As Not for Profits increasingly rely on 3rd party applications, some IT vendors treat customers like hostages.
This week Microsoft announced that they would retire their Fundraising & Engagement (F&E) solution on Microsoft Dynamics 365 in 2026… without an alternative.
This means that any Not for Profit currently using this solution for fundraising and donor management must migrate to a totally different solution before that time or lose both their CRM capability and possibly data.
While it’s Microsoft in the headlines this week, they aren’t the only IT vendor forcing a customer to migrate to a new solution… or else.
One of my clients was just told that they have to move from the IT vendor’s onsite server-based solution to their new cloud-based solution by January 2025.
The issue?
The vendor’s new solution still doesn’t have Multifactor Authentication available, and none of the current system integrations will work due to its non-friendly API architecture. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this particular charity’s work, the only other option on the market is substantially more expensive.
Why do IT vendors treat their customers like hostages?
To be honest, it’s all about money.
Just a few days before Microsoft made the announcement above, they also announced a bunch of employee redundancies and changes to their partner program. Many speculate that this is in response to the huge amount of money they are burning through to invest in AI right now.
Other vendors do the same thing with their solution offerings but for different financial reasons.
When they decide to make radical changes to their solutions, it takes an investment. As more of their clients move to the newer solution, there’s a critical mass in which it is no longer financially viable to support their old product and new product at the same time.
That’s why they end support for older products, leaving Not for Profits but with little choice:
“Migrate or add additional business continuity and cybersecurity risks to your organisation.”
What are the signs of an end-of-life solution?
The reality is that most IT vendors give plenty of notice before ending the support of a product – like years!
Even without the notice, the signs are usually already there (although Microsoft’s announcement was an exception to this because apparently, even their partners were caught off guard).
Here are a few signs that you will have an end-of-life solution soon:
- If the vendor has a cloud-based solution and your organisation is still using the server version.
- If the vendor has made substantial changes to their existing cloud-based solution (probably even called it another name), and you are still on an older version.
- The company has recently been bought by a similar kind of vendor.
- The company has recently been bought by a larger vendor that has different functionality, but the solution could be embedded into their product(s).
While this is not a complete list, it does take a strategic intent or at least a high-level risk assessment to try to recognise these signs early so that you can appropriately budget for it.
Final Thoughts
In reality, few IT vendors intentionally treat customers like hostages. They usually just get to the point where keeping customers on an older product no longer makes financial sense.
As such, they would rather take the risk of losing those customers (and goodwill) than have to maintain the older system.
I actually suspect that Microsoft will be forced to extend their current deadline. After all, there’s nothing worse than a bunch of bad press headlines about how: “Big IT vendor takes charities hostage with their CRM product takedown.”
So, watch this space if you are impacted.
In the meantime, if your organisation is using the Microsoft fundraising solution or any of your major systems show the signs above, it’s imperative that you start considering your other options (and the necessary budget for a migration).
I regularly help Not for Profits with IT system investment decisions. Let me know if you need some help.
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Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Association President, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today, she helps NFPs with strategic IT decisions, especially around investments.