It’s that time of year again for Deltek to release the latest a greatest version of Vision. We’ve seen a lot of exciting announcements from Deltek over the past year and at Insight that are finally coming to fruition.
Deltek Vision version 7.5 is the culmination of a year’s worth of feedback and suggestions from users across the world. It boasts a suite of new features, exciting enhancements and improvements to help your firm deliver more. Deltek Vision 7.5 is coming out in just a few days with a release date of November 20, 2015 for on-premise customers and April 1, 2016 for SaaS customers. Here’s what you need to know before you plan your upgrade:
What You Need to Do Before Upgrading to Vision 7.5
- Review the Technology Changes
- Review the Release Notes
- Consider Moving to the Cloud
- Plan Your Upgrade
- Train Your Team on New Features and Enhancements
What’s New in Deltek Vision 7.5?
Deltek’s Product Specialist, Megan Miller, wrote a great article summarizing some of highlights of Deltek Vision 7.5 over on Deltek’s blog. If you’re a visual learner check out our at-a-glance-version enhancement guides for Vision 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 below to see what you may have missed in the recent releases.
Deltek Vision 7.5 is coming soon, so start planning your upgrade and consider any impacts to your current processes and procedures now. For more details on technology impacts, see technology notes below.
Prepare Now for Technology Changes
Deltek is making some changes in regards to platform support with the Vision 7.5 release. It is important for you to understand the implications of these changes as they may require you to modify your environment. Please review the changes below and take the necessary actions so you can be ready to upgrade to the latest and greatest release of Vision when it is available.
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 – Microsoft has ended mainstream support for this server operating system. Therefore, with the 7.5 and later releases of Vision, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 will no longer be supported for any of the Vision server tiers.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 – Microsoft has ended mainstream support for this database server platform. Therefore, with the 7.5 and later releases of Vision, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 will no longer be supported for the Vision database or report server tiers.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 – Deltek continues to leverage the security, stability and performance of the Microsoft .NET Framework. As a result, with the Vision 7.5 release, all workstations running the Vision core client and all Vision application servers must have Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5.2 or later installed.
Windows Vista – Microsoft has ended mainstream support for this desktop operating system. Therefore, with the 7.5 and later releases of Vision, Windows Vista will no longer be a supported operating system for workstations running any Vision components.
Internet Explorer 9 – As of January 1, 2016, Microsoft will only support the most current version of Internet Explorer associated with a supported operating system. With the elimination of support for Windows Vista as stated above, support for Internet Explorer 9 for all Vision components (core client, iAccess) will be eliminated as well.
Consider Moving Deltek Vision to the Cloud
Before upgrading your server, consider taking Vision to the Cloud, which can save significant time and equipment costs while allowing your IT resources to focus on other critical tasks. If the thought of moving your business to the cloud still makes you uncomfortable, please allow us the opportunity to convince you otherwise. SaaS technology has come a LONG way over the past few years and we’re seeing more and more of our customers make the switch. In fact 36 of our Vision clients have chosen to forgo upgrades altogether and migrate to a cloud deployment this year alone.
Sign Up for Your Local Deltek Vision User Group
BCS ProSoft hosts and sponsors quarterly Deltek Vision User Groups across the country. The topic for the December 2015 user group will be Year-End processing in Vision, but we’ll also spend a considerable amount of time talking about the announcements made in this blog post. If you’re located in Baton Rouge, Honolulu, Houston, San Antonio, or San Diego we’d love for you to join us. If you’re not located nearby you’re welcome to attend our webcast or look for a Vision User Group in your city.
Stay Up-to-Date with Our Deltek Vision Blog
We’re always updating our Deltek Vision blog with important information, Tips & Tricks, customer case studies and more. Subscribe via the form below or in the sidebar to receive weekly updates from what’s going on here at BCS ProSoft. It’s also worth checking out Deltek’s blog. They’ve done an excellent job updating it with some great content over the past few weeks and we’ve enjoyed sharing it with our customers.
