Changes to Supported Software

Please note we can only confirm support Sage CRM for environments that included in our QA process.

We need to consider the changes in supported software. As new versions of software are included in our QA process we need to stop testing older versions. This means that our listed of supported environments inevitably changes over time.

This affects not just the servers but also the devices that are used to access integrated Sage CRM.

There are a few notable changes in this release in way of software support. This may change so please look at the release notes.

We’ve added to extended support to

• Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Datacenter
  Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Datacenter
  Microsoft SQL Server 2019 CU 8 or earlier installed.
  Microsoft SQL Server 2017 CU 22 or earlier installed.
• iOS 14 (Mobile Theme)
• MS Azure

Note: Windows Server Datacenter is a version of the Windows server operating system that enables a computer to handle network roles such as print server, domain controller, web server, and file server. As a server operating system, it is also the platform for separately acquired server applications such as Exchange Server or SQL Server. The Datacenter edition is designed for organizations with large workloads and heavily virtualized server environments.

Note: Support for Microsoft Azure.  Sage CRM has a web-based architecture that gives customers the freedom and flexibility to choose what is best for their business and that includes implementation on cloud-based environments such as Microsoft Azure.

We have ended support for the

• CTI ActiveX Plugin
• iOS 12 (Mobile Theme)
• Mobile Apps (iPhone & Android)

Note: Sage originally announced that the CTI plugin will be dropped in Sage CRM 2020 R2. CTI is the feature that connects a phone system to Sage CRM and allows it to interact dynamically with inbound and outbound calls. The Sage CRM CTI feature was enabled by a small piece of software called a 'plugin' that runs in the browser.

In Sage CRM 2020 R1 this plugin is dependent on ActiveX. ActiveX is an old proprietary technology developed by Microsoft. It is not used by modern browsers including Microsoft Edge. Only Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser can fully support ActiveX.

This has limited our customers to using Internet Explorer. Sage has decided that this technology is not suitable for Sage CRM’s future direction.

The new release provides good ‘hooks’ for 3rd party integration with click to dial features out of the box.

For more information about the ending of support the Mobile Apps see: Product Advisory: Sage CRM Mobile Apps. Android and iPhone App development to cease.

Upgrade Path

You can use the Sage CRM 2021 R1 installation package to upgrade from versions 2020 R2, 2020 R1, 2019 R2, 2019 R1, 2018 R3, 2018 R2

Customers on earlier versions of Sage CRM must therefore first upgrade to one of the versions listed above.

It is important to note and understand the support cycle for each version. http://help.sagecrm.com/lifecycle/

We strongly advise that colleagues and partners should engage with customers on older versions of the product that are now out of support to encourage them to upgrade.

Whatever your starting point Sage provides a series of resources to help the upgrade. These include:

• The Sage CRM Upgrade Guide for the target version. This is now in the System Administration Guide.
• The Version Release notes. And if necessary the patch notes as well.
• You will need the Hardware and Software Support Guide.
• Database Investigation Scripts to make sure that you understand the customizations that have taken place in the system to be upgraded.
• The appropriate "What's New Guides" to make sure you understand how the features have changed in the new version.
• And System Specific Documentation that describes the customized behaviour of the system to be upgraded.
• You will also need to make sure that you have the licenses you will need. You will need a trial license for the test environment and an upgrade license for the target version. That's the version to which you are upgrading.