Sage 100

100c Early Reception Perhaps it's because I'm from Hollywood, but remember ""image is everything"", and we can see that proven everywhere, no matter how trivial and false that may seem. No matter what we think in terms of substance added to 100 to make 100c, the world supports this as being important. So far with new prospects in the past week, they have been very positive about the new look. We had a number of lost sales in the last year where the prospects were quite negative over the old look. I didn't consider that to be a big deal, but it was. So this is going to be one less thing prospects will use to reject the software. Current customers are not as excited over this due to the increase in cost, although they probably need to consider whether the new look creates a more positive outlook for users so they may be more motivated and efficient. I have no actual evidence this is true, but it may be. The only problem with selling 100c to current customers is the investment. If there was no cost to upgrading and the ""subscription"" was the same as their previous maintenance, they would be very receptive to this, and probably actually excited over the new look.

I TOTALLY agree with that last statement.

We're going through an exercise now where we are calling all our existing customers and in a polite way asking how many active users are using Sage 100. Where they may be paying maintenance on a 20 user system and now only have 10 active users, perhaps moving to subscription will cost less going forward - a win-win. We'll be contacting these clients first and only if it makes sense. Now I'm assuming that switching from perpetual to subscription will allow to restate your user count. Anybody know differently?

There were strong recommendations from several members of BPAC that there should have been no cost to current customers. Sage did substantially decrease their first plan, but it was not enough. What Sage fails to understand is how far this could have gone in terms of support for Sage 100 if they had just given it to current customers. I'm not sure they did any calculations of how many would convert to 100c, how many would convert to another package and what revenue they would make (or lose). The positive feeling if no cost is priceless and would have really gone far.

John, I'm with you on the perception is the reality. Prospects are going to like 100c. This is a free country and you can charge what you want. It seems unfair to only offer a subscription plan for 100c. It is obvious they are trying to implement an annuity with no other options to the end user. That ""may"" seem great for Sage but it will turn off current customers. The issue many current customers will see is, 1. the price is higher on a subscription model. 2. The option to stop paying maintenance is gone if times get tough. 3. It is equivalent to no longer having the option to purchase a car... only leases are available, and if you are late on a lease payment the car wont start. I prefer to buy my car and own it forever.

@BillPfahnl That's interesting, but I am not sure about whether that can be done. One response from Sage may be that current customers will not be paying the activation fee.

i just confirmed with our rep that there's no issue reducing the number of users. You would most likely need a deactivate user form first, though.

This means that a user that has kept paying their maintenance over the years, but doesn't need all their users could end up paying less on 100c. Or they could just deactivate the users they don't need and also pay less.

There are no longer standard folders under each module for ""Custom Reports"". Unsure whether we can create these ourselves. Also the Help About Sage 100 only identifies this as Sage 100 - no ""c"" is included. This may be confusing (or maddening) to customers who spend the extra bucks to get the ""c"".

Have you tried adding a custom report?? Does it auto-create the Custom Reports menu?

Yes @ThereseLogeais ! It created the folder. Thank you! Amazingly I actually remembered how to add a custom report :-)

I've sent an inquiry on the missing ""c"" to my RSM/RAM/Sales guy for an answer. Customers will ask, I'm sure, especially if they paid more for this.

Expect this sometime after the root folder is changed to ""Sage100

Perhaps it is only identified under the help about screen.

I am all for the new look and feel. I think it is long overdue and as @JohnHoyt indicates, will demo very well. And as he says, image is everything. And currently what I see is Sage trying to stick it to the installed base by claiming they are getting a free ride (payroll) and that everyone is going subscription by hiding behind the fact that the end user has ""options"" now. Very poorly executed implementation plan IMHO.

@PhilMcIntosh and the ODBC driver name change from SOTAMAS90 ..

Sage had an opportunity to change a lot of negative attitudes to positive. They could have provided 100c to all of the existing on plan users at no charge. Many companies have loyally paid the annual maintenance. Now, when a new interface is introduced, the maintenance they pay doesn't apply to the new interface. They have to pay extra and change to a subscription plan. Sage may anticipate (and not care) that they will lose many current customers. They want new users willing to lease the software at a higher price.... never to again have to chase software ""owners"" that haven't paid maintenance because they don't see the value in it. Long-term bad strategy as users will eventually seek the best value.

No, Help About does not indicate 100c. Also not in the startup screen.

I agree with @DougHiggs . This interface should have been provided to the install base at no charge, and, in fact, Sage had publicly mentioned this, so the install base knew about it. Never was there a mention of additional charge or subscription. Except for those that are stuck on older versions due to modifications, no users should be left on 100. It's also a big motivation to upgrade.

Penny wise, British pound foolish.

Confirmation from RSM ""I have confirmed that if they move to 100c this is considered a new purchase so they do not need to have a deactivation form to reduce the users they had on the On Premise version of 100. However what you need to play with is the upgrade fee ( 15%) which will be based on what their M&S would be at 5 users. Any M&S credit that might be applied depending on when they decide to move during their Sage 100 On Premise Business Care paid for will be based on 5 users.