkulously) ineffective. After hours on hold, well…I hung up.
Now I’ve heard it from a couple of colleagues as well. Here’s hoping.
How long will Microsoft continue to provide tech support for FRx for these two ERPs? I have no idea.
I’m hoping some readers might know something and comment as needed. Cheers—Jan
I asked the Sage MAS product managers and this is what I received. I assume that this applies across all the various Sage product lines but cannot say for sure. It seems consistent with the information that they’ve been providing us all along.
For the Sage MAS products and based on our contract with Microsoft, customers can purchase FRx licenses until January 31st, 2011. As of Feb. 1st customers will not be able to purchase FRx from Sage anymore.
Sage will continue to support the FRx integrations with MAS 90 up to and including V4.5 and MAS 500 up to and including V7.4. After January 31st, 2011, Sage cannot escalate issues with FRx to Microsoft anymore to resolve any defects within the FRx product, so Sage’s support is limited to ensuring the MAS products are compatible with the then-current release of FRx.
With the recent launch of Sage MAS Intelligence, Sage customers are able to “swap” their FRx licenses for Sage MAS Intelligence licenses.
Excellent; I had hoped you’d know and would comment, Wayne. Thanks. Now I’ll try to stir up an Epicor consultant.
In an attempt to offer Epicor users an alternative to FRx going away, Epicor has released Advanced Financial Reporter (AFR). Similar in concept to rows, columns, trees, etc.
Epicor is no longer selling FRx to new installs. Currently a new customer can choose Management Reporter or AFR. I believe end of life support is 12/31/2011 as well.
The industry direction seems to be migrating from a dedicated financial report writing tool to using reporting features in corporate performance management (CPM) platforms. This makes more sense as you can report against the data as well as plan and forecast within the same platform.
Hey thanks Brad!
And my understanding is that Epicor’s Management Reporter is version 1 which is not the v2 that is shipping with Dynamics.
I asked the Sage MAS product managers and this is what I received. I assume that this applies across all the various Sage product lines but cannot say for sure. It seems consistent with the information that they’ve been providing us all along. For the Sage MAS products and based on our contract with Microsoft, customers can purchase FRx licenses until January 31st, 2011. As of Feb. 1st customers will not be able to purchase FRx from Sage anymore. Sage will continue to support the FRx integrations with MAS 90 up to and including V4.5 and MAS 500 up to and including V7.4. After January 31st, 2011, Sage cannot escalate issues with FRx to Microsoft anymore to resolve any defects within the FRx product, so Sage’s support is limited to ensuring the MAS products are compatible with the then-current release of FRx. With the recent launch of Sage MAS Intelligence, Sage customers are able to “swap” their FRx licenses for Sage MAS Intelligence licenses.
This is what a consultant friend of mine sent me on Dec 21, 2010:
“I just heard from Sage that FRx will be continued to be sold through July 2011. The contract with Microsoft apparently is through 12/31/2011. However, they are negotiating with their FRx replacement (I think Alchemex) and may decide to stop selling FRx in July.
I’m not sure if this is for just PFW, as the guy from Sage did not specify, but I think it does include the MAS products.”