Sage CRM 2022 R1 is due to be released to the regions today, Monday 31st January 2022. Each of the Sage OpCo teams will determine when this new version will be released in their countries but you can start planning for upgrades now.

Customers are supported in their upgrades from Sage CRM 2019 R1 and R2 ONLY onwards. You can use the Sage CRM 2022 R2 installation package to upgrade from versions 2021 R2, 2021 R1, 2020 R2, 2020 R1, 2019 R2, and 2019 R1.

Note:  Only upgrade directly from versions on the list. Other upgrade paths are not tested and are NOT supported.

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

Support for 2019 R1 and R2 will end on 30th September 2022.

To upgrade from an earlier version of Sage CRM, please first upgrade to one of the versions listed above.

Where Sage CRM is integrated with a Sage accounting solution (e.g. Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 1000) then please refer to the integration guides to check requirements specific for that integration. If you are using a third-party integration (Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage Intacct, Sage X3) then please refer to the documentation provided by the ISV.

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.

Changes to Supported Software

We need to consider the changes in supported software.   There were a limited number of significant changes. Please note Sage can only confirm support for Sage CRM in environments that are included in our QA process.

As new versions of different software are included in our QA process we need to stop testing older versions. This means that our list 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.

Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express is now distributed in the Sage CRM installation package.

Most importantly we have added support for Microsoft Azure SQL Database. When performing a new installation of Sage CRM, system administrators can connect to a Microsoft Azure SQL Database solution, so that the Sage CRM Setup creates a new database and stores Sage CRM data there.

The choice of deployment on an Azure SQL database server is an extension of our support for Azure.

Installing Sage CRM on Azure has been an option since 2021 R1. What we have done in Sage CRM 2022 R1 is added the option to use Azure SQL Database.

This extends the ability of Sage CRM to be deployed within the Sage Partner Cloud.

It is important to note that Azure SQL Database does not depend on the Sage Partner Cloud - this means that partners and customers managing their own Azure servers are be able to select Azure SQL Database as a deployment option.

This is all part of Sage's strategy to support our customer's journey to the cloud. The new features enable Sage customers to embrace the cloud at their own pace.

New support for Windows 11.

Users can access Sage CRM from client computers running Windows 11.

The changes to support around Windows 11 and the dropping of support of Internet Explorer has implications for upgrading if a customer site is using Outlook Integration.

Please see the article: Thinking about Outlook Integration, Internet Explorer and Windows 11

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 is not supported on Microsoft Windows 11 and cannot be installed on the Operating System.   This means that features within Sage CRM that use ActiveX technology will not work within Windows 11. Sage CRM 2022 R1 is the only version of Sage CRM to support Windows 11.  Customers who rely on the Classic or Lite Outlook plugins are advised not to upgrade to Windows 11

Starting June 15, 2022, the IE11 desktop application will no longer be supported on Windows 10. Sage is currently redesigning its Email Management features for Sage CRM 2022 R2 due to be released end of July 2022.  This redesign will remove all dependency on plugins.

Together with Internet Explorer 11, the following Sage CRM features have been discontinued because they are not available in other browsers supported by Sage CRM:
Edit merged documents
Send emails using Outlook

We have removed the Print command from the top right corner of the interactive dashboard. Your web browser may have a print feature that can print the dashboard.

I hope this is of help as you plan your upgrade.