We've recently switched servers at our office and in doing so I setup a new corporate domain to match our name and the DNS of a domain we actually own and don't do anything with. In the migration I broke a number of things but one of them happened on just one PC: Intellisync for SalesLogix.
SalesLogix comes with this branded version of Intellisync that simply synchronizes SalesLogix data to Groupwise, Notes 4 or 5, and Outlook 2000-2003. From there we use the Palm synchronization tools to synchronize data from Outlook to the various (2) palm devices our remote salespeople use. This is the typical setup of anyone wishing to synchronize SalesLogix data to their palm unless of course you actually paid for the full version of Intellisync which can synchronize directly without using Outlook as a “middle-man.”
I ran into a huge problem on only one of our laptops which was a little weird. Normally I could go through and setup Intellisync and make sure that the tie in from SalesLogix->Outlook was functioning properly. Every time I tried to setup the link to Outlook I would get a “Failure in OpenMsgStore” or “Failure in function OpenMsgStore” or something equally vague. I thought this was just because I had recently switched domains and the user profile was freshly created. I proceeded to go through the steps to correctly reinstall Intellisync for SalesLogix (applies to version 6.x):
- Run SalesLogixUninstall.exe in C:\Program Files\Common Files\PUMATECH Shared\Connectors\SalesLogix
- Open regedit and delete the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SalesLogix\SLX_Intellisync
- Delete User and User.CFG directories from C:\Program Files\SalesLogix\Intellisync
- Reboot
- Run SalesLogixInstall.exe in C:\Program Files\SalesLogix\Intellisync
- Setup everything as if you just installed SalesLogix because everything is blown away
I went through this process about 10 times varying my methods each time to hopefully find the “magic bullet“ that effectively killed this software. A glance at a help file would point out the obvious point of failure:
Supported versions
Intellisync for SalesLogix supports Microsoft Outlook versions 2000 and 2002(XP).
That meant that while SalesLogix is fully compatible with Outlook 2003, Intellisync for SalesLogix was only compatible up to 2002. Outlook 2003 introduced a new kind of PST file that uses Unicode and a couple of other important additions. I setup the user's profile to use the newer Outlook 2003 PST file instead of the 97-2002 PST file because it defaults to the newer format. The only reason it was working previously is because it was upgraded from Outlook 2000->2003 and I let it keep all of the profile and PST file settings.
Abridged answer:
If you are using SalesLogix 5.x->6.2 and Outlook 2003 and you would like to synchronize between the two, do NOT use the default Office 2003 PST file. You MUST use the 97-2002 PST file or it simply will not work at all, period. You will not pass go and you will not collect $200.
Who's gonna fix it?:
That's a good question. Intellisync sells their “engine” that is then branded by companies like SalesLogix. SalesLogix could have an older engine that handles the Outlook connection. If the engine itself is what handles Outlook 2000, 2002, or 2003 then the engine needs to be upgraded. If SalesLogix codes the connections and they hastily forgot to include a version that works with 2003 then the problem is with SalesLogix.
What do I think? I think either way SalesLogix is to blame. Most likely Intellisync's engine has been updated but updates cost money. SalesLogix either didn't bother to upgrade the engine because it would cause more work for them or they didn't bother updating their code because it would also cause more work for them. Office 2003 compatibility wasn't introduced until 6.1 Service Pack 1 even though they had enough time during beta to release it with the release of 6.1. I suppose they don't like using beta products to spec out code but Microsoft RARELY drastically changes products from say Beta 1 to Beta 2 then RTM (usually never a Beta 3). They could have used beta 2 and had it ready for the shipping of 6.1 but I won't go there.
SalesLogix is more than adequately priced to upkeep certain things like this. If you want a price comparison go here: http://www.blytheco.com/saleslogix/price.asp. The version we own is the “Advanced Customization & Security CRM Suite” which starts at about $7,250.00. We have maintenance plans that are roughly $1-2k a year that make sure we have every new version as it comes out. To put it simply: SalesLogix makes more than enough money to fix stuff like this. A coder with a Porsche is still a damned coder that has to earn the money the product is worth.
I think I seem grumpy like someone I know when I write this but I really am not. I just have a problem with companies that develop software that don't seem to put in the effort required to produce a decent product worth the cost. I said the same for HP here even though HP is an exception since their software comes bundled for FREE with their scanners. With SalesLogix there's simply no excuse.