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Failed implementation...
Updated July 05, 2022

Failed implementation...

Marie Roake | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

Once implemented, it will be used organization-wide. We attempted to convert to Financial Edge NXT a year ago... unfortunately, we still have not converted even though we are paying for NXT. There were issues between host sites... Orange County moving to Boston... I was told that we could test NXT in the hosted environment prior to converting. Once our data was uploaded, I was then told that we could only test in FE on the cloud... not NXT until our live convert. In testing with FE, we found there is a huge lag in processing time as opposed to having the data processing locally. Because it had taken so long I was facing an audit and did not want to have to manage a software conversion during an audit... The final audit report just came back so now we can proceed to convert to NXT... Our development office went live on RENXT in July and find that the processing time is also painfully slow...
  • n/a - have had trouble with conversion
  • Exporting reports to Excel has been extremely helpful
  • We currently work in the database version because NXT is too cumbersome for data entry
  • eliminate processing delays. Per our IT dept, the issue is not on our side.
  • better follow up by implementation.... WE ARE STILL NOT IMPLEMENTED! WE ARE NOW IMPLEMENTED, BUT USE DATABASE VERSION FOR EVERYTHING EXCEPT REPORTS.
  • renewal team wasn't aware of switchover and received billings for NON NXT renewals... took a long time to get resolved.
  • DATA ENTRY IS AWFUL IN ALL MODULES.... DEFINITELY NOT USER FRIENDLY AND VERY CUMBERSOME - WE HAVE TO USE THE DATABASE VERSION FOR ALL DATA ENTRY.
  • VERY IMPORTANT CANNED REPORT IN DATABASE VERSION HAS STILL NOT YET BEEN WRITTEN IN NXT. THE BLACKBAUD REPORT TYPE IS "PROJECT BUDGET VS. ACTUAL REPORT"... AGAIN THIS IS THEIR OWN CANNED REPORT IN DATABASE, IT IS CRITICAL FOR US TO RUN AND STILL ISN'T AVAILABLE IN NXT... UNACCEPTABLE!!!
  • WE ARE TOTALLY UPSET THAT THEY SUNSETTED STUDENT BILLING. IT WAS A WELL THOUGHT OUT AND EXTREMELY USEFUL SUB LEDGER. A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO WE TESTED THE BILLING SYSTEM THEY HAVE MOVED TO WITH BAD RESULTS. THIS HAS FORCED US TO GO WITH A DIFFERENT COMPANY FOR STUDENT ACCOUNTS AND NOW HAVE TO RUN REPORTS TO MAKE ENTRIES BY HAND TO GL. I USED TO WORK FOR A SOFTWARE COMPANY AND OUR PHILOSOPHY WAS TO NEVER TAKE AWAY FUNCTIONALITY FROM OUR END USERS...
  • OTHER THAN REPORTS, THERE ARE NO IMPORTANT FE NXT FEATURES FOR US
  • signed a multi-year agreement in Oct 2016... As of Dec 2017, FE NXT conversion has not yet happened...
  • IT IS EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING WORKING IN BOTH DATABASE AND FE NXT.... WE PREFER DATABASE FOR DATA ENTRY EFFICIENCY AND TAKING CARE OF PROCESSES THAT EITHER AREN'T YET DEVELOPED IN NXT OR ARE CUMBERSOME/HARD TO FIND.
  • IF IT WEREN'T FOR PROJECT CODES, WE WOULD BE SWITCHING GL VENDORS.
just Financial Edge... DUE TO STUDENT BILLING SUNSETTING, WE NOW USE SCHOOL ADMIN FOR ADMISSIONS, ENROLLMENT AND BILLING [WHICH WERE ONCE ALL DONE THROUGH BLACKBAUD]

Do you think Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT's feature set?

No

Did Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT go as expected?

No

Would you buy Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT again?

No

I gave it a "1", because of the fits and starts and then fail in our implementation. Although we haven't had the opportunity to actually use it yet, what I do like is the ability to switch back to the FE view - this will allow staff to learn the system easier. I do appreciate that care is taken to write each module gradually and get the kinks worked out. There are very few FE NXT classes for my staff to take online even though we have purchased "Learn Everything". I am hopeful that my dashboards, queries, and reports do not go away when we do go live on FENXT. I am hopeful that our admin team will find it easier to navigate view only through FENXT... FOLLOW UP JULY 2022 - WE JUST DON'T LIKE THE FUNCTIONALITY OF NXT AND STILL NEED TO USE DATABASE VERSION FOR PRACTICALLY ALL PROCESSING AND DATA ENTRY, POSTING, ETC.

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT Feature Ratings

Using Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

5 - FIVE DATA AND PROCESSING USERS IN THE BUSINESS OFFICE
IN ADDITION WE PAY FOR 10 ADMINISTRATIVE READ ONLY LICENCES - THEY ONLY CAN USE DATABASE VERSION - FENXT DOES NOT OFFER THE LEVEL OF DATA ON THEIR DASHBOARDS THAT DATABASE VERSION DOES. THE DASHBOARDS FOR FENXT ARE USELESS TO OUR ADMINISTRATION.
2 - FE NXT AND FE DATABASE - DIRECTOR OF FINANCE - IT RARELY.... THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE DATABASE
RE NXT AND RE DATABASE - PROSPECT MANAGER - IT RARELY...
IT ONLY HELPS WITH PASSWORD ISSUES AND ADDING NEW USERS
  • REALLY ONLY REPORTS IN RENXT
  • REPORTS EXPORT WELL TO EXCEL WHEREAS THE EXCEL EXPORTS FROM DATABASE HAD JUMBLED HEADINGS, TOTALS, ETC THAT TOOK TIME TO REARRANGE.
  • UNTIL BLACKBAUD COMPLETES THE PROGRAMMING FOR NXT, WE WILL NEED TO CONTINUE WORKING IN THE DATABASE VERSION IN ORDER TO EFFICIENTLY GET OUR WORK DONE.
WE HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH EITHER FE NXT OR RE NXT. NXT DOES NOT PROVIDE THE SAME USABILITY, EFFICIENCY, ETC.

Evaluating Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and Competitors

  • Product Features
NXT DIDN'T DELIVER AS PROMISED... [BOTH FE NXT AND RE NXT]
WE WOULD NOT HAVE CONVERTED TO NXT, OR HAVE BLACKBAUD HOST THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM. ONCE HOSTED IT WAS PAINFULLY SLOW AND SUPPORT WASN'T MUCH HELP.... IT WAS EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AS WAS THE BUSINESS OFFICE.
WE WOULD HAVE KEPT OUR PROGRAM AND DATABASE ONSITE IF WE WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT ALL OF THE HORRIBLE TRANSITION ISSUES WE HAD EXPERIENCED AHEAD OF TIME.

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT Implementation

OUR IMPLEMENTATION WAS VERY PAINFUL!!! WASN'T MUCH HELP ON BLACKBAUD SIDE.... VERY FRUSTRATING.
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was a major issue with the implementation - Not sure what you mean by "change management". We had horrible experience with NXT implementation so I marked the first one.
  • BLACKBAUD HOSTING DATA CENTERS WERE RE-ASSIGNED.... BOTH DROPPED THE BALL ON OUR ACCOUNT.... IMPLEMENTATION EXTREMELY DELAYED
  • PAINFULLY SLOW PROCESSING AFTER BLACKBAUD TOOK OVER HOSTING
  • REPORTS PAINFULLY SLOW OR WOULD TIME OUT
  • CANNED DATABASE REPORT THAT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT-REPORT TYPE "PROJECT BUDGET VS. ACTUAL REPORT".... AS OF JULY 2022 STILL ISN'T AVAILABLE IN NXT!!!

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT Support

I'M JUST VERY FRUSTRATED WITH HOW EXPENSIVE BLACKBAUD IS AND ISSUES WE HAVE THAT TAKE UP SO MUCH TIME....
ProsCons
Kept well informed
Quick Initial Response
Escalation required
YES.... TO BE MORE EFFICIENT AND NOT HAVE SYSTEM SHUT DOWNS

Using Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

IT DOESN'T APPEAR TO HAVE HAD ACCOUNTANTS AND DATA ENTRY USER INPUT - VERY CLUMSY AND FRUSTRATING. IN A CLASS I WAS TOLD TO IMPORT JV'S FROM AN EXCEL FILE... I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT. IF YOU LOOK AT THE DATABASE JV FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN DATA ENTER QUICKLY.... NOT SO WITH FENXT.
ProsCons
Technical support not required
Familiar
Do not like to use
Difficult to use
Not well integrated
Slow to learn
Cumbersome
Feel nervous using
  • EXPORTING REPORTS TO EXCEL
  • DATA ENTRY
  • JOURNAL VOUCHERS
  • CANNOT CALCULATE DEPRECIATION IN FIXED ASSETS
  • MISCELLANEOUS AR DOESN'T EXIST IN NXT
  • DATABASE BLACKBAUD CANNED REPORTS HAVEN'T BEEN WRITTEN IN NXT THAT ARE IMPORTANT... CANNOT DUPLICATE WRITING THE SAME REPORT OURSELVES.
  • STUDENT BILLING NO LONGER ACCESSIBLE