Timeline to convert from Database to NXT

No one but Blackbaud knows that timeline but I'm going to say the database view will be around for at least the remainder of the decade while they build up web view functionality.

Might be fun to start a pool on this ?

Not until they build out all the functionality that you do in database view in to NXT. For us, we find it is so limited for what we are doing. I spend all my time in database view. My major gift people use NXT, but myself, gift processor and Operations Mgr use database view.

I completely agree with you Patti!

I would agree with Larry, they have to finish building out all the functionality in web view. I had used Ellucian Advance and they converted their platform to the web, and it took about 10 years for them to fully convert all functionality.

There are many processes that we have to do in DB View. Plus partners like Omatic still have not fully converted over their tools to support NXT processes.

I bet we are easily 3-5 years away.

I don't know if it's in Blackbaud's best interest to have it go away completely anymore. They have struggled to build NXT to a truly independent platform, and since NXT is based on RE7, I think it will just always be there.

Unfortunately, I don't see it happening anytime soon. Just from a PR standpoint.

I agree with all of those who are concerned about RE7 being discontinued and replaced by NXT. For those who do gift entry, and the daily operations of data entry RE7 is critical. If these daily tasks are not built into NXT it will be challenging to keep the integrity of the data.

Yes, it has several years to go. More than likely it will be a slow and painful transition as they push people bit by bit into using webview processes, saying things like: “Database view Action attachments are going away, please convert to using webview attachments.” (Oh right, that just happened.) ?

I'll be sad when database view goes away, IF it does. Analytical people like DBMs like their info in nice, neat, compact boxes where they can easily see what they need. Database view does that. Webview is like the little brother's messy bedroom where clothes and toys are piled in random corners. Tasks take longer to do because they require more clicks, more layered windows to open to get at what you need.

I recently read a fascinating article from a philosophy/psychology professor talking about how the modern person's brain has been wired differently than in previous generations – trained by lifelong internet usage to “skip” from one keyword to another while reading, absorb highlights more rapidly and multitask, but unable to perform deep information analysis. Older scholars view this as a mental decline toward reflexive awareness, while younger scholars consider this an evolution in favor of multitasking. Webview, in being designed as an “intuitive” platform, follows the modern internet psychology. But that's why it's poorly designed for DBMs who desire more informational depth.

Sorry for waxing all philosophical on everybody, lol.