Sage 100

Notice to all.... Customer just upgraded to version 5 2013 and is migrating all FRx reports to Sage Intelligence. I downloaded the FRx conversion tool, and advised by Sage tech support the tool is compatible with v4.5 and above. Well.... it's not. Next, was advised to contact Alchemex via opening a case on their web site. Alchemex has responded that there is no Sage 100 v5 2013 conversion utility. Email from Alchemex: "" Currently we only have compatibility with Sage 100 v4.5, and would recommend that you follow the process in the attached document to convert. "" The ""attached document"" is over 100 pages long. Easier to manually recreate the financial statements using the report designer...... we're having fun now.

This is excellent feedback - thank you

Doug could you post that document to this message so we'll have a complete summary - thanks! Use the ""Attach File

@WayneSchulz FRx to Sage Intelligence Report Designer conversion guide attached.

Looking at the document again it is ""only"" 56 printed pages. When it is opened in Word it is displayed 2 pages at a time. It displays on the screen 100 pages.

Thanks - copied to our Evernote KB - will post instructions shortly on how everyone can subscribe to this notebook. https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/88f2f011-e64e-4035-b4c8-5727c78de63a/7ccf5651bd5bab289dfec58092487069

To clarify - The attached instructions are applicable only if the user has purchased the Report Designer. The Report Designer is not required when using the FRx conversion utility. If the user doesn't have the Report Designer and is on Sage100 v2013 they are screwed.

Any possiblity that the FRx reports be converted in v4.5, then just ported over?

Good point @JeffSchwenk though that's still somewhat of a hurdle for customers coming from a version earlier than 4.5 ""Mr/Ms Customer in order to convert your FRX reports we need to do two upgrades"" And to start with most FRX users are happy and not overly eager to convert to something else - especially if it costs $$. That's been my experience at least.

And of course, with such an 'integrated' company, you have one hand not knowing what the other is doing. I'm sure the coming 'automatic upgrade' feature' is going to make this all a cakewalk and clients wont need us.

At times, I think Sage creates MORE barriers than they eliminate. This is a good example. What is it that is so radically different in GL v2013, v4.5, v4.4 etc? I can't think of anything. Why SMI can't handle this is beyond me. But then I just shake my head sadly and say ""fucus"". You don't really have to do two installs at the client, but you would have to take client data to your office, do the MAS migration on your system, then convert the FRx data, then export SMI and take it back to client. Yes, more steps than necessary but certainly few involved by doing it on the client side with the intermediate steps. Another opportunity for a MOTF value pricing project.

What value does this give to the customer? Remember we're in the era where customers download apps from iTunes and/or Google Play and are up and running. Looks at what they have to go through for these on-prem apps. There will be a grace period where customers will grin and bear it but at some point they're either going to switch to an easier solution or (more) significantly slow their upgrade cycle.

The value is that the upgrade is done and the client is happier, all your comments are valid and if the reseller has to price in all workarounds resulting in a higher upgrade fee, then they certainly will start looking elsewhere, start skipping updates and start considering dropping the cash cow M & S. Or as Sage is banking on, they will continue to put up with the aggravation. The Brits have a way of building unsinkable ships. Where do you expect MAS to go when there is minimal R & D and all the eggs are in recurring revenue basket? The sky is indeed falling, just don't know when. As a reseller, we can only work with the hand we are dealt. The question for this post is how does Doug get the conversion done. Rebuild everything from the ground up or is there a way to do less work.

Great comments here. I was on site when I discovered the FRx conversion utility wasn't going to work. Shame on me for taking Sage's word for it that it was compatible and not testing it first. However, To add fuel to the fire..... when I called Sage and told them I was getting an ""incompatible message"", they told me to ""contact"" Alchemex. My reply was 1. I thought Sage was Alchemex, and 2. What do you mean by ""contact""? Why don't you just connect me to whomever it is I need to be speaking with? Of course I suspected I already knew the answers to these questions... ""They are in South Africa and aren't open now"", if you want to call them, you need to make an international call in the middle of the night, or ""Go to their web site and open a support ticket and they will get back to you."". None of these options is particularly helpful when you are on site in the middle of a 4.3 to 2013 conversion.

These are great observations. I'm not sure how Sage is going to make progress here.

So why are the Indian call centers open with an 800 number available??? Piss poor response. Is Steve still around or Debbie Hill? They should be told!

Another reason to use Biznet, based in california.

For a customer who likes FRX and has no interest in spreadsheet or expanded usage - can you think of a reason not to use RenovoFYI and have them (for a fixed fee) convert the FRX reports?

We've been converting FRx reports by basically cutting and pasting rows and trees from FRx. We've had positive responses from our customers who are making the leap since the report designer add-in was made available. We don't even mess with the original designer any more.