Upgrade to Claris FileMaker 19 

Claris FileMaker Pro 19, launched on the 20 May 2020, and it offers a wide range of benefits over previous versions, but many users have yet to upgrade. 

 

Some companies want the latest and greatest functionality as soon as it become available. Others are more cautious, preferring to wait until a more suitable time or when required to do so for support / maintenance reasons.  

We have now reached the point where older versions are no longer supported so now is the time to look at upgrading to FM 19. 

Like anything, it always better to have a plan when upgrading, so that you can take advantage of these new functions which are important to you whilst avoiding unplanned costs and downtime. 

Many organisations we support have annual license agreements so there is no need to budget for license upgrades, however the time to upgrade to the latest version does need to be accounted and budgeted for, but the benefits far outweigh the upgrade time. 

Depending on how long you have managed to keep your older version running (and we still come across clients running very old versions on old hardware) there may be a requirement to consider hardware upgrades as well as software upgrades.  

As we all know FileMaker is often the lifeblood of your business, the core and engine to help you manage, maintain, grow, as well as billing your clients, so it is a mission critical element of most companies and as such does require occasional investment.

 Things to Consider when upgrading to FileMaker 19

• Claris FileMaker Server 19 can be accessed by both FileMaker 18 and 19 clients. It does not support older client versions although FileMaker 18 is not supported by Claris anymore 
• Claris FileMaker Pro 19 and Claris FileMaker Go 19 can connect to files hosted with Claris FileMaker Server 18 & 19. (Remember FM 18 is no longer supported but can be used as a step in the upgrade process when needed). 
• All Claris FileMaker 16,17 & 18 products are “end of life” (EOL) as of June 25, 2021. End of life means that support is no longer available from Claris and updates will not be available. 
• The following operating systems are NOT supported with the Claris FileMaker 19 platform: 
• Windows 7 

• Windows Server 2012R2 
• macOS High Sierra (10.13) 
• iOS 12

Recommendations when you upgrade to FileMaker 19 

If you’re currently use server version 18, plan for an upgrade to your server to version 19  

Start by upgrading a few of your power users to Claris FileMaker Pro 19 and Claris FileMaker Go 19. Once they verify that all is working well, plan to roll out the new versions to all users who have compatible systems. For anyone requiring a hardware or operating system upgrade for their mac or PC, plan this as part of the upgrade. Once all the clients have been upgraded, the server upgrade can be carried out. 

If you’re currently on server version 16, 17, you won’t be able to use Claris FileMaker Pro 19 or Claris FileMaker Go 19 until you upgrade your server. 

Start by carrying out some compatibility testing using a test server or at least a local copy of your solution. Once you’re satisfied that your system is working correctly, you can plan both the server and client upgrades. If you have a small number of users, you could upgrade the server and clients to 19 at the same time. If that isn’t practical due to device numbers or the need to maintain operations, upgrade the client devices to 18 (so that they can still connect to your current host). This ensures the minimum down time. When all users are running FM 18, the server can be upgraded to FM19. Once the server has been upgraded and the system is working correctly, user devices can be upgraded to Claris FileMaker Pro 19 (or Claris FileMaker Go 19 as required), in a staged manner. 

If you’re currently using server version 15 or earlier, you’ll need a plan to simultaneously upgrade your server and clients to a current version. 

As above, you could consider a staged approach by upgrading to an intermediate FileMaker version, 17 or 18 first to bring the system up to a newer revision, and then moving to FM 19.   This approach is perfect if or example, you have devices with older operating systems such as Windows 7 or macOS High Sierra, where the devices or operating systems may need upgrading. If you fall into this category, you will need to plan to avoid complications as you start doing upgrades.  

It is also worth remembering that new devices may not support the older operating systems. For instance, if you buy a new Mac, it is going to come with macOS Catalina, which does not work with OS systems lower that FM 18 and therefore won’t be able to connect to older hosts.

In Summary

Our advice would be to try to upgrade you FileMaker system as often as is practical for your organisation as helps to avoid complicated deployments and significant downtime. 

If you need help planning your Claris FileMaker 19 upgrade strategy and to take advantage of our upgrade discount offer, Get In Touch using this link and we’ll be glad to schedule a call to discuss how we can help.