Sage Software has recently released a service release (2016.2) for the Sage 50 product line (all editions). Users logging out of Sage 50 will likely see an announcement that a new update is available, and should be installed on the server first.

We are advising our clients to proceed cautiously with this update.

Almost immediately after its release we were made aware of a potential problem with the integration between this service release and users of Crystal Reports. Some reports, using certain specific Crystal functions, will fail to generate properly once the 2016.2 update is applied to your Sage 50 license.

One of our colleagues, Tammi Ermerins of PCO Consulting Services, Inc., has tested a fix for this issue and has reported that it has worked successfully for her reports.  She advises as follows:

 “Any time a Sage 50 update is installed, which requires a conversion of the database, make sure that in addition to resetting your Crystal Reports User Security Settings, that you also click on the “Install Sage 50 Data Functions” link to the right of the screen. This will update the u2lpeach.dll file with the new Sage 50 Data Functions, which directly impacts Crystal Reports. After doing this, any Crystal Reports which use the GETPEACH function (this accesses the u2lpeach.dll file), should operate correctly.”

A few other Sage 50 consultants have reported isolated instances where some users have been unable to access the application following the update, requiring someone who does have access to modify some Global Settings in the app.

From our perspective, the point of this – somewhat unexpected – release was to pave the way for Sage to start selling subscriptions to their “2016c” product, which allows synchronization with a remote user and introduces “Sage Drive.” That capability appears to be extremely limited at this time, and we have also learned that the capability is NOT part of the normal Sage BusinessCare plan, as we had originally reportd, but requires an additional monthly subscription payment.

Our advice is to sit tight on applying this service release to your existing system. We expect to be notified about a 2017 edition of Sage 50 over the next 60 to 90 days, and think it prudent to wait for that announcement before planning an update to your system.