DSD Business Systems Blog

July 30, 2010

Sage MAS 90 vs. Sage MAS 200

Filed under: mas200, mas90, sage software — Tags: mas200, mas90, sage software — dougdeane @ 8:47 am

Blog by Doug Deane

Sage MAS90 and Sage MAS200 are identical products in term of features and functionality. That is, once a user has logged in to either MAS 90 or MAS 200, they cannot discern which one they’re using. The differences lie in what’s going on in the background. MAS 200 uses a “thin” client/server architecture, which means that the amount of data being transferred back and forth to the end-user’s workstation is greatly reduced as compared to MAS 90.

In MAS 200, only the screen updates are passed back and forth between the workstation and the server, which means that all the work is being done by the server, and virtually none is being done by the workstation itself. So, on the plus side, MAS 200 makes slower workstations perform acceptably well (as long as they meet the MAS 200 workstation memory requirements) and MAS 200 works exceptionally well in a distributed processing environment, where users on the other side of the country or the world need real-time access to the enterprise database. MAS 200 is also considered by most IT experts to have stronger data security and integrity protections than MAS 90 running on a local network.

Because of these advantages, MAS 200 user licenses simply cost more than MAS 90 user licenses. There is little difference in the cost of a MAS90 server vs. a MAS 200 server and other hardware and system requirements are not significant enough for there to be a substantial price difference. So the burning question is - Why would someone purchase MAS 200 despite its higher cost?

First of all, let’s talk about that cost difference. The MAS application modules themselves are identically priced between MAS 90 and MAS 200, and it is only the user licenses that are priced differently. A 10-user MAS 200 system will cost about $7,800 more than an identically configured MAS 90 system, but many IT professionals feel that the difference in cost is a small price to pay for the improved security and data integrity. Of course, the price difference increases as the number of users increase.

Steve Iwanowski, IT Consultant for NextStep Technology Advisors says, “With regards to MAS 200, the big reason we prefer MAS 200 over MAS 90 is data integrity. If MAS 90 is loaded on a network, it seems to act like our canary-in-a-coal-mine for network problems; we’ll start chasing symptoms that end up being caused by silly things like bad cables or long cable runs. We never have these issues with MAS 200. Also, most of our clients are slowly replacing their PCs with laptops, which they want to run wirelessly, and MAS 90 struggles more than MAS 200 over Wi-Fi.”

“If Citrix is already available, then MAS 90 is a good alternative, although we start to draw the line at ten users for network utilization and general stability reasons. I admit that I don’t have any hard numbers to prove why ten seems to be a magic number for us but anecdotally, we’ve had a few clients that if one person locked up MAS 90 on Citrix, then all MAS users (Citrix or not) start to have issues. The only work around for that was to reboot the MAS server. “

“All that being said, I guess it all comes down to how much risk the client is willing to tolerate. Our preference is to follow the best practice of putting MAS on its own server, and as most of our clients are still heavily PC-focused, we feel MAS 200 is the safer choice. And if you already have MAS on its own server, you might as well go with MAS 200 so that you can use the server’s horsepower to run it.”

So, MAS 90 is a good choice for systems of 10 users or less, particularly when there’s not a large number of users who are located remotely from the main server. But when one or two remote users are needed, many IT professionals recommend Microsoft Remote Desktop instead of Citrix. John Broadfoot, a MAS expert at Parsec Computers, has this perspective on remote access to Sage MAS 90 systems:

“I use a windows terminal server client (Microsoft Remote Desktop) to do remote work on client MAS 90 systems regularly. The Remote Desktop Client is built in to most all Microsoft operating systems including servers. Microsoft Servers all appear to support two Terminal Server sessions that can be used by Remote Desktop Client to attach for Maintenance work.”

“Most of the business workstation operating systems will support a single Terminal Server session and I use this feature to work on my workstation from home or when traveling. Microsoft makes versions of their Server Operating Systems that can be licensed to handle far more Remote Desktop Client attachments. We have a number of clients who have a Microsoft Terminal Server setup and run most of their users on it. Some don’t even have PCs for the workstation. They use Windows Terminals instead.”

“There is a similar more advanced environment which does the same thing and more from Citrix; however it is more expensive.”

“Terminal services from either Microsoft or Citrix are supported for MAS 90 and 200. The supported platform matrix discusses this.”

“For any end-user environment, it is possible to have a single physical server with both a virtual MAS 90 Server and a virtual Terminal Server to act as workstations for remote or local MAS users. The virtual part is unnecessary from the MAS viewpoint because Sage does support putting MAS 90 (not 200) directly on the terminal server.”

“On those systems we maintain remotely via Terminal Services, we have protections in place that allows us access only to the machine we need using a private port scheme.”

Steve Iwanowski added this information about an interesting alternative to Citrix or Terminal Server for remote access:

“Every Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 (or newer) has a feature built-in called Remote Web Workplace, which allows users to connect to their PC at work via the web (no VPN, terminal server, or special software required). I always considered it the “killer app” of SBS since it essentially replaces software like pcAnywhere, VNC, or LogMeIn, but it never got the recognition it deserved.”

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS 90, Sage MAS 200, Accpac ERP, Sage MAS 500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (0)

July 27, 2010

The Highly Anticipated Release of Sage Accpac ERP Version 6.0A

Filed under: accpac erp, extended solutions, mas200, mas500, mas90, sage software, sagecrm, saleslogix — admin @ 9:02 am

Blog by Doug Deane

The Highly Anticipated Release of Sage Accpac ERP Version 6.0A

Everyone in the Sage community is eagerly awaiting the release of Version 6.0A of the Sage Accpac ERP suite. This version of the software is a leap forward for Sage Accpac ERP in that it presents the user with a browser-based user interface (UI) that has been designed using the Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

The new UI has been designed to allow the user to navigate as quickly and as intuitively as possible, based on their specific job duties (i.e it’s roles-based). As you can see from this screen shot, the user is presented with a dashboard style screen, that displays their mission-critical data in a graphical format, and allows them to navigate accordingly. Each user can personalize their own portal, and system security assures that each user will only be allowed to view or change information that they are allowed to access.

The UI also allows quick access to inquiries on an ad-hoc basis and facilitates the creation of quick information lists and reports. User-created queries can be saved and reused. The new UI will replace the existing Sage Accpac ERP desktop.

Crystal Reports is still used as the default report writer, but in the new release, query results are shown using the Crystal web view in a separate tab on the Accpac portal, as shown in the attached screen snapshot.

Along with the dramatic improvements made to the UI, Sage has also added significant functionality to SageCRM and to the ERP accounting modules. Improvements have been made to SageCRM in the area of quote-to-order workflow, in the elimination of the Lanpak requirement for SageSCRM order entry users, and in support for SageCRM 7.0. Users will now be able to create quick product quotes in SageCRM, and turn them into orders without exiting SageCRM.

Last of all, a much requested change has been made to the ERP module functionality. Users now have the ability to lock fiscal periods by module. Modules can now be locked down until the fiscal period closing has been completed, preventing unwanted postings into the wrong fiscal period.

The new 6.0A release is due out in the third quarter of this year, and it is eagerly anticipated by the Sage Accpac ERP partner channel and by end-users. The use of the GWT in the design of the UI, and in the design of the version 6.1A accounting modules, will bring Accpac ERP one step closer to being a truly web-deployable product. The new design will allow it to be deployed in a public or private cloud, and we’ll undoubtedly begin to see a high end-user adoption rate for Accpac ERP delivered in a SaaS model. Sage has beta-tested Sage Live in the UK, and I don’t think it’s a stretch of the imagination to expect to see a version of it soon in North America, using Sage Accpac ERP and SageCRM.

———————————-

Comments (2)

July 22, 2010

Sage MAS 200 EES Roadmap

Filed under: mas200, mas90, sage software, sales/marketing — Tags: ERP sales, mas200, mas200 EES, mas90, sage software — dougdeane @ 1:19 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

The Sage MAS200 Extended Enterprise Suite (EES) was originally released to give current and prospective Sage MAS 200 end-users access to enterprise-wide functionality. That suite took the powerful and widely-used Sage MAS 200 ERP product, and married it with SageCRM and Sage FAS, in order to add CRM and Fixed Asset capabilities to an already impressive ERP feature set.

There were, and still are, significant challenges facing Sage in getting traction in the marketplace with the product, and tougher still, getting their partner channel to become EES evangelists. Some of the challenges are:

ERP consultants aren’t necessarily CRM experts. In fact, more often than not, they are not familiar enough with CRM functionality to be able to implement it in an enterprise environment. That requires a great deal of collaboration between the MAS resellers and the SageCRM channel, and that collaboration was slow to happen, at least initially.
Compounding the SageCRM issues were the EES certification requirements mandated by Sage. In order for a partner to be certified to sell EES, that same partner had to become certified on SageCRM. Many partners were reluctant to do so, and Sage did not initially have a certification policy that allowed two different resellers to collaborate on an EES implementation.
Not all end-users need all MAS 200 modules, and for many of them, it is less expensive to purchase the MAS 200 product with only the needed modules, whether SageCRM and FAS are needed, or not.
There have been challenging licensing issues. It is typical for any EES implementation to have a different number of ERP end-users than it had CRM end-users. For instance, if 35 end-users need ERP (MAS 200) access, then only 10 end-users in the sales department might be deemed to need SageCRM access. The challenge is that all EES licenses are concurrent, and they all give access to all the modules. So, each license would include the cost for SageCRM access, although many of the users wouldn’t need it.

This last issue is an interesting one, because I think that it highlights a needed change in mindset in the ERP marketplace. Many ERP channel partners have been selling their products for a decade or more; in DSD’s case, for nearly three decades. We have always considered the center of the customer database universe to be the customer master file, located in MAS 200 in the Accounts Receivable module. That’s old school thinking, and I believe that EES adoption has suffered as a result. The hub of the enterprise database wheel should be the CRM database. The CRM database should be the receptacle for all customer-centric activity, and if end-users saw the ERP world through those glasses, many more licenses would be sold for CRM. But to some extent, ERP resellers don’t view the world that way, and so their end-users don’t either. That inevitably affects EES’s perceived value proposition.

So, with all of these challenges, it’s understandable that Sage’s roadmap for the product will be fine-tuned. At around the time of the version 4.50 release of MAS 200 (which would have been the version 1.5 release of MAS 200 EES), we may see the product disappear as “EES” and replaced with two purchase options for MAS 200 – per-module (ala carte) licensing or per-user licensing. Sage’s intent is to give all of its prospects and end-users the greatest amount of flexibility in purchasing and tailoring the ERP system that meets their needs.

The per-user license model will be what we now call MAS 200 EES, and each license will include all of the current EES modules. SageCRM licenses may be named user or concurrent user licenses (with concurrent licenses costing around 2.5 times more than a named license), and concurrent licenses will have the capability of being assigned to one specific end-user. In other words, if one or two of the concurrent end-users has a mission-critical need for access, then a concurrent license may be reserved in their name. Of course, this dilutes the advantage of having concurrent licenses, so reserving them should be the exception and not the rule.

As of now, Sage is not planning to allow both concurrent and named SageCRM licenses to be able to coexist on the same MAS 200 system – the end-user must select one or the other. Also please note that the ERP modules (i.e. MAS 200) will only be available in concurrent licenses.

Sage has also not yet decided if they’ll continue to brand the per-user licensing model as “EES”. That will be a task for their marketing department to figure out.

To make things even a little bit tougher for the Product Management folks, MAS 200 will (hopefully) be available in two flavors by the time that version 4.50 is rolled out – Providex and SQL. So, there will be eight permutations of the Sage MAS 200 product, defined by these three distinctions:

Licensing: Per-User or Per-Module?
Licensing: Concurrent or Named-User? (For SageCRM – ERP licenses will continue to be concurrent only)
Backend: Standard (Providex) or SQL?

We are looking forward to the Product Management and Development teams collaboration to streamline the licensing and installation processes for all the (now) EES modules. From their recent LinkedIn Groups posting, it’s Sage’s intent to do the following:

To deliver the product on a single DVD with a simplified installation.
To make the product available in both per-user based pricing and traditional modular pricing.
To make SageCRM user licenses available to all Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 customers as “add-ons”, and each Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 will get a free single SageCRM user license as part of version 4.5. This will be a full and unrestricted SageCRM license.
To continue to bundle FAS in the per-user pricing model. For per-module pricing it will continue to be an option.
To provide a single support contract for ERP, SageCRM and Fixed Assets.
To provide a seamless upgrade path for existing per-module MAS 200 end-users, to the per-user pricing module.

I’d like to thank Travis Taylor in the Product Management Department of the Sage Mid-Market ERP Solutions Division, for his kind assistance in clarifying some of these details.

———————————–

Comments (1)

July 14, 2010

How to Get Yourself Fired

Filed under: accpac erp, extended solutions, mas200, mas500, mas90, pfw, sage software, sagecrm, saleslogix — Tags: accpac, extended solutions, mas200, mas500, mas90, pfw, sage software, sagecrm, saleslogix — dougdeane @ 1:36 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

As you know, the “How to Get yourself Fired” series of articles gives disgruntled employees tips on getting themselves fired so that they can collect unemployment benefits while they spend some much-needed time at the beach. In this article, we will be assisting CFO’s and Accounting Managers in getting themselves fired. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this, and the least suspicious, is to botch an accounting or ERP software evaluation for your company. It’s done all the time, by smart and well-intentioned people.

There’s a useful document in understanding what you shouldn’t be doing, to get prepared for your ERP software evaluation. It is titled “How to be Successful in Choosing and Implementing a New Accounting Software System — 39 Useful Tips” and you can find it by clicking on this link:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/HowToSelectImplementAccountingSoftwareSystem.pdf

Of course, you’ll use this document as a reverse barometer of how you should approach this project. I’ve listed some of the highlights from that document. In a nutshell, you should avoid doing any of these:

Don’t change your existing system until well after it has run out of capacity to handle your business issues. That way, you’ll be under tremendous pressure to get a new system in, because your old one has failed, and this will cause mistakes and errors by your staff. The added pressure will also prevent you from going parallel with your new system, in order to check its accuracy and its adherence to your business model.
Do not compromise with your software vendors. If they indicate that one or more of your processes or procedures can be changed to make your company more efficient or profitable, definitely do not succumb to their advice. The last thing you want is to make more money for your company. That’s not the kind of behavior that gets you fired.
Do not create a task force to evaluate the software. You’ll be much better off doing this in a vacuum, because it’s quite likely that others who you recruit will sabotage you, without knowing it. After all, they may enjoy working at your company.
Do not tell your software vendor what’s special or unusual about your company. The less you tell them, the less likely they will provide a system that actually meets your company’s needs.
Whatever you do, do not involve your sales team in the software evaluation process. That is a recipe for disaster. They will probably insist on integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, and they’ll want to know how the new system makes it easier for them to sell your products and to service your customers’ needs. Yikes!
Do not select a system that has the capability to be customized to meet your needs. That would defeat all of your personal goals, wouldn’t it?
Avoid having your software vendor perform a complete Needs Analysis. The less information they have, the better.

Now, you’ll need to select one or more vendors to assist you in your evaluation. You should probably not pick an experienced and honored vendor like DSD Business Systems or one of its partners, who sells the most popular, widely used, and full featured products like Sage MAS90, Sage MAS500 or Sage Accpac ERP. And you certainly shouldn’t select a highly ethical reseller like DSD or its partners, who are at the highest level of recognition by the Better Business Bureau, who is a recent Finalist in the BBB Torch Award competition, and who was recently the first-ever winner of the Sage Community Service Award. This is a recipe for success, which is not the goal here.

The next step in your evaluation process is to not create an Accounting Software Checklist. There’s an example of what you shouldn’t be creating at this link:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/TIPS-AccountingSoftwareChecklist.pdf

If your software vendor proposes that you use such a checklist, let them know that you already have one, and that you’ll use it appropriately (i.e. not at all).

Next up on your list of things to avoid doing is creating a list of questions for your prospective vendors. If you’d like an example of questions to stay away from, click on this link:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/TIPS-ConsideringIntegratedSolutions.pdf

Let me highlight that document for you:

Do not investigate any areas in your company that are now manual and which may possibly be automated by your new system. The only exception to this rule is when you’re sure that there’s a disgruntled employee who wouldn’t mind being laid off. After all, you’re not the only one who could use a better tan.
Do not ask your software vendor if they can produce any much-needed reports that your current system cannot. If the new system doesn’t produce them either, your boss will just assume that it’s an impossible need that no software can fulfill.
Do not bring up the Internet. There’s no better way for your company to connect with your customers, staff and vendors, so this is an area you should avoid at all cost.
Steer the discussions away from your customers’ needs. Their needs don’t get you a paid vacation to the beach for the next 6 months, do they?

The next important topic is “saving money”. This works at odds with your hidden agenda, so you’ll need to know how to spend the most amount of money on the system that is the most poorly matched to your business needs. Check the “Penny Pincher’s List” out by clicking on this link:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/TIPS-PennyPinchersChecklist.pdf

Of course, you want to avoid all those suggestions, in order to spend as much money as possible on a new system that doesn’t do what you need it to.

One of the most important aspects of any ERP software evaluation is the Needs Analysis. You should avoid having one performed, but if your vendor insists, then it must not be thorough. A top notch vendor will explore every nook and cranny of your business, determining where your current system falls short, documenting your business processes, and even suggesting improvements to your work-flow. You can find a list of suggestions to avoid by clicking on:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/TIPS-HowToCreateAccountingSysNeedsAnalysis.pdf

The most important area for you to concentrate on are unstated needs, and “innocent” inaccuracies in your responses to your software vendor’s interview questions. If you have a special need that is not obvious, and your vendor does not ask that question, then who’s to blame? Remember, your goal is to have a system installed that cannot do what your company needs it to do.

So let’s do some damage control. Let’s say that you’ve been working with a vendor like DSD Business Systems or one of its partners, who has access to multiple ERP software solutions, who has come into your offices and performed a thorough and detailed needs analysis. They have met with all your key staff, they’ve investigated all your reporting and information needs, they’ve looked at Internet connectivity and they’ve had extensive discussions with your sales department. Based on their research, they’ve selected the one product that best meets your needs and they’ve given you one or more product demos, and they proposed a very competitive price and possibly even a fixed price for the implementation services.

Are you completely screwed?

No, not yet. Simply get on the Internet and Google “????? discount”, where ????? is replaced by the name of the software product that has been proposed. For example; “mas90 discount” or “accpac discount” or “mas500 discount”. You get the idea. This will enable you to locate a software vendor whose business model is roughly equivalent to your own personal agenda. They have taken a highly sophisticated piece of intellectual property, and turned it into a commodity.

Most software vendors are referred to as “Value Added Resellers” whereas discount vendors are referred to as “Value Subtracted Resellers”. You definitely want as much value as possible subtracted from your system. Such a vendor can provide you with a lower purchase cost than your diligent vendor, because they have not taken the time to be diligent. That’s a significant cost savings, which may tip the scales in favor of the discount vendor. Best yet, they will not understand all your business processes or needs, so there is a high likelihood that the implementation will be botched or go terribly over budget. These are both extremely helpful to you.

So, let’s discuss the worst case scenario. Someone like DSD Business Systems has come in, and they’ve proposed a wonderful solution for your company, after having performed a thorough needs analysis. You brought up the discount vendors, but your management team overrode that option, correctly thinking that it might lead to trouble (for them).

The only straw you have left to grasp at is doing your best to sabotage the implementation. Here’s a link to a document that will describe to you exactly what not to do during this important phase:

http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/pdf/TIPS-5TipsToEmbraceChange.pdf

In order to ensure the failure of your ERP software implementation, you have to prepare the soil, much like a farmer does, except that you want those crops to fail. This document provides you with a great list of what not to do, which I’ve summarized below:

Do not build a case for change. The more that your staff feels that the new system is an inconvenience, the more likely they will be to fight it at every turn.
Do not keep your staff informed about progress, and under no circumstances should you let them know how their jobs will be affected by the new changes. It is advisable to have them all believe that the new system could replace any or all of them. Posting Dilbert cartoon strips or pictures of trained monkeys on the lunch room bulletin board is a nice touch.
Invest as little as possible in employee training. Tell your boss that you’ll be the only one trained, in order to save money, and that you’ll train everyone else. Gotcha!
Do not support your managers’ need for change. Keep them in the dark about the new implementation, until it’s time to go live. They are much more responsible than you are, so the less they’re involved, the more likely you are to reach Margaritaville.

This should be a foolproof way of Getting Yourself Fired, if you’re a CFO or Accounting Manager doing an ERP software evaluation. Hopefully, the software disaster that you leave in your wake will not be fatal for your previous employer. You want to avoid putting those severance checks in jeopardy.

For more ideas visit http://www.dsdinc.com/dsd/featured-topics.html.

In the next installment, we’ll discuss creative and survivable ways for airline pilots to Get Themselves Fired.

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (0)

June 14, 2010

Sage MAS200 SQL – A Huge Step Forward

Filed under: mas200, mas90, sage software — Tags: mas200, mas90, sage software — dougdeane @ 2:51 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

In the fourth quarter of this year Sage will be releasing MAS 200 ver. 4.45 which will bring SQL functionality to MAS 200. Steve Malmgren has been the driving force behind this release for many years, and he is to be commended for his great work. Sage claims that the new SQL version will not suffer from the same problems as the disappointing legacy SQL version of the product. That product was retired after ver. 3.74 and Sage has since made an upgrade path available to all MAS 200 SQL end-users in order to move them to a more current version of the non-SQL software.

Would a SQL version of MAS 90 be an improvement? Good question. The answer is yes, for a lot of reasons. Some of them are:

More efficient processing of large datasets. There are many MAS 90 and MAS 200 systems with hundreds of thousands or millions of records in their files, particularly in the transaction history files. Although the records in those files are currently indexed in the ways that Sage believes will be the most popular, they are not indexed in every conceivable way that a sophisticated user might need them to be, when business intelligence reports are being designed. Reports whose data needs to be selected and sorted by “non-standard” criteria (isn’t it interesting how non-standard criteria is almost always the most valuable?) can take many hours to print, when the involved datafile(s) are substantial. Crystal reports, BIE and other business intelligence tools can take so long to print in this environment, that end-users are reluctant to use them. A SQL-based system will virtually eliminate this problem, making data much more accessible and report printing much more efficient. Although the “standard” MAS 200 reports will not see a huge improvement, many reports written outside MAS 200 (in Crystal Reports, for instance) will only take a small fraction of the time to print.
Better integration with third-party SQL-based applications. Many of the most robust third-party applications are written with a SQL backend. MAS 200 ver. 4.45 will now be much more compatible with those applications than it is now. Some of those third party developers had written integrations to MAS 90 and MAS 200, but many had not because of the added difficulty in integrating to a non-SQL database. This will no longer be the case, and I believe that we will see a number of vendors jumping on the MAS 200 bandwagon with their products. With the new SQL database, third party SQL applications can use the Business Framework’s integration layer in order to perform updates into the MAS 200 database. They can now leverage the MAS business logic, instead of bypassing it, which preserves data integrity and eliminates synchronization issues.
Availability of SQL data for queries and other manipulation. Database administrators will now have access to the full MAS200 database via SQL. They will be able to perform ad hoc SQL queries using many of their traditional SQL-based reporting and BI tools.

These are all compelling issues for end-users with larger datasets or complex business needs, and on paper, those end-users should be well-served by this new release. But, many of us were greatly disappointed with the old MAS 200 SQL software, so resellers and end-users alike are naturally wary of this product’s claimed performance.

To address this very issue, Sage asked a small number of channel partners to spend time at Sage in Irvine, testing the new ver. 4.45 product and grilling Sage development staff about its capabilities. All feedback from that meeting was very positive, and it looks like this new product has the potential to be a huge step forward for MAS 200. Jon Reiter, our VP of Engineering and Jim Woodhead, our VP of Professional Services – MAS, were both in attendance and came away very impressed. Some of their observations were:

Very large datasets were tested and were processed very quickly. Crystal Reports and inquiries were generated in a small fraction of the expected time.
BIE loads were extremely fast.
Because there are no SQL Server stored procedures, a single code base will be maintained, allowing for smoother integration and support of third-party products.

The drawbacks, at least initially, will be:

Only new sales will be supported. Initially, there will be no upgrade path available for existing MAS 90 and MAS 200 end-users. We expect that to change when ver. 4.50 is available. When it is released, existing end-users may upgrade to the 4.50 SQL version of MAS 200, in order to gain all the described benefits.
Only the current Business Framework modules are currently planned to be available in ver. 4.45. That means that the following modules will not be available in the new SQL version when it is first released: Payroll, Job Cost, Work Order, MRP, eBusiness Manager, Business Insights Reporter, FRx & F9, Starship Parcel, CRM Integration and FAS Integration. If a new end-user must have one of these modules, then they will be prevented from buying the new 4.45 version. Most of these modules may be replaced by the functionality of other products available in the market.

Ver. 4.45 will support these platforms:

Server. SQL Server 2008 (32 and 64 bit) and Windows Server 2008 (32 and 64 bit)
Client. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)

Sage has announced that there will be a bundled edition of the MAS 200 software, containing a SQL Server license. The 4.45 version will essentially be based on MAS 90 and MAS 200 ver. 4.40 and will include the ver. 4.40 workflow and business processes enhancements in the Inventory, Purchase Order and Bill of Materials modules.

The minimum application server configurations in order to achieve the product’s intended performance are as follows:

Windows Server 2008 Standard (32 bit). Processor must be Intel Core 2 Duo class or better, RAM requirements are 4GB + 200MB per concurrent user, and there must be a 100Mbps network connection.
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise (32 bit). Same as above.
Windows Server 2008 Standard (64 bit). Intel or AMD 64 bit capabile processor, 4 GB + 200 MB per concurrent user, and a 100 Mbps network connection.
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise (64 bit). Same as above.

For the clients, the minimum configurations are as follows:

Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services (32 and 64 bit). Intel Core 2 Duo class processor or better, minimum amount of RAM recommended for Windows Terminal Services PLUS 128MB per concurrent user, and a 100 Mbps network connection.
Citrix Presentation Server 5.0. Intel Core 2 Duo class processor or better, minimum amount of RAM recommended for Citrix PLUS 128MB per concurrent user, and a 100 Mbps network connection.

We’ve been told by Sage staff that these requirements will vary based on the number of users and the profile of the tasks being processed, and that these requirements may be upgraded before the product is release, based on feedback from the business partners.

We are eagerly awaiting the release of this new product, and DSD Business Systems will be in the first group of adopters and implementers. We believe that the 4.45 and subsequent 4.50 releases will allow the channel partners to capture more new business, and better serve the needs of their existing end-users.

DSD publishes the SQL Mirroring enhancement for MAS 90 and MAS 200, which allows end-users to create an exact duplicate of their MAS90 (Providex) database in SQL. Will the new SQL version of MAS 200 make our SQL Mirroring product obsolete? No, not at all. Implementing a MAS 200 4.45 system takes a considerable investment in hardware, networking, software and training. SQL Mirroring will continue to be a great alternative for end-users who do not need enterprise-wide SQL functionality. Specifically, it is targeted for a MAS 90 or MAS 200 end-user whose database administrator needs occasional SQL data warehousing, reporting and inquiry capabilities. DSD will continue to actively support and upgrade that product. SQL Mirroring is a great alternative for end-users having one or more of the legacy non-SQL modules (such as Payroll, Work Order or MRP), and it is available now.

———————————

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS 90, Sage MAS 200, Accpac, Sage MAS 500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (9)

June 10, 2010

What is Hybrid Computing and Why Should You Care?

Filed under: Uncategorized, sage software, sagecrm, sales/marketing, saleslogix — Tags: sage software, sagecrm, saleslogix — dougdeane @ 2:13 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

I recently came across an exceptionally informative article posted on June 9, 2010 by Laurie McCabe on www.smallBusinessComputing.com. The article begins:

“A hybrid computing platform lets customers connect the packaged small business software applications that they run on their own internal desktops or servers to applications that run in the cloud.”

Among other things, Laurie talks about Sage’s Connected Services offerings, Sage’s e-Marketing application, and the new Sage Exchange online payment processing. I highly recommend that you click on this link:

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/buyersguide/article.php/3886761

Check it out, and ask our consultants how DSD Business Systems can help your company benefit from these new Sage services.

———————————

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (0)

June 2, 2010

Extended Solutions Catalog – Part 4

Filed under: extended solutions, mas90, sage software — Tags: extended solutions, mas90, sage software — dougdeane @ 3:25 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

Extended Solutions Catalog – Part 4

If you attended Insights, you know that Sage announced that 24 of the 56 ES titles that Sage had previously announced that they would keep, and roll in to MAS90 over the next two to three years, have been retired. That is, 24 of the ES titles that were planned to be rolled in to the 4.6 and beyond versions of MAS90, will now be given to the development community.

There has been an extended (and sometimes emotional) LinkedIn thread about this issue, and I think that it’s important to address this now. In that thread, Scott Zandbergen, VP of Product Management/Marketing at Sage, said:

“This has turned into quite an “interesting” thread, so I wanted to provide some background and further information on our decision to retire these 24 Extended Solution titles. Hopefully this will help put things into better context. Apologies in advance for being long winded!

Since the announcement was made at Insights, there seems to be a few key questions that are coming up:

- Why did Sage decide to retire these additional 24 Extended Solution titles?
- With these titles no longer on the roadmap, what will Sage do instead?
- Does retiring these titles indicate that Sage is not interested in pursuing new customers with MAS 90 and 200?

When we first published the roadmap a few months ago, which included the plan to incorporate over 50 Extended Solution titles into the core product over the next 3 years, the overwhelming feedback we received from both customers and partners was that the timeline was far too long. Some impacted customers wouldn’t have the ability to upgrade to the current versions because one or more of their titles would be “stuck” at 4.3 for quite some time. We were told very clearly that we needed to accelerate this timeline to avoid holding customers hostage. We therefore decided to shorten the ES title incorporation timeline and simplify our plans by removing those titles that had the fewest customers, and making those titles immediately available to the Development Partner community. This will allow us to focus on the titles with the most customers, and requested features and functionality enhancements that provide the most value to the general customer base. This decision did require a modification to our published roadmap (always “subject to change”) to allow us to course-correct based on market feedback.

One concern we heard at Insights was that by Sage retiring these 24 titles, it was a clear sign that we are not interested in making MAS 90 and 200 more competitive to help win new deals. This is not the case. We WILL continue to invest in MAS 90 and 200 – both from a NEW customer perspective and an Installed Base perspective. As you already know, we are significantly investing in a SQL version of MAS 200 (which will be going into beta very shortly – visit http://www.sagemas.com/beta for more details), which is primarily about making the product more competitive. We’re also going to be improving the integration with SageCRM, including support for mapping multiple ERP companies to a single SageCRM instance. In addition, we will complete our journey of incorporating the remaining Extended Solutions titles by 4.5 – that’s 25 additional titles, on top of the 7 that have already been incorporated in 4.4 Product Update 1.
After the v4.5 release we will continue to focus on those enhancements most valued by customers and partners based on submissions to our Ideas website (www.sagemas.com/MAS_90_200_feedback) and user feedback from the in-product survey. We’ll also continue to solicit feedback from our traditional sources including win/loss analyses, top customer support call generators, product and customer advisory councils, and customer site visits. We will be very overt about allocating a percentage of R&D resources towards both new customer initiatives (making the product more competitive), and Installed Base initiatives (pain points, existing customer requests). I want to be clear that we will balance these investments – it won’t be completely one at the expense of the other.

On the topic of investments for new customer acquisition (beyond our SQL release), we will work towards understanding the top necessary enhancements to make MAS 90 and 200 more competitive. I realize that many of these 24 Extended Solutions titles do make the core product more competitive, and if it turns out that these are the highest priority enhancements/features that we need, then that’s where we’ll start. To clarify, just because we’re retiring these specific titles, doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to add these features to the product as part of the roadmap. What it does mean is that we’ll be able to take a step back, and make sure that we’re focused on the TOP priorities to help make the product more competitive. Put it this way, if you had the ability to add 5 new features to MAS 90 and 200 that would help you win more new deals, would you want your top 5 picks to be limited to this list of 24 Extended Solutions titles? Or would you choose other features that are even higher priority? These are the questions we’ll be asking as we build out the 4.6 roadmap. In the meantime, we felt it would be better if we turned these titles over to the Development Partner community, so that customers could still get access to them, and not be in a state of uncertainty around when they’d be able to upgrade.

Another thing to note…these 24 titles represent a small group of customers, and while I’m obviously not at liberty to disclose the revenues for these titles, I can tell you that the revenues represent about 1/10th of the cost to fully incorporate/embed them into the core product. The point being, it’s not an insignificant investment to incorporate these titles properly – and anytime we take a project of this magnitude on, it just means something else doesn’t get done. This is why we want to be sure we’re focused on the most critical areas, and managing our R&D resources carefully.

As for those customers that currently own one of these 24 titles, it takes several months for these changes to filter through our systems and become reflected on the customer’s next renewal invoice. We are working on a communication plan right now, and expect that to roll out to impacted customers in the next month or so.

Hopefully this helps clarify things. Over the next few months we’ll be carefully monitoring the feedback we receive before deciding on specific enhancements to implement for 4.6 and beyond. As soon as we “lock” on those enhancements, the roadmap will be updated and re-published. Please continue to participate in the Ideas website, and encourage your customers to do so as well.”

In that same thread, one reseller actually speculated that Sage’s retirement of the ES catalog was somehow a “scam between the manufacturer and the Master Developers”. Nothing could be further from the truth. DSD Business Systems was just as surprised (and concerned) about the original announcement as the channel was. In the interim, we have worked closely with Sage to develop a strategy to minimize the effect of the retirements on the end-user community. Many partners in the channel have expressed unhappiness about Sage’s decision to divest itself of the entire ES catalog. I believe that unhappiness is misplaced. Sage’s decision is a sound one, and it’s based on the apparent resource drain on Sage development time that the ES catalog was causing. I would prefer that Sage devotes 100% of its resources to developing the base product, so that we can continue to be competitive in new sales situations.

Concerning these latest 24 titles, DSD agrees with Sage’s decision to release those titles to the developers. The vast majority of the ES catalog phone calls that we had gotten prior to Insights were mostly about those 24 titles. Resellers expressed a great deal of concern to us that their largest end-users would be prevented from staying on a current version of MAS90, because they were using one of those 24 titles, and those titles wouldn’t be rolled-in to the base code for two or more years. We were supplying one-off quotes for doing those upgrades, and they were VERY costly because we knew that our development time would be negated by Sage in a few years. That is no longer the case, and we can now begin the process of adding those titles to the others that we’re currently working on, and pricing them competitively.

DSD is upgrading 60% of the most popular titles at our own cost, and the end-users will not have to pay any more for them, than the cost of their previous maintenance plan. The other 40% of the titles cannot be upgraded in this way, because there are too few end-users to allow us to do that. Those titles will involve a “jump fee” which is a one-time fee that helps us recover our programming investment. We have minimized the pain to the reseller and end-user community by crediting the full amount of all jump fees back to the reseller for use in their future product purchases. The adoption of the ES catalog titles by DSD, including these latest 24 titles, has been extremely disruptive to our “normal” development and custom programming efforts, but DSD is committed to providing all of the ES titles on a timely and cost-effective basis. Many of the most popular titles are already available for the 4.40 version of MAS90.

Along with the upcoming 4.45 SQL release, we believe that the release of these 24 titles by Sage will aid all of the partners in servicing new sales opportunities. DSD Business Systems is completely committed to providing the partners with ALL of the available ES titles in a very timely way. Please contact Sedal (sedall@dsdinc.com) in our office for pricing and availability.

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (3)

May 27, 2010

Sage ERP Software PCI DSS Compliance

Filed under: accpac erp, mas500, mas90, sage software — Tags: accpac erp, mas200, mas500, mas90, sage software — dougdeane @ 5:41 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

Sage ERP Software PCI DSS Compliance

Definition of Terms

Before we can even begin to start talking about the PCI DSS standards, it’s necessary to define some important and often-used terms:

Acquirer – Also referred to as the “acquiring bank” or the “acquiring financial institution.” This is the entity that initiates and maintains relationships with merchants for the acceptance of payment cards.

Hosting Provider – Offers various services to merchants and other service providers. Services range from simple to complex; from shared space on a server to a whole range of “shopping cart” options; from payment applications to connections to payment gateways and processors; and for hosting dedicated to just one customer per server. A hosting provider may be a shared hosting provider, who hosts multiple entities on a single server.

Merchant – For the purposes of the PCI DSS, a merchant is defined as any entity that accepts payment cards bearing the logos of any of the five members of PCI SSC (American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard or Visa) as payment for goods and/or services. Note that a merchant that accepts payment cards as payment for goods and/or services can also be a service provider, if the services sold result in storing, processing, or transmitting cardholder data on behalf of other merchants or service providers. For example, an ISP is a merchant that accepts payment cards for monthly billing, but also is a service provider if it hosts merchants as customers.

Service Provider – Business entity that is not a payment brand, directly involved in the processing, storage, or transmission of cardholder data. This also includes companies that provide services that control or could impact the security of cardholder data. Examples include managed service providers that provide managed firewalls, IDS and other services as well as hosting providers and other entities. Entities such as telecommunications companies that only provide communication links without access to the application layer of the communication link are excluded.

All of the definitions above are taken from the PCI DSS and PA-DSS Glossary of Terms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms which can be downloaded at:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss_supporting_docs.shtml

Overview

PCI-DSS Compliance is the current challenge for the ERP software industry. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a worldwide information security standard defined by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. These standards were created to help credit card processing organizations prevent fraud by increasing data security. The standard applies to all organizations that store, process, or exchange credit cardholder information from any credit card company who has signed on to these standards. That includes all the major credit card brands.

Contrary to popular belief, these standards are not being maintained, enforced or applied by any branch of government. Enforcement is done by the organizations who maintain card processing relationships with merchants. For merchants processing Visa or MasterCard transactions, compliance is enforced by the organization’s acquirer, while organizations handling American Express transactions will deal directly with American Express for compliance issues.

Non-compliant companies who maintain a relationship with one or more of the card brands, either directly or through a processor, risk losing their ability to process credit card payments and being audited and/or fined. The compliance date for all merchants who process credit card transactions is July 1, 2010.

What It Is

The PCI-DSS standards incorporate these 12 basic requirements, some of which affect ERP publishers and providers, and some that do not:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data

Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data
Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software
Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

ERP publishers and providers are affected by requirements 2, 3, 4, 6 and 10. Merchants (ERP system end-users) must comply with all the standards, if they are storing credit cardholder information on their ERP system. So, the most diligent ERP providers must only sell ERP software that complies with requirements 2, 3, 4, 6, and 10, and they should also make their end-users aware of all the remaining requirements. Card processors and/or acquirers have a responsibility to do this, as well.

PCI Compliance for Dummies FREE Download:

Click this image for a free download of PCI Compliance for Dummies

How This Affects Merchants and ERP Software Publishers and Providers

There are five validation categories for ERP end-users (merchants). In order to determine which category you fall into, access this PCI Security Standards Council webpage, find the description that most closely applies to you, and download the associated SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire) by pressing one of the links A-D next to the description that applies to you in the table:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/saq/instructions_dss.shtml

Most merchants using Sage MAS90, MAS500 or Accpac ERP will fall into Category D. Each merchant must fill out the appropriate SAQ and provide it to their acquirer or card brand, along with any supporting documentation.

The new standards only affect ERP software packages that store credit card information in their customer database, or as part of their order processing features. To see how those ERP packages are affected by the new standards, you can download version 1.2 of the PCI DSS standards by clicking on this link:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss_download.html

Requirements 3 and 4 on pages 21 and 27 of the standards defines the bulk of the changes that the publishers made to be in compliance, but requirements 2, 6 and 10 also apply. Most existing ERP packages probably already met the standards defined in requirements 2, 6 and 10.

Sage Software Compliance

MAS90 versions 4.30.0.18 and 4.40.0.1 and the associated EES versions are both PA-DSS and PCI DSS compliant. You should access this Sage Implementation Guide in order to understand the complete scope of what it takes to install MAS90/200 in a PA-DSS compliant manner:

http://cdn.bestsoftware.com/sagemail/MAS/PCI/Implementation%20Guide_MAS90v43018__44001.pdf

Sage MAS500 version 7.3 is PA-DSS compliant. You should access this Sage Implementation Guide in order to understand the complete scope of what it takes to install MAS500 in a PA-DSS compliant manner:

http://community.sagemas.com/sagemas/attachments/sagemas/500TECH/447/3/PA-DSS_Implementation_Guide_MAS500v730%20-%2001-04-2010.pdf

Sage Accpac ERP does not need to meet the PA-DSS standards, because there’s no native credit card processing or cardholder data storage capability that’s necessary for Accpac functionality. There are superfluous cardholder data fields in the native software, and they will be scrubbed out by a utility that Sage will provide some time in the middle of June, 2010.

Advanced credit card processing functionality for Accpac ERP is provided by third-party providers of Accpac ERP enhancements. One of the most widely used, Iciniti, publishes their Accpac ERP Credit Card module. Iciniti has stated that their module will be PA-DSS and PCI DSS compliant by July 1, 2010. For Iciniti’s explanation of what it is doing, access:

http://www.iciniti.com/Libraries/Whitepapers/PCI_Compliance_Explained.sflb.ashx

There are other publishers of Accpac ERP credit card processing modules, and we will update this blog with their compliance information, when it becomes available.

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (1)

April 29, 2010

Sage Off-Plan Customer Reinstatement

Filed under: accpac erp, mas500, mas90, pfw, sage software — Tags: accpac erp, mas500, mas90, pfw — dougdeane @ 9:46 am

Blog by Doug Deane

Sage Off-Plan Customer Reinstatement

DSD was pleased to see Sage’s new promotion for encouraging customers to get back onto an active maintenance plan. This program runs through September 30th and some really interesting aspects that we’ve never seen before. The most interesting of those involves Sage’s offer of a new system license at a substantial discount from the suggested price, if a customer’s software version is 3 or more versions older than the current version. Any such reinstatements will be processed in a completely different manner than a “conventional” reinstatement.

How it Works

Off-Plan customers will now be categorized into two segments. Customers whose last shipped product is generally no more than two versions behind the current version (N-2) will be Segment 1 customers, and customers whose last shipped product is three versions (or more) behind the current version (N-3 +) will be defined as Segment 2 customers. See the second table below for a list of the affected ERP products, and for the exact versions that qualify for Segment 2 pricing.

There is no change in pricing and processing reinstatements for Segment 1 customers. These customers will pay for lapsed maintenance coverage and purchase one year of M&S moving forward. However, reinstatements for Segment 2 customers will be treated as new license sales but at a huge discount from the suggested list price. Segment 2 customers will purchase the current version of the product at the discounted price and one year of M&S moving forward.

Pricing for Customers in Segment 2

Customers in Segment 2 will receive a minimum of 50% off the New License SLP when purchasing the mandatory one year of M&S moving forward. The M&S plan price is based upon full New License SLP. Customers can earn a higher discount if they purchase one year of M&S but commit to a two year or three year plan. Customers are not required to pre-pay for years two or three but must sign a contract allowing Sage to automatically renew their plan in year two and/or three. This table summarizes the benefits:

M&S Plan Commitment	Product Price
1 Year	50% discount off New License SLP
2 Years	55% discount off New License SLP
3 Years	60% discount off New License SLP

Note: Discount off New License SLP cannot be combined with any other promotion and applies only to customers coming back on plan for the same product platform. Discount off SLP does not apply to Additional Users or New Module purchases.

90 Day Grace Period

For customers already in Sage’s registered pipeline, Sage will honor the traditional reinstatement pricing through July 23, 2010, since many of these customers are working through their approval process based upon prior pricing. The lapsed maintenance fees will be used as the adjusted SLP for the New License product orders and New License margin and tier will be applied. The one-year M&S plan will be processed as usual.

Participating Products and Customer Segments

The chart below provides the participating products for this promotion and the versions that determine the applicable segment for each customer.

Business Unit	Product Line	Standard Reinstatement Does not qualify for promotion	New License Qualifies for promotion
Business Unit	Product Line	Last Version Shipped (N-2)	Last Version Shipped (N-3 +)
Accounting Solutions	Sage Accpac	V 5.6, 5.5, 5.4	V 5.3 or Older
	Sage MAS 90 and 200	V 4.4, 4.3, 4.2, 4.1	V 4.05 or Older
	Sage MAS 500	V 2010, 7.3, 7.2, 7.05	V 7.0 or Older
Value Products	Sage BusinessVision	V 2010, 7.3, 7.2, 7.1	V 7.0 or Older
	Sage BusinessWorks	V 2010, 2009, 8	V 7 or Older
	Sage PFW	V 2010, 5.7, 5.6, 5.5	V 5.4 or Older
	Sage Pro	V 2010, 7.5, 7.4	V 7.3 or Older
Non Profit Solutions	Sage MIP Fund Accounting	V 10.2, 10.1, 1.0	V 9.0 or Older
Non Profit Solutions	Sage Fund Raising 50	V 8.1, 8.0, 7.0	V 6.0 or Older
Specialized Business Solutions	Sage Abra Suite	V 9.0, 7.8, 7.7	V 7.6 or Older
	Sage Abra SQL	V 10.0, 8.5, 8.4	V 8.3 or Older
	Sage FAS	V 2010.1, 2009.1, 2008.1	V 2007.1 or Older
Construction & Real Estate Solutions	Sage Timberline Office	V 9.7, 9.6, 9.5	V 9.4 or Older
Construction & Real Estate Solutions	Sage Master Builder	V 15.1, 14.2, 13.3	V 12.0 or Older

Some Observations and Recommendations

We’ve run through some upgrade scenarios with MAS90 4.05 and 3.71 upgrades. Both of these versions qualify as Segment 2 upgrades under the New License rules. We have not looked at any of the other affected Sage ERP products. We were disappointed to find that an off-plan reinstatement for a 4.05 system would be significantly more expensive for an end-user than the old plan, which was to charge for back maintenance fees and penalties. It was, in fact, about 30% to 40% higher than the “old” reinstatement plan, depending on how many years of future maintenance the end-user commits to.

DSD found that for a MAS90 3.71 reinstatement, the new plan is only a few percent higher than the old reinstatement plan, which we think is easily justified. The breakeven seems to be between 3.6x and 3.7x reinstatements, which means that the new plan will significantly benefit any 3.6x and older end-users who are off-plan.

Despite the fact that a reinstatement might be a bit more expense for MAS90 3.71 end-users under the new Segment 2 reinstatement plan, DSD believes that they would still benefit significantly from it. Getting back on a maintenance plan breathes new life into an ERP system. It allows end-users to benefit from all the advancements and new features in the current software, and it restores their relationship in good-standing with Sage. This is important for Windows 7 compatibility, and because it restores an end-user’s access to Sage Online and to the Sage End-User Communities.

We certainly urge all 3.7x and older off-plan end-users to get back on plan while this promotion lasts. It is announced to be active through the end of September, and it’s not known if it will be extended past that date. This is an exceptional way for them to receive a new MAS90 system at a fraction of the suggested list price, and (for most) at a fraction of the cost it would normally have been under the old reinstatement plan.

If a 4.0x off-plan end-user must get back on a current maintenance for compelling business reasons, then they will be paying a premium to do so, compared to the cost of reinstatement under the old plan. Our hope is that the new plan doesn’t incent 4.0x end-users to hold off getting current. As mentioned, being on a current maintenance plan is critically important to the health of any end-user’s ERP system, and to its functionality.

DSD applauds Sage for constructing a reinstatement plan that benefits their business partners, benefits their end-users, and benefits Sage.

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (1)

April 28, 2010

Worthy Blog – Sage Software – A Guide to the Product Portfolio

Filed under: accpac erp, mas500, mas90 — Tags: accpac erp, mas500, mas90 — dougdeane @ 12:57 pm

Blog by Doug Deane

Worthy Blog - Sage Software – A Guide to the Product Portfolio

I’ve just been forwarded a blog by Austin Merritt on the www.softwareadvice.com website. It contains some interesting information about Sage’s history, and an overview of its current SMB ERP products. It’s definitely worth a read whether you’re a prospective ERP end-user, a current ERP end-user or a professional in the channel. You can find that blog at:

http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/manufacturing/sage-software-a-guide-to-the-product-portfolio-1042110/

If you’re looking for an ERP or CRM system, and you’d like to see an online product demo of Sage MAS90, Sage MAS500, Sage Accpac ERP, SalesLogix, or SageCRM, please contact our VP of Sales, Pete Morone, for assistance. He’ll be glad to help.

———————————–

Doug Deane is President of DSD Business Systems, a national provider of ERP software and accounting software, specializing in wholesale distribution, warehouse management, inventory and CRM software, including Sage MAS90, Sage MAS200, Accpac, Sage MAS500, Sage FAS, SageCRM, SalesLogix, Extended Solutions Enhancements, and Custom Programming.

Comments (0)

Older Posts »