HawkSoft 6 FAQ

1. Move to a modern cloud platform where data can be delivered any time to any device. This flexibility will allow us to deliver customized experiences that are optimized for desktop, laptop, mobile devices, and other form factors that may be in use in the future. Essentially, we are untethering the HawkSoft Platform from being just a desktop PC experience.
2. A modern cloud platform allows faster innovation of capabilities and features. This will result in more innovation being delivered to you at a faster pace.
3. Eliminate the need for a middleware service provider to facilitate use of HawkSoft CMS online. We currently use Parallels RAS and our third-party online hosting providers serve the HawkSoft CMS desktop experience online. With HawkSoft 6, you will not need Parallels nor our third-party hosting partners because your data will be delivered from HawkSoft’s cloud servers.

OK, but what’s in it for my agency?

• Improved latency (how quickly you can access data and run reports)
• Increased uptime (fewer service disruptions)
• Faster pace of feature updates and enhancements
• Updates delivered automatically with relying on every user to update software

This may be the most important question answered in the FAQ. Please read the following closely.

No – HawkSoft 6 is not a 100% web-based management system.

HawkSoft 6 is not a management system in a web browser. The purpose of HawkSoft 6 is to store data in the cloud, which will in turn allow you to access certain data and use features in a web browser in the future. Many aspects of HawkSoft 6, such as Cloud Accounting, Cloud Reporting, Text Messaging, and User Management are already being redesigned to run in a web browser in the future.

Yes – HawkSoft 6 will include some features accessible in a web browser.

To explain this, let’s use an analogy that many people using Microsoft Office will understand. HawkSoft 6 behaves similarly to Microsoft Outlook. The desktop app that you use on your PC is called Microsoft Outlook. It receives data from an email server in the cloud (Office 365, Exchange, Gmail, etc). The Outlook desktop app’s role is to display your email that it received from the cloud. Microsoft has made Outlook available as a desktop app, a mobile app on iOS and Android, and a version that can be accessed via a web browser. Each of those apps are called “native apps” because they are designed to be run on those devices – PCs, mobile devices, and web browsers, respectively. Each of those native apps uses the same data source (the cloud email server) to retrieve data. Functionality varies depending on which native app is being used. For example, the Outlook desktop app has more features while the mobile app may have only the 70% of the features of the desktop app that mobile device users really need when they are on the go.

Similar to the Microsoft Outlook model, HawkSoft 6 is a desktop app that will run on your office PC. HawkSoft 6 receives data stored in HawkSoft Cloud (in the analogy above, HawkSoft Cloud is like the email server feeding data to Microsoft Outlook). HawkSoft Cloud, however, is not tethered to just delivering data to the HawkSoft 6 desktop app. Data stored in HawkSoft Cloud will also be accessible in a variety of native apps across desktop, mobile, and web browsers. Many features in HawkSoft 6 will include browser-accessible elements, including tasks, reporting, carrier downloads, trust accounting, agency and carrier setup, and more (see all here).

We plan to make more and more features accessible by web browser as time goes on, but the desktop app will continue to be a necessary part of HawkSoft for the near future. There are still some significant benefits of desktop apps like a more robust interface, availability to more localized computing power, flexibility with keyboard shortcuts and custom mappings, drag-and-drop abilities for attachments, possibility for an “offline” mode in the future, and more. See our blog on cloud applications for info about advantages to desktop-based vs. browser-based cloud applications. We believe this approach will be a successful route to addressing user needs without abandoning the full power of a desktop PC that most agency staff use for the majority of their workweek.

While HawkSoft 6 was released with the majority of the features and workflows that most agencies use in HawkSoft, a few less-used features and services were initially excluded, based on development complexity and agency utilization. This approach allowed our product development team to get HawkSoft 6 into the hands of most agencies faster and collect feedback from real user activity.

Hundreds of enhancements have been released to HawkSoft 6 since its initial release, and we continue to add and enhance features in HawkSoft 6 each week. You can see features that are in planning or development in 2025 here.

No, HawkSoft Online and HawkSoft 6 are not the same. Agencies that currently use HawkSoft Online are using Parallels and our third-party online hosting partners to log in to Windows PCs that are running the desktop HawkSoft CMS app. With HawkSoft 6, you will only need your local office PC with an internet connection. You will not need Parallels or our third-party online hosting partners. We wrote a detailed blog article about this and encourage you to read it here.

HawkSoft will support HawkSoft Online for a period of time after HawkSoft 6 is made available to existing customers. Due to our term-based contracts with the different online hosting partners that support HawkSoft Online (which will no longer be needed for HawkSoft 6), some agencies on HawkSoft Online may need to have earlier migration dates than others. The migration team will work with each agency to resolve any concerns about the timing of their migration.

Most agencies that use HawkSoft Online today do so because it offers access to their HawkSoft data from any device. As HawkSoft 6 provides this benefit with superior cloud performance and many feature enhancements, we expect there will be very few reasons that a HawkSoft Online agency would not wish to move to HawkSoft 6.

Please visit this page to learn more.

No, HawkSoft CMS with Data Sync and HawkSoft 6 are not the same. Agencies with a Local installation of HawkSoft CMS that use Data Sync are only sending a copy of some HawkSoft data to HawkSoft Cloud (specifically: agency information like offices and users, and client and policy information). Agencies that use HawkSoft 6 will sync all HawkSoft data to HawkSoft Cloud. Data Sync is not optional for HawkSoft 6 – it is active and built into the entire system.

HawkSoft 6 will also eliminate the need for a local server within an agency for running HawkSoft. While an agency may wish to retain a simple file sharing server for storing or sharing documents, all the data necessary for running the HawkSoft agency management system will be stored in HawkSoft Cloud. This will save many agencies the cost of storing terabytes of data.

Agencies using local server installations are not required to migrate to HawkSoft 6. However, we want to make you aware of future end of support deadlines for local server installations.

End of support deadlines:

• 1/31/26 - Data Sync features disabled (including API integrations and HawkSoft add-ons) & data migration to HawkSoft 6 no longer supported
• 5/31/26 - End of support for book additions in HawkSoft 5
• 6/31/26 - End of software updates & technical support for HawkSoft 5

See details regarding each of these deadlines here. Agencies may continue to use their local server installation after the final 6/31/26 deadline, but the system will not receive software updates, security patches, or technical support. HawkSoft cannot guarantee functionality of the full system after this point.

HawkSoft does not recommend that agencies continue to use local server installations after this date. We strongly encourage all agencies to migrate as soon as possible to make use of the new features and capabilities of HawkSoft 6. This platform is the future of HawkSoft and will be our sole focus moving forward.

An agency on HawkSoft 6 will not need a server or networked computers to run the HawkSoft CMS desktop app. All data and attachments used in HawkSoft CMS will be stored and accessible on HawkSoft Cloud.

That said, an agency may still want their own server for other purposes or software. An agency should consult with their IT personnel to determine if they still need an in-house server for other business needs. This also presents the opportunity to consider transitioning to hosted solutions like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Drive for Business. These are options that allow an agency to discontinue an internal server in favor of a cloud-based solution for other business outside of HawkSoft.

Please visit this page to learn more.

Pricing changes for HawkSoft 6 for existing customers will depend on their current deployment: HawkSoft Online or Local Server.

Pricing for HawkSoft 6 will be comparable to current retail pricing for HawkSoft Online. Furthermore, agencies will no longer need to pay for additional licenses for Microsoft products specifically for the HawkSoft Online hosted environment, like they did in the past.

Agencies using local server installations will see a price increase of up to $39/user/month depending on their current pricing, not to exceed the current retail price for HawkSoft 6. For example, if your agency is currently paying $70/user, your price will only go up by $29/user to the $99/user retail price.

This increase covers the cost for cloud architecture, security, automatic backups, additional features, and ongoing enhancements. To read a list of benefits that the cloud platform gives to agencies on local server, please visit this page. Additionally, this price increase may be offset by your agency no longer needing to maintain a local server to use HawkSoft.

Your billing date or process may also change upon your move to HawkSoft 6, as we are standardizing the billing process for all customers (see details here). 

The focus of the initial version of HawkSoft 6 is on functionality, not design. We did not want to delay the release of HawkSoft 6 further by making significant changes to the user interface (UI). We also wanted to keep things looking familiar to our tens of thousands of current customers to reduce the amount of training needed for HawkSoft 6.

However, you will notice some subtle changes to the look of the menus, client view, logs, etc. Reimagined features (those with significant functionality changes) and features accessible by web browser may have a more noticeably different look because they required a new UI, while other features could simply be recreated in HawkSoft 6 as-is.

HawkSoft 6 leverages cutting edge web development programming languages and a much more visibly flexible UI, allowing us to make changes quickly and more easily in the future. We will continue to prioritize function over form as we do so, holding to our conviction that it doesn’t matter how good a system looks if it doesn’t work efficiently.

HawkSoft remains firm on our stance that the agency always owns their data. HawkSoft is a custodian for your data while it is in our system. Learn more about our stance on data ownership here.

For agencies using HawkSoft 6, data will be stored in HawkSoft Cloud. HawkSoft Cloud runs on Microsoft Azure, meaning that the agency, client, policy data, and attachments will be stored in one of the world’s most secure and robust cloud environments powered by Microsoft. Learn more about how HawkSoft stores and secures data in Azure here.

Program files necessary for running the HawkSoft 6 desktop app and related services will be installed on each user’s PC workstation or laptop. This will eliminate the need for a third-party online hosting provider that runs Parallels RAS (currently called HawkSoft Online) or an on-premise server (Local Installation).

With agency data stored on Microsoft Azure in HawkSoft 6, HawkSoft employs multi-tiered data retention and recovery strategies that mitigate any reasonable risk of data loss. Agency data in HawkSoft 6 is fundamentally more secure and protected from all types of data loss than data on manual backups created by the agency. Subsequently, agencies will no longer need to create their own backups of data. See our Data Security & Retention resource page for more info on how HawkSoft 6 is protected from different types of data loss.

That said, it is the responsibility of an agency to understand and comply with their state’s regulations regarding the long-term storage of insurance documentation (states may require keeping documents and data for several years).

We wrote a detailed answer to this in our blog on Answering Questions on HawkSoft Cloud. You can find it here, and here is a summary with added context for HawkSoft 6:.

• As most agency, client, and policy data powering HawkSoft 6 (including attachments) will live in HawkSoft Cloud, HawkSoft 6 will require an internet connect to work at full power / functionality.
• Please note two points about this fact: 1) The bandwidth (internet speed and data capacity) requirements for HawkSoft Cloud and HawkSoft 6 will be lower than HawkSoft Online’s are today; 2) You will not be tethered to your in-house workstation for accessing HawkSoft 6 (see more on this below).

The future of HawkSoft will require the ability to access the internet. The internet is also required to do most insurance-related business today.

HawkSoft 6 will be available for computers running supported Windows operating systems. HawkSoft 6 can be run on MacOS with the help of virtual machine hosting technology (see more here). Certain features in HawkSoft 6 are designed to be mobile-responsive and accessible through a web browser (such as Cloud Accounting), with more and more web-accessible features coming as we update HawkSoft 6. While the entirety of HawkSoft 6 may not be available at launch for any device, key features will be.

HawkSoft 6 marks a key moment for HawkSoft and our grand plans for HawkSoft Cloud. The overall goal for HawkSoft Cloud is to free agency data so that it can be used in the right place and at the right time. Most insurance professionals using HawkSoft 6 will do so from the agency office or their home office, seated in front of a computer. They will need and be able to leverage the full range of features in the desktop HawkSoft 6 to accomplish their tasks. For outside sales staff or a contract accountant, they may be outside of the office and/or have little need for all that HawkSoft 6 can do. Those roles need specific tools or specific information. For the sales staff, they can access client and policy data from the field using Agent Portal. For that accountant, they can use Cloud Accounting tools within a web browser (completely independent of HawkSoft 6).

Your agency data will be accessible when and where you need it. Eventually, the “where” might be entirely in a web browser. But HawkSoft 6 isn’t quite that version of HawkSoft.

Yes, but it will require the help of other solutions. Like the prior versions of HawkSoft, HawkSoft 6 is developed for computers running supported Windows operating systems (see system requirements here). HawkSoft does not currently have plans to build a native app for MacOS.

Users of the current HawkSoft Online platform are able to access HawkSoft on Mac computers because it is hosted on a virtual Windows machine. As HawkSoft 6 eliminates the need for this hosted environment, Mac users will now be responsible for configuring and supporting their own Mac-accessible Windows environment where HawkSoft 6 can be run. There are several ways this can be achieved. Please see our HawkSoft hosting page for details on each method. HawkSoft will provide support only for the HawkSoft system, not the configuration or maintenance of the Windows environment, on Mac computers.

In addition, keep in mind that many HawkSoft 6 features will be available via web browser, meaning they can be accessed on any device with an internet browser (PC, Mac, and mobile devices). While you will not have access to the full HawkSoft platform, many features include browser-accessible elements (see details here), and more features will continue to be made accessible via browser in future.

HawkSoft 6 is available now, and the majority of our customers are on this platform. All new customers are onboarded on HawkSoft 6. All HawkSoft Online customers have been migrated to HawkSoft 6, and all customers on local installations of HawkSoft are eligible to schedule their migration. Existing customers who wish to migrate must do so by 1/31/26 due to end of support deadlines for HawkSoft 5 and prior versions.

Microsoft Azure is one of the leading cloud infrastructures in the world. Using Azure as our backbone also gives HawkSoft direct control over the digital cloud HawkSoft 6 and HawkSoft Cloud lives on. If something goes wrong, HawkSoft’s Product Support and Development teams will have direct access to repair or correct the issue without having to rely on outside parties. It lets us be in control and responsible of our own platform if something goes wrong.

HawkSoft also gravitated towards Microsoft Azure because of our familiarity and affinity for the Microsoft ecosystem. HawkSoft CMS has been built on a Microsoft stack (programming languages and tools ideal for the Windows operating systems) since our last major platform change from DOS to Windows. See more information on how data works on HawkSoft 6 with Microsoft Azure on our Data Retention & Security page.

Existing customers will need to have their existing HawkSoft database migrated to HawkSoft 6. Data is structured in a completely different way in HawkSoft 6 to make it available in the cloud. Subsequently, each agency’s current HawkSoft data (including client and policy data, settings, attachments, etc.) will need to be migrated to HawkSoft 6.

HawkSoft will have a dedicated migration team to help existing customers through the process of moving onto the new platform. Agencies will have access to a HawkSoft 6 sandbox (test database) for a time in tandem with their current database, allowing them to familiarize themselves with new and updated features before moving to the new platform. Downtime is expected to be minimal during the final migration of agency data to HawkSoft 6. Please see our migration resource page for more detail about what the migration process will be like.

HawkSoft is taking great care to maintain a familiarity and continuity in workflows in HawkSoft 6. You should be able to sit down at HawkSoft 6 and use your current knowledge of HawkSoft to be immediately comfortable with most workflows in HawkSoft 6. However, some areas such as Tasks, Accounting, and Commissions have been enhanced significantly, and users may need some training in these areas.

There are a number of resources available to users on HawkSoft 6, including training courses, webinars, tips and tricks, and more. See our migration resource page for these resources.