Sage CRM

When I went through training for EES it was said that SQL express is only supported in test environments of SageCRM and never in production. I am installing the 4.5 with SageCRM and when I use Express it says that it is only supported in production for small CRM user count. So is Sage supporting production use of express? What is Small CRM user count to them? 5, 10, 15, 20 what?

Todd - I just heard about this from another partner we work with and I'm looking into it. This is news to me - we have quite a few clients using the SQL Express option. I think what the trainer meant was: it's generally not accepted practice. But, guess what? It works just fine and it's nearly the same software features. Who was the trainer?

In the install I think it says that SQL Express isn't supported. Back when Bruce Holmes was teaching the class in AZ he said that it wasn't supported but for 5 or less it would work.

We've had a couple of accounts running MAS 90 EES with SQL Express for years. My understanding is the only real limit should be the file size limitation of SQL Express. 4 Gb I believe.

@ToddMartin - Who was your trainer?

It was through the cbt.

CBT???

I've worked with some long haired hippy dude who lives in my neighborhood. By the way, let's have breakfast.

You talking to me, Ziliak? I'm still reeling from your previous post about having ""several"" clients on EES with SQL Express. You've only had me help with one!! I'm kind of hurt ... I suppose we can hash it out over breakfast next week if you have the time. Don't be surprised if I ""accidentally"" forget my wallet. Again.

CBT= Computer Based Training

@PeterWolf how about Tuesday 7:30 am at our usual gormet spot? I'll bring you lunch money too! ;)

7:30!!! You're killing me ... Consider it booked.

@PeterWolf Yes, I'm finally being active. (These damn sales opportunities keep getting in the way!) So what was the practical answer to this OLD post? Can I safely propose SQL Express for a 5-user system where the database is relatively small?

@JohnHoyt So what kinds of deals are you closing these days?

@MarkChinsky Food Industry - production, distribution, packaging; Entertainment - movie props; High-end hair care products - production, distribution; non-profits. All are 200 or 200 SQL.

Hey, @JohnHoyt! Welcome aboard!

@JohnHoyt - John - yes you can use SQL Express for systems. Several of our clients use it. There are some limitations with db size I believe but the average smaller company will not find it a problem. As Robert said, I don't think it's officially supported by Sage though so I wouldn't necessarily advertise it if you need to call in to support.

Thanks!

Thanks, Peter. We really should have some buy in from Sage on the smaller clients for this configuration, unless it is more of a MS licensing issue.

I know in the Sage answer is SQL Express is not supported in a production environment. However, now with SQL Express 2008 R2 the database limit has been bumped from 4GB to 10GB. For a 10 user opportunity I have coming up I would feel comfortable having them try it. However, what other features does Sage CRM use in SQL that could possibly omitted from Express and are only in Standard or higher?

@BrianBuck - you should be fine with SQL Express. I always approach it as follows: You can buy MS SQL Standard right now if you want for $xxxxx (I think around $1,500) or we can try out MS SQL Express. If you find performance is not satisfactory (because there is a memory limitation as well) or if we start running up to the database size limit (extremely unlikely for most folks), then we can upgrade to MS SQL Standard. Some customers choose to buy it up front and skip the wait and see.

The database engine for SQL express and SQL standard is exactly the same, so the only difference now is the data limit. We only one EES client who uses SQL standard (as of right now).