Tuesday, August 6, 2019

T Minus Less Than1 (or 2) Years to RMS End of Extended Support

OK retailers, we are just over one year away from the end of extended support for the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software.  Two years if you are current on annual software maintenance.  July 2020 and July 2021 are the key dates to remember.

Many of you have been asking me what will and what won't happen on these days. Here is a summary:

What will happen:
  • All support from Microsoft will end
  • No new feature packs, updates, hot fixes, etc (although we have not seen anything for a couple of years anyway)
  • No ability to add new licenses
  • No ability to activate licenses whether new or existing (if you replace a computer, you will not be able to activate the RMS POS module)
  • Support will be limited as Dynamics RMS Partners/VAR's/Dealers/Resellers will only have their own internal resources
What will not happen:
  • RMS will magically stop working
  • You will lose all your data (assuming that you are backing everything up daily)
What we don't know just yet:
  • Will support for payment processing cease since the software will likely no longer meet compliance with the payment processing industry?
  • Will support for the various RMS plug in's and add on's end?
  • Will the license swap program end for Retail Management Hero (yes it will! More information coming soon as this will end in 2020!)
  • Will RMS be compatible with newer versions of Windows and SQL Server?
  • How many current companies supporting RMS will continue to support RMS past 2020/2021?
Summary of what other retailers who use the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software are doing regarding the end of life/end of support dates for RMS:

What should you do?

Have a plan to replace RMS before the deadline so you are not scrambling at the last minute. I've worked with many retailers to help them migrate to Retail Management Hero or Cloud Retailer over the last year.  If you truly want to hang on to RMS past 2020/2021, then be sure that you are backing up your data and that you have a contingency plan in place should RMS stop working.

Each retailer is different, and I have worked with well over 2000 of you since the late 1990's. Please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for some personalized advice.

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