Why, When, and How to Upgrade to SugarCRM Version 7
Why Upgrade to SugarCRM Version 7? New Screen Layouts See more information on a single screen with the new ListView and RecordView layouts in SugarCRM version 7. The intelligence pane on the right-hand side of the screen can display charts, lists, and record previews. With more information on the screen, users need fewer clicks to find everything they need when talking with a customer or sales prospect. New, colorful module icons make it easier to scan through information and identify the data that s most relevant to you at any given time. The record view includes a new business card view, displaying the most important six to ten fields within a module, with the remaining fields just a click away. This allows more screen space for additional information and reduces scrolling to view subpanels. Dashboard Enhancements The SugarCRM dashboard has been enhanced in version 7 with new charts and tools. More importantly, dashboards have been integrated throughout the system, appearing not only on your home page but also on ListView and RecordView pages in the intelligence pane. New charts help you manage and analyze your pipeline, and updated visuals bring a modern look and feel.
Activity Stream Enhancements SugarCRM has greatly enhanced the Activity Stream feature, previously available as a dashlet. The activity stream, similar to dashboards, has been expanded throughout the system, available at a variety of levels: system, module, and record. Tag other users when you post to have conversations around your data. Follow records that are important to you to focus your attention on the data that matters most. These enhancements enable Activity Stream to both function as a social collaboration tool and make it easier to embed and leverage meaningful data. Other User Interface Changes Other improvements to the user interface include inline editing and searching changes. Inline editing means users no longer have to click the Edit button before making a data change on a record. Now, simply click the field that you would like to change, and enter the updated value. Global Search has been updated to allow users to dynamically select or unselect modules to be searched and use the same colored icons as subpanels and activity streams. Module searching has been streamlined with a filtering tool, replacing the former basic and advanced search, making better use of screen space without loss of functionality. Search results begin displaying as you type, and it is easy to save your searches as reusable filters. Filters are available on subpanels and module list views. Backwards-Compatible Modules Not all modules have been updated in SugarCRM 7.0. Some modules will continue to use the 6.x user interface until they are updated in future versions. This includes Campaigns, Quotes, Contracts, Emails, Calls, Meetings, Documents, and Knowledge Base. In backwards-compatible modules, the user interface is unchanged, and new features, such as right-hand pane, inline editing, and activity streams are not available.
Sidecar For our technical readers, SugarCRM 7.0 has implemented Sidecar, which includes jquery, Handlebars, Underscore, and Backbone. This allows SugarCRM to function as a hybrid JavaScript client and a PHPdriven HTML5 web application, resulting in a richer user experience, improved performance, and greater scalability and extensibility. The new RESTful API is also the core of the application. Upgrade Process How do I upgrade to version 7? The SugarCRM version 7 upgrade introduces a variety of major changes to the user interface, and should be performed carefully. It is important to backup both your configurations and your data before an upgrade, so that they can be restored if anything goes wrong. The upgrade process will include a code scan to identify any code that is unlikely to upgrade successfully and allow you to keep the impacted modules in backwards compatible mode until your customizations can be updated to work within the new framework. It is always a good idea to perform a test upgrade on a copy of your SugarCRM environment, prior to upgrading your production instance, to ensure that everything will work properly after your upgrade is performed. Sugar On-Demand customers can opt for a free one-week test upgrade when notified that their upgrade is scheduled. Duration: You should plan to spend at least 1 week on the upgrade process, including backing up and testing. See below for factors that may require additional time. Upgrade Safe vs. Non-Upgrade Safe Code If you have done any code customizations to your SugarCRM instance, check with your developer to see whether the customizations were done in an upgrade-safe way. Most upgrade-safe customizations should transfer to version 7 without problems, although you should still test them just to be safe. Nonupgrade-safe customizations will have to be re-applied after your upgrade and may require code changes. Duration: If your customizations are upgrade-safe, plan an extra week of testing to make sure they work in the 7.x environment. If you have any non-upgrade-safe customizations, plan 1-3 months for updating code, re-applying to your environment, and testing. User Interface Changes With all of the user interface changes in SugarCRM 7.0, be prepared to spend some time updating your layouts after your upgrade. Other layout changes, such as adding, removing, or relabeling buttons may require additional customization after the upgrade, as many of the action buttons have been moved or
relabeled. You will probably also want to plan for some re-training of your users as they adjust to the new user interface and learn to use the new features available in SugarCRM version 7. Duration: Plan to spend one to two weeks updating and testing your layouts. If you have made any layout customizations outside of Studio, plan at least three additional weeks to make the corresponding changes in your upgraded environment. Also, be sure to plan how you will train your users to take full advantage of the new features in SugarCRM version 7! Connectors, Third Party Tools, and Integrations If you use any connectors or third party tools in your SugarCRM instance, you will need to check with the provider of the tool(s) to see whether they will continue to work in SugarCRM version 7. Most will need to be updated to function in the SugarCRM 7.x environment, and they may not be immediately available, depending on how quickly the provider will be able to make the necessary changes. Integrations with other databases will not be immediately impacted by the upgrade. However, SugarCRM is strongly encouraging everyone to begin using the new REST API for all integrations as soon as possible. The older SOAP API will continue to be supported, but will eventually be phased out. Duration: This will vary based on the providers of your third party tools and integrations. If any connectors or third party tools are essential to your business processes, check with the tool providers right away to find out if they will support SugarCRM version 7 and/or how soon updates will be available. I m a new SugarCRM customer: What Should I Do Next? As of early 2014, all new SugarCRM customers will be launched on version 7.x. Work with your partner to ensure that you will be launched on the appropriate 7.x version for your server. I m a current SugarCRM customer: If your SugarCRM environment is hosted on Sugar On-Demand (your URL has the form xxxxxx.sugarondemand.com), your upgrade is coming soon! With the release of version 7.2 at the end of April, SugarCRM has started upgrading existing On-Demand customers. The upgrade schedule is determined by the complexity of the customizations and configurations that you have in your SugarCRM instance. Your partner can help you estimate where you fall in the schedule. SugarCRM will offer you an optional one-week sandbox to perform a test upgrade; we strongly recommend that you take advantage of this offer. Timing: Start planning now, so that you are ready when SugarCRM contacts you to schedule your upgrade. See the sections above to gauge the duration that you will need for your upgrade. While it may
be possible to delay your upgrade temporarily if you are not ready, SugarCRM will be strongly encouraging everyone to upgrade as soon as possible. If your SugarCRM environment is not hosted On Demand and runs on the LAMP stack, you will be able to upgrade once version 7.5 is released, projected for Quarter 3 2014. Once 7.5 is released, you will be able to download the upgrade file to test and upgrade your production instance. Non-LAMP stack support will come with the 7.6 and 7.7 releases. Timing: Begin planning for your upgrade in mid-summer 2014 by talking with your partner. Your partner will be able to help you estimate the complexity of your code customizations and how they may be impacted by the upgrade. Version 6.5 will be supported for 12 months after the release of 7.7. Do you have a partner? This guide provides you with a brief overview of why and when you will need to start planning for your upgrade. For most customers, having a partner will improve your likelihood of having a successful upgrade. Technology Advisors is a SugarCRM 3-star Platinum Partner, the SugarCRM 2013 Global Partner of the Year, and a valued member of the SugarCRM Partner Advisory Board. If you have any questions regarding your upgrade path, please contact Molly Anderson at (847) 655-3434 or molly.anderson@techadv.com