Sage 100

It's time to retire the forced Sage Integration Engine Service setup during installation. Why? A significant number of times we are doing the upgrade after hours (at least I find myself doing so more often) - why force the customer to give us an administrator password if we could bypass this and be prompted during configuration of a component that actually uses the integration. Does this integration engine serve any useful purpose whatsoever other than as a stark reminder of Sage's failing cross-sell initiative?

Agreed. Should be able to skip. In addition, there is a service that is unused that raises questions.

If the CRM installation and integration was easy the cross-sell may have worked. Many clients ask about the ""free"" CRM. When I explain that ""free"" means at least $2K-$3K of installation and training for the bare minimum... and that is for one user and if everything goes perfect... they always take a pass. Nobody installs and maintains SQL Server and CRM for one user. Realistically, to make fiscal sense, implementation would require additional users, extensive training, needs analysis, testing of the integration etc. Easily $10K+. @PeterWolf can provide better numbers.

I always just enter the password of the logon I'm logged into the server with as it always defaults to the logon I'm using. One time that screen bit me though was when the client had no passwords for their logons, so I had to set up a temp logon with a password in order to get by that screen.

If I setup a remote unattended connection I usually have the customer add their password to the unattended connection so they don't have to provide it to me. I only really need to be admin equivalent during the install. This works really well except for the requirement that we enter in a username and password to start an integration engine that probably 90% of customers don't need/user.

Oh. Majority of the time I RDP in.

Are these clients running CRM? If not, why not stop the service and set it to manual start? That is my preferred method as most of my clients do not run CRM or have a need for the service.

Yup, @JeffSchwenk, mostly not running CRM.

The issue is during a new install you cannot get past the Sage Integration portion. There is no ""I will set this up later"" option. So if you don't have the login and password you are stuck and have to either obtain the password or wait to have to user key it in.

Very true. That is still a PITA. Maybe Sage is living the illusion that everybody installs the single CRM license..... But in the global view of Sage PITA issues, this one hardly registers as a grain of sand in my sandal as I trudge through the reseller desert of support.

Here's the workaround from the Sage KB that I had to use once when the client had no passwords for their logons: **Can I skip installation of the Integration Engine Service during a Sage 100 ERP Installation?** _**Desc**_: I am trying to install Sage 100 ERP on a machine that does not have a Windows user set up, is there a way to bypass the Integration Engine installation during installation? **_Cause_**: Windows user password is blank or not filled in during installation You will need to have a Windows user setup that has a password in order to install Sage 100 ERP. This is because the Integration Engine Service is a required portion of the installation of 100 ERP and cannot be installed without it. If a user does not know the password or does not have a user, setup a local user on the Server or Workstation: - Open the Start Menu in Windows - Right Click on ""Computer"" or ""This PC"" and choose ""Properties"" - Right Click on ""Computer"" or ""This PC"" and choose ""Manage"" - Expand System Tools - Expand Local Users and Groups - Left click Users - Right click in the middle Pane and select ""New User"" - Fill in the required fields, noting the User Name and Password - At the Installation Screen enter <MachineName>\<Username> and enter the Password you created in the previous step - Click ""Next"" to go to the next screen - Proceed with the Installation

To me, this seems like poor product development. Although, I guess under Sage's go-to-market strategy of ""just cram everything onto the menu and we'll hope that 1% of customers use it"" it probably makes sense to at least one person at Sage.

@DougHiggs Yes, you are correct. Numbers look fairly accurate as well. The challenge is with any free software trial is that it needs to be easy for the customer. CRM is too complex and complicated to just turn on and ""play with"" so it creates a very frustrating experience for the typical prospect. This is true of Salesforce as much as it's true for Sage CRM. Sage CRM is slightly more complicated because it requires a local installation.