CRM version numbering - confusion...

[Former Member]

First question:

I'm actually a bit confused with CRM version numbering.

There is (if I understood correctly):

CRM 4.0

CRM 5.0

CRM 2006s (which is CRM 5.2 - intermediate release)

CRM 2007 (intermediate release? is that CRM 6.0?)

CRM 7.0

Is it correct to assume that CRM 200x are releases with "special" downported functionality where as the non-CRM 200x releases are the "full versions"?

Second question:

http://service.sap.com/crm

is showing only CRM 2007 and CRM 7.0 - no CRM 5.0 available (although current release). And most interestingly, the CRM 7.0 content is filled with "Test N" PDFs with strange screenshots...

Markus

[stephenjohannes · Accepted solution]

Markus,

From what I understand:

CRM 40 - Full GA release

CRM 40 SIE - bolt on release to CRM 40

CRM 50 - Full GA release

Then here is where things get interesting

CRM 2006s consists of

CRM 510 - which was a internal release and mainly for CRM on demand

CRM 520 - which was an interim release that never made GA, but was made available to limited set of customers

CRM 2007 is CRM 60 and is considered a full GA release and

CRM 7.0 which will only start rampup later this year and eventually will become the CRM equivalent to ECC 6.0 (supporting enhancement packs, etc).

This is very confusing in terms of what should be done. If you are on CRM 40 then you probably need to upgrade to CRM 2007 since standard maintenance ends next year. If you are on CRM 50 then you can wait for CRM 7.0 or take advantage of CRM 2007 immediately. If your current CRM system is more like shelfware with low user adoption, then CRM 2007 could give you immediate benefits without implementing any new functionality beyond the UI.

In regards to your second question, I don't know what they are doing with service.sap.com/crm. I guess those are placeholders for the new release. The overview materials on CRM 2007 out there, do give a good overview. You can always buy the OKP for CRM 2007 to get more information.

Take care,

Stephen

[markus_doehr2 · Accepted solution]

Thank you very much.

> CRM 2007 is CRM 60 and is considered a full GA release and

> CRM 7.0 which will only start rampup later this year and eventually will become the CRM equivalent to ECC 6.0 (supporting enhancement packs, etc).

Well - then ECC 6.0 (which was renamed to ERP 6.0) should then be renamed again to ERP 7.0 - to be "consistent" (alongside with SRM 7.0 and SCM 7.0 and Solution Manager 7.0) but hey, it's called "Business Suite 2008"...

> In regards to your second question, I don't know what they are doing with service.sap.com/crm. I guess those are placeholders for the new release. The overview materials on CRM 2007 out there, do give a good overview. You can always buy the OKP for CRM 2007 to get more information.

I was more searching for CRM 5.0 scenarios than CRM 2007. We did a test upgrade to CRM 2007 - and the result was: too expensive (too much work) to rework the complete UI (Portal BPs).

Markus

[stephenjohannes · Accepted solution]

Markus,

You can still buy the OKP for CRM 5.0 which would be labeled mySAP CRM 2005 in the OKP area. The course number is OCR50S.

I can see a lot people having issues with there being too much work for the CRM 2007 especially if the previous versions were customized heavily in the UI layer. Besides you have at least till 2010/2011 before you even have to worry about moving off of CRM 5.0

Once again the release numbering confusion proves what happens when you let marketing departments control software version numbers. Seriously who had the brilliant idea of adding an "s" to year to make it a different version number?

Take care,

Stephen