Ending soon...

The .5 phase of Sage's SalesLogix Cloud initiative will end in May 2010, and this means the end of the special promotion pricing of $20/user/month.  You can still take advantage of this special pricing, and take advantage of special pricing for 24 months after the end of phase .5.  Contact your Business Partner to find out how.

-Brianna

Just released.

Sage released hot fix package 01 for SalesLogix v7.5.2.  This hot fix will correct the following issues:

Defect    Description
1-72326  Group returns no results when there are more than 10 conditions on the group.
1-72369  Database changes in the Web Client are not filling the LongNotes field in the History table.
1-72411  The results for Phone Call, Meeting, and To-Do pull the incorrect pick list values for Result when completing an Unscheduled Activity.
1-72412  Modifying Area-Category-Issue values causes the ACI view to freeze.
1-72413  Editing a recurring activity changes the contact name to the Primary Contact.
1-72414  Changing the address on a contact triggers a change to the address on all contacts, but it should not.
1-72415  The ampersand symbol is converted to '& amp' in a group condition.

Access to top-notch support.

If you move to SalesLogix Cloud you will not have to worry about support.  You will be provided with provisioning/setup, backups, hosting infrastructure support, and Windows and database maintenance from the Sage Service Operations team and you will still be able to rely on your Business Partner to help you with customizations, troubleshooting, etc.  Life could get just a little easier if you move to the cloud.

-Brianna

A product brief hot off the press!

Excitement is growing about SalesLogix Cloud, but what do you really know about this product?  I'm certain not enough, and that is why I have attached the brand new SalesLogix Cloud product brief to this post.  Learn a little more and I will share more documentation as it becomes available.

-Brianna

A little sheet you might find handy.

Ok, maybe it's not that little.  If your company has upgraded to SalesLogix v7.5.2, you may have noticed that there are not a large amount of new features but there are many things that now work much better.  If you are interested in taking a look at all of the items fixed in this release I have attached a document just for you.

-Brianna

Software as a service, but different.

Have you ever wished that you could pay a monthly subscription fee for your SalesLogix licenses and have your data hosted on secure servers off site?  If so, Sage may have the anser for you - SalesLogix in the Cloud.  The public release for SalesLogix Cloud is scheduled for early 2010 but, as always, that is subject to change.  Currently, Sage Business Partners are using it for demos and proof of concepts and select customers are testing a pilot version.  Here are some of the benefits you can expect with the release of SalesLogix Cloud:

• Customers will have more control and input in upgrading to a new release.  SalesLogix Cloud will be delivered as a “single tenant” solution that puts the customer in control of the timing of an upgrade, not the SaaS vendor.
• Flexible delivery – it may make sense for you to be on premise today and in the Cloud tomorrow.  Or, one part of your company has a strong on-premise need while another is disposed toward SaaS.  SalesLogix will provide choices for what’s best for your business.
• Data ownership.  Your data is critical to your business.  With SalesLogix Cloud, your will always have full access and use of your data since we use industry standard databases.  If you move from the Cloud to on-premise you will be able to continue to use your data with SalesLogix on-premise.
• Full customization.  Unlike multi-tenant solutions that necessarily need to restrict coding and customization practices, SalesLogix Cloud will have the full customization capability of SalesLogix as we know it today.
• Local partner support.  With SalesLogix in the Cloud you’ll continue to enjoy an effective relationship with your existing SalesLogix Business Partner.  They know your business and can provide the same helpful services as they always have.    

I don't have pricing but I anticipate more information to become available in the next few months, and I will keep you up-to-date as usual.

-Brianna

Are you upgrading?

Sage announced yesterday that SalesLogix v7.5.2 is now available for customers.  It has been a long wait but we should see some needed improvements.  Below is a blurb from Larry Ritter at Sage:

"I am thrilled to announce Sage SalesLogix v7.5.2 is now available for customers and partners.  This major new release has a number of really exciting improvements.  We’ve significantly enhanced the calendar and activities portions of the web client.  We’ve also added Field selectable Unicode.  This allows specific fields to be set to Unicode to enable round-trip Unicode transactions of selected fields.  This enables capabilities such as multiple, multi-byte languages to be intermixed - without the overhead and bloat of having everything in Unicode – only what is required.  We’ve also done significant work in tuning and optimizing web client performance.  We’ve reduced page size, reduced bandwidth and server transfers to provide considerably improved overall responsiveness."

-Brianna

Good to know...

One of my co-workers put together an excellent guideline for setting up the the SalesLogix v7.5 Web client, and I highly recommend reading through this if you are going to set up the Web client:

The below guidelines must be followed for proper functioning of the SalesLogix 7.5 Web Client on a Windows workstation.

1.Your Windows login username must be a member of your computer’s local Power Users or Administrators group. (If you don’t know your security level, ask your Windows administrator.)

2.For proper functioning of all SalesLogix Web features, you must be using Windows Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8 for your Internet browser. (Browsers other than Internet Explorer may function okay for most features; but, Mail Merge and Outlook E-mail Integration will not function unless Internet Explorer is being used.)

3.To use the Mail Merge features, you must have Word XP SP3, Word 2003 SP2, or Word 2007 installed before trying to use the SalesLogix Web Client with ActiveMail   activated.

4.To use Outlook E-mail Integration, you must have Outlook XP SP3, Outlook 2003 SP2, or Outlook 2007 installed before trying to use the SalesLogix Web Client with ActiveMail activated. (Outlook must be installed in Workgroup or Corporate mode, not Internet-only mode.)

5.Setup  Internet Explorer by going to the “Tools>Internet Options” menu and configuring the below settings. (For more information on setting Internet Options, refer to the Internet Explorer Help menu.)

A)  Check for newer versions of stored pages Automatically.
  IE6 – Click the “Settings” button in the “Temporary Internet files” section under the “General” tab and check the “Automatically” option.
  IE7 & IE8 – Click the “Settings” button in the “Browsing history” section under the “General” tab and check the “Automatically” option.
B)  Register SalesLogix as a Trusted site.
  IE6, IE7, & IE8 – Click the “Trusted sites” icon under the “Security” tab, and then click the “Sites” button. Uncheck the “Require server verification (https:) for all sites in   this zone” option at the         bottom of the page, enter the SalesLogix host server name in the form of http://YourServerName, click the “Add” button, and click the “Close” button.
C)  Set security to Low.
  IE6 – Under the “Security” tab with the “Trusted sites” icon highlighted, click the “Default Level” button, and click the “Apply” button.
  IE7 & IE8 - Under the “Security” tab with the “Trusted sites” icon highlighted, click the “Custom level” button. On the next screen select “Low” from the picklist of the “Reset to:” field, click the           “Reset” button, and click the “OK” button. On the bottom of the Security page, click the “Apply” button.
D)  Enable cookies.
  IE6, IE7, & IE8 – Under the “Privacy” tab select a setting of “Medium” or “Low” and click the “OK” button.
E)  Save all settings.
  IE6, IE7, & IE8 – On the main “Internet Options” screen click the “OK” button and then close Internet Explorer. (Closing and reopening Internet Explorer is necessary to  activate all new settings.)

6.If using Internet Explorer 8, go to the “Tools>Compatibility View Settings” menu item and check on the “Display all web sites in Compatibility View” option at the bottom of the page. (Alternatively you can be more selective and enter the SalesLogix web site to the list of Compatibility View sites.)

7.Via Internet Explorer, browse to http://YourServerName/SlxClient and login to SalesLogix. (Expect some slowness during your first login and when going to a particular type of screen for the first time. Subsequent uses will be considerably faster.)

8.Verify that the main view Tab layouts and your user Options are set the way you want them, and start using the system.

-Brianna

Happy Friday!!

I received an update from Sage today regarding the release schedule of SalesLogix v7.5.2 and SalesLogix Mobile v5.6.  As always, dates are subject to change -

Have a great weekend!

-Brianna

And the resolution.

Recently we had a client run into an issue with Mail Merge in SalesLogix v7.5.1 Web, and it went something like this:

"We had a web client user successfully using Mail Merge on a test web installation but after production was put into place Mail Merge failed.  With a little digging we discovered the initial download to install the Active Mail components places a .dll, Slxemailnotifier.dll, in the Windows\system32 dir and writes a registry setting detailing what web site the SLXclient opens.   The solution is to rename the Slxemailnotifier.dll, loggin to the SalesLogix web site using Active Mail.  There you will be prompted to download the Active Mail components again. Now the Mail Merge components will correctly point to the production web site."

-Brianna

Adding The More Button.

Another little nugget of information to share with you from a blog written by my co-worker:

"Have you ever wanted to use the Quick Find option in SalesLogix Client but wanted to look at a different field then the Account.Company, Contact.LastName, or TicketID?  The quick way to accomplish this is by adding the More button to the Main View.  The More button is a property of the Main View and can be added by changing the property in the Achitect.  

Here are the steps:

 Log into the architect as admin
Select Manage…Plugins from the menu
In the filter by “Type” field at the top of the Manage Plugin dialog, choose “Main View”.
Select the main view by double clicking on it.  It will now open.
Click the Property button on the toolbar.  It looks like this:
Click the black bar of the main view.
In the property window you should see an attribute called “QuickFindShowMore”
Select the checkbox of this property.
Save the main view
Press F10.  This will launch the Release dialog.  Ensure “Everyone” is listed as released to.  Press OK this will re-release the main view
Repeat 2-10 for the other main views you desire to add the button for.

Now you have a Quick Find that looks at many more fields."

-Brianna 

Advice for a SalesLogix Administrator.

One of my co-workers recently wrote a blog about syncing SQL views to remote SalesLogix databases from a beginner point of view.  This may be useful to SalesLogix admins, and if you are interested continue reading:

The scenario is you have created a SQL view for use in a Crystal Report.  Your end users are excited about the report but then you started getting phone calls from your remote users that the report will not run.  You realize that the view you used to help organize your data did not synchronize out to your remote user base.  After some looking around on CustomerFX.com you realize that views do not Synchronize out Remote databases.  Your options are Cut New Remote databases or some how get the views to sync out.  Then you discovered Kris Halsrud's blog on this exact topic written on May 13th called Distributing SQL Views to Remote SalesLogix Databases. 

Kris's post provided the answer to what I was looking for in preparation for the SalesLogix Reporting class I am preparing.  This issue is something I have been trying to overcome throughout my SalesLogix reporting career.  Since my goal is to write to the "Beginner" level of SalesLogix reporting I thought I would break down the process that Kris describes for the new Administrator or Report Writer.

The concept of what Kris writes about is that since changes to a detail view in SalesLogix synchronize out to remote databases, we can write a script that runs whenever a detail view opens.  This script basically checks to make sure the view exists.  If the view does not, the script creates the view.  Once the change is saved and released, the script will synchronize out to the remotes and your report will run.  

In order to accomplish what I am writing about today you must have access to the Sage SalesLogix Architect and the tables that support the view must be available in the remote database.

Our target detail view is the SLX Crystal Report Viewer.  This is the screen that comes up when you select the report button on your nav bar.

You can open this view in the Architect using the File>Open Plugin menu item.

When the "Choose Plugin" screen opens, click on the System listing in the tree control on the left side of the view, and look for and select the the "SLX Crystal Report Viewer" from the list on the right.

When the form opens in the Architect look for and select the Script Tab. 

There is some form information in gray text on the top of the script.  Just below you see the word "Globals".  Insert the following text under that word.

Const SLXPW = "your_sysdba_password"

The phrase in the script, "your_sysdba_password",  will need to be changed to match your SQL server sysdba password.

Scroll down the script and search for the sub "AxFormOpen".

Directly under the "AXFormOpen" line enter the following text:

FXCheckViews
application.BasicFunctions.ProcessWindowMessages

Any existing text will come after these two lines. If more then one view is required to be created then you could use different versions of the FXCheckViews text.  It could look something like this:

 FXCheckViews
 FXCheckViews2
 application.BasicFunctions.ProcessWindowMessages

 Now scroll all the way to the bottom of the script and insert the following code:

Installation of the Mobile v5.5 Administrator

My coworker recently shared a tip regarding an issue some people encounter after installing the SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 Adminstrator: 

"If you have installed the SLX Mobile 5.5 Administrator and do not see the SalesLogix users in the Admin Dashboard there is a problem with the Datasource. The Datasource must use sysdba and the sysdba password in order to open the sysdba.users table.  If you change the SalesLogix database settings username to sysdba the users will be available."

-Brianna

DynaLink jobs not running...

A customer recently encountered an error message from the Event Viewer after DynaLink failed to start a job.  Here is a description of the issue and the resolution from my co-worker:

"I recently ran into an issue where the SalesLogix DynaLink jobs stopped running.  We looked at the service which continued to start successfully, but the DynaLink jobs did not kick off and the Event Viewer returned the following error: "no connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it".  With a little digging I found out the Admin password for SalesLogix had been changed and therefore the connection to the SalesLogix Provider was indeed being refused.  We changed the DynaLink connection properties to the new admin password and that resolved the issue."

-Brianna

Troubleshooting tips.

If you are having this problem with your SalesLogix remotes you are not alone.  Because we come across this issue often I have some troubleshooting tips to share with you:

• Ensure the users' default team is set correctly.
• Check that the sync server is sending files and the remote user is receiving files.
• Ensure the remote user has access to the account.
• Check that the account does indeed belong to a team to which the remote user has access.
• As a last resort: SalesLogix Admins can force an account out to a remote by choosing that option in the SalesLogix Administrator.  This is found under the sync tab for each user.

-Brianna

What the compatibility checklist and implementation guide fail to mention.

Recently, we came across an issue with SalesLogix v7.5.x and Crystal Reports Professional IX R2 SP3 that I want to share with you:

The SalesLogix 7.5 Compatibility Checklist and Implemenation Guide says that  Crystal Reports Professional XI R2 needs to be upgraded to Service Pack 3 (SP3). Also, SP3 is provided on the Crystal installation DVD. However, when you try to install SP3 the below message appears and the installation stops.  

“Service Pack 2 is not detected. Requirements for SP3 install not met. Please install SP2 first.”  

You can download SP2 from Business Objects and install it first (be sure to download the full version, not the incremental version); however, according to Sage SalesLogix Support, SP3 is not needed. You can perform SalesLogix 7.5.x Crystal Reports maintenance with the supplied release level 2 (R2) of Crystal Reports XI Professional. (Defect 1-65743 addresses this issue.)  

*This SP3 information only relates to Crystal Reports Professional. Crystal Reports Embedded Server installation does require SP3, and the SP3 provided on the DVD does not require the installation of any earlier service packs.*  

-Brianna

An interesting problem...

Upgrading is always a tricky business, and if you miss something issues can arise.  Case in point - one of our customers upgraded to SalesLogix 7.x and started to have a problem adding activites to a ticket and punching out of a ticket once punched in.  My co-worker wrote the following blog about the issue and the fix that solved it:

"After a recent upgrade a user complained they were unable to add activities to a ticket or Punch Out of a ticket after they had punched in.  This functionality was working in the previous version.  The following errors were returned. 

An Error occurred executing active form script (System: Ticket Detail). Error in include script (TICKET:TICKET ACTIVITY SUPPORT): Type mismatch:'Result' at line 529, char 5. 

 An error occurred executing active form script (System:Add Edit Ticket Activity).  Overflow at line 131, char 8

 What we discovered was the system was looking for information from the Office Profile in the SalesLogix Adiministrator.   We opened the Adminstrator and added the Primary and Shipping address info under the System Offices tab to resolve the issue." 

-Brianna

Highlights coming in the next versions.

As promised, I have more information to share regarding SalesLogix v7.5.2 and SalesLogix Mobile v5.6, both of which are currently in beta -  

SalesLogix 7.5.2 Highlights

• Performance Enhancements
• Defect Fixes
• NEW! Developer Documentation
• Intellisync Health Monitor
• Web Client - Sales Orders
• Sales Library Hierarchy
• Unicode Readiness
• Activities & Calendar Enhancements

SalesLogix Mobile 5.6 Highlights

• Hi-Res support
• Windows 2008 Support
• Calendar Integration
• Legacy Defect Fixes

-Brianna

Try out the new features on your BlackBerry Storm!

Sage recently made a demo version of SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 available.  If you're interested in trying out the new functionality before committing to a purchase you've come to the right place.  Find the information you need here and follow the directions, you will need your BlackBerry available for the download.  If you try it out and like what you see, contact your Business Partner for information about purchasing.

-Brianna

If you are experiencing issues...

You may want to take a look at your compatibility settings if you are using IE8 and experiencing problems when trying to export lookup results from SalesLogix v7.5 Web.  My co-worker recently wrote a blog on this topic, here is what he had to say:

"This is a really handy function that generally works great.  However there have been some users that have run into issues during the Export, or when saving the export file to a local hard drive.  In my testing in Mozilla Firefox version 3.5, IE8, IE7, and IE6 this functionality worked consistently, but those of you getting errors should check the compatiblity settings in IE8 and make sure those are turned on for all web sites. If you are using an older version of Firefox it may not be compatible with SalesLogix Web, and if you're version of Office is older you may have an issue with converting the file.  Overall this is really solid functionality and if there are issues carefully check each version of your software."

-Brianna

Free MAS 500 licenses!

I just received a Sage Business Partner email with a new promotion.  I have no idea how long the promo lasts, it didn't specify, but here is the deal: 

• Existing Sage SalesLogix Customers: Buy Sage MAS 500 ERP with 5 users and get 5 additional users for FREE! (5 Standard users valued at $6,250; 5 Enterprise users valued at $10,000)

If you have considered implenting a new ERP system, now would be a good time to look at MAS 500 to see if it fits your needs.  Contact your Business Partner for more information.

-Brianna

A quick tip for you!

One of my co-workers recently wrote a blog with a tip for SalesLogix System Admins who are upgrading to SalesLogix v7.5 and use KnowledgeSync.  Here is what he wrote:

"The Windows user account running the KnowlegeSync service must log into the KSserver and Edit the KSService login in order to write the correct attributes to the service account registry entries.  For example, if WebDLL is the Windows account running services for SalesLogix and KnowledgeSync, login to the KnowledgeSync server as WebDLL and then edit the KSService login, save, and restart the service.  In addition, the SLGXAPI.dll needs to be replaced with the 7.5 version on the KS Server.  And finally, if you are running the SalesLogix client on the KS server please upgrade the client to version 7.5.  Taking these steps will keep KnowledgeSync running correctly and keep the alerts rolling."

Good advice.

-Brianna

Some information about compatibility.

One of my co-workers shared some information regarding the compatibility of SalesLogix v7.5 and IE8 that I thought I should pass on -

"The shipping version on IE8 has a compatibility view button allowing users to view the page in the Internet Explorer 7 rendering engine.  This eliminates duplicated menu items or overlapping fields in the SLXClient.  And if you open tools compatibility view settings you can toggle to view all web sites in compatibility view.  When this option is on the compatibility view button does not appear, but the web site still runs in the correct rendering engine.  Now SalesLogix Admins don't have to worry about what version of Internet Explorer their users are running."

Good to know, right?  I think so.  Have a great week!

-Brianna

Some dos and don'ts.

There are so many ways to get in contact with people these days - phone (landline and cell), email, text message, IM, social networks, etc. - that it would seem as though getting in contact with a prospect would be easy.  Often it is not.  The first step is to figure out which form of communication your prospect prefers.  I am an email kind of gal myself, followed closely by text messages.  After you have communication preference established, you should keep in mind these dos and don'ts from an article I read which was published by Miller Heiman.  The suggestions are basic but they bear repeating.

(Note: This article expires.  If you are interested, check it out soon!)

-Brianna

I figured it out...

Last week I wrote a blog about the coming release of SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 and I attempted to attach some screenshots, but failed.  After messing around with some folders and whatnot I have solved my issue and am now able to present the promised screenshots: SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 - Blackberry Storm, SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 - Location Mapping, and SalesLogix Mobile v5.5 - Sync Improvements.

-Brianna