Archive for the ‘ERP Companies’ Category
5 Reasons MAS90 Quarterly Product Updates Were A Mistake
Sage 100 ERP (Formerly MAS 90 and 200) Product Updates issued quarterly have, in my opinion, been a failure.
Time to admit it. Bring back an annual upgrade and monthly service packs.
First some background.
Sage began issuing quarterly product updates with version 4.30 4.4 of Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200.
These updates contained feature enhancements (mostly folded in Extended Solutions which Sage used to sell but had since open sourced). Rather than increasing the version number the product update would add a corresponding Product Update version to the end of the customer’s version – for example Version 4.4 with Product Update 1 was 4.4.0.1.
Prior to version 4.30 4.4 Sage issued monthly bundles of program patches that they labeled as Service Updates. These were self-installable bundles of fixes which in turn had replaced the old method of requiring customers (or more likely their VARS) to install fixes individually.
The Service Updates rarely included additional features and instead focussed on stabilizing the existing code.
In theory these Product Updates would make customers happier as they introduced new features in each release and replaced the prior practice of annual upgrades and monthly service packs (primarily bug fixes).
Unfortunately from my vantage point quarterly Product Updates didn’t make most users’ live’s easier.
Is SugarCRM An Early Warning Sign of Sage Channel Challenge?
SugarCRM is an open sourced open-source, web-based CRM solution, which is advertised as being able to run in the Cloud or on-site.
Recently I’m noticing more top tier Sage VARS advertising SugarCRM – most recently Blytheco (Sage’s North America Partner Of The Year) , then Faye Business Solutions Group and Brainsell.
Faye and Brainsell are listed on SugarCRM’s partner site. Blytheco is not so it’s possible they’re just running a series of educational sessions though it’s difficult to believe they’re adverting a competitor for what’s supposed to be one of Sage’s bread and butter markets (CRM).
Sage Partner Faye Business Solutions Group Joins Intacct Partner Program
Faye Business Systems Group (FBSG) a Southern California technology consulting firm announced today that they’ve joined the Intacct Business Partner Program. Intacct is a leading provider of cloud financial management and accounting software
In a press release dated January 23, 2011 , FBSG CEO David Faye indicates that FBSG will be working on further developing an integration between Intacct and SugarCRM as well as other potential custom solutions.
Faye Business Solutions Group, Inc was formed in January 2010 as a spinoff from Southern California IT consulting firm Faye, Pollack & Associates and in addition to Intacct their website indicates support for Sage ERP MAS 90 , 200, and SugarCRM.
Interestingly the first paragraph of the press release talks about Intacct as being “significantly more partner friendly” which seems to take direct aim at the wide ranging changes Sage continues to make to their partner program including increased certifications, reductions to partner support and marketing of Sage support directly to customers.
The Intacct Business partner channel is run by former Sage Channel Chief Taylor Macdonald who has made some strides in recruiting Sage partners - most visible so far being Sage Non-Profit specialists JMT Consulting who is noted as being a $4.9 million var on the Accounting Technology VAR 100 for 2011 and Canada’s $ 5.6 million Equation Technologies who represents Sage Accpac and was ranked # 63 on the 2011 VAR 100.
Epicor Lawsuit Claims Useless Software Despite One Throat Chokehold and Doubling of Costs
There seems to be a steady stream of news related to ERP vendor Epicor (Full disclosure – I work exclusively as an independent consultant with a competitive ERP product). The latest lawsuit from Major Brands claims that Epicor over-promised and under-delivered on a $1,000,000+ software and services ERP engagement.
According to the lawsuit the initial cost of $500,000 in software licenses and $ 670,000 in services (to be provided by Epicor directly because “there’s only one throat to choke”) not only ran past the initial go-live date of ”mid 2011″ but also doubled in price and according to the suit Epicor eventually admitted the software they’d recommended was ” not suitable for Major Brands’ needs and that it would not perform as previously represented”.
By the time Major Brands filed suit Epicor was indicating that their net version, ICE 3.0, would fix everything – but not until it was available in mid 2012.
During the testing, the V9 software was so ill-suited for Major Brands’ needs, no invoicing or shipments were able to occur.
Sage Reduces Subscription Plan Options For Sage 100, 300 and 500 Customers
In a move that might surprise some of their business partners who haven’t been paying attention and noticed that Sage’s compensation for maintenance plan subscriptions is amongst the highest of any competitor, Sage is expected to announce today that all Sage 100, 300 and 500 customers will have access to 5 support cases as their plans renew beginning with those expiring on or after March 1, 2012.
Several partners have contacted me to confirm they’ve been informed that Sage will announce elimination of the Bronze plan for Sage 100, 300, 500 ERP (Formerly Sage ERP MAS90, 200, Accpac and 500) which previously allowed for only maintenance upgrades and no calls to Sage support. Instead of calling Sage support most customers relied on their local Sage Business Partner for support..
Intacct and Intuit: It’s Complicated
One of our consulting firms just received this offer from Intuit. The promotion appears aimed at QuickBooks users, specifically software companies, who have outgrown their QuickBooks software.
What’s unusual about this mailing is I’ve yet to see a press release that these two competitors (Intuit and Intacct) are working together.
The promotion also states “we have a new way” which may indicate this is a test or perhaps as yet unannounced partnership.
UPDATE: Intacct PR replies “..I would certainly not characterize intacct and intuit as competitors…”.
Most software companies tightly guard their installed user list and only as a deep last resort would they consider referring an existing customer to a competitor.
Relevant information from the email is below (emphasis is mine):
Sage Mid-Market Partner group ask that Sage Inc. rescind tier calculation
A number of Sage partners have reported receiving an email asking that they sign a petition to ” ask that Sage Inc. reconsider the proposed Tier Level Calculation changes to be effective on April 1, 2012″.
The petition appears to have been created by Peter Ribeiro of Impac Solutions Toronto, Ontario – a Sage Accpac and Microsoft reseller.
The petition largely asks that Sage rescind their recent plans to measure the tier move-down calculation quarterly instead of bi-annually as was previously done. Some believe that this calculation may result in more VARS losing some tier commission.
Whether this approach will be successful remains to be seen. Increasingly Sage seems to be guided by the overseas corporate parent and is facing a huge branding project expected to take the better part of the next year.
The question of more tier is only one small part of what most VARS should be worrying about. The more pressing problem is fast movement of technology and the shifting tastes of the technical buyer.
The Boogeyman Shifts
This morning I read a post by Bob Scott that Microsoft is supplementing some of it’s Business Solutions IT team located in Fargo ND to a Dynamics VAR.
I’ve no idea what Bob’s getting at here – and whether this is only IT resources or also development, support. In any instance it’s hard to believe that Microsoft is doubling down on ERP when this report of outsourcing appears.
Hasn’t the boogey man shifted anyway?
It used to be we feared Microsoft, Epicor, Macola/Exact.
Now the fear is the unknown, whether our product technology meets some ever changing definition of “true cloud” and the murkiness of the definition of true cloud.
Prediction: The definition of ”True Cloud” will become the greatest ERP holy war ever.
This Isn’t A Hope and A Prayer: SaaS Takes Center Stage at ITA
The Fall Collaborative of the IT Alliance was held this past week (December 3-6, 2011) in Austin Texas. The closing session “The Cloud – SaaS Best Practices” moderated by Avalara’s Rob Johson and presented by a panel including Taylor Macdonald – VP Channel Sales Intacct, Jaqueline Tiso , President JMT Consulting and Craig West VP Channel Sales at Netsuite.
Record attendance of 260 technology members was announced. Most IT Alliance members provide mid-market ERP or related services. The conference is marketed as a collaborative and is heavy on member to member sharing of experiences.
One of the hottest topics at this year’s event was cloud computing. Each conference day spotlighted sessions on creating, adapting and how to change a VAR practice to market SaaS offerings which typically charge customers a lower initial price which means VARS have had to retool their thinking about how to market and provide SaaS services.
During last year’s ITA Fall 2010 collaborative I noted that most IT Alliance member VARS who had adopted SaaS as a business offering were in the early stages of ramping up and offering services. This meant there was not much live feedback about actual results of converting from an on premises to SaaS VAR.
This year’s conference was different and one session about SaaS business best practices featured a prominent Sage partner – Jackie Tiso of JMT Consulting - who is a 9 year Sage President’s Circle winner and one of their top Non-Profit VARs. Jackie and her firm have been providing a SaaS solution since October 2010. Here are some notable results that Jackie shared during her session.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sage Earnings 2011 Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses In A Challenged Market
Sage reported earnings today. From what I can see the overall activity was impressive — especially compared to a market where companies like Microsoft are out selling ERP software at an 85% discount.
The recurring bright spots in the US appear to be payments where Sage is reporting 15% growth (over 40% growth in cross selling payments into existing customers).
Selling software and related services is the low spot for North America– 3% contraction.
After touting the opportunities for Healthcare in their 2010 annual report ( well positioned to take advantage of stimulus) – Sage announces “Sage Healthcare business in North America is no longer core to our strategy”. Of course Sage Healthcare sale was completed in November 2011.
