Sage 100

I've got a client that would like to give his remote salespeople Surface tablets for remote order entry purposes. Anybody have any experience running a vpn and Sage 100 ERP on Windows Tablets?

I use my Surface Pro128 everyday for consulting. Depending on the client I am connecting to, I use a variety of VPNs..... Cisco, SonicWall, WatchGuard. Citrix. Works well for me when running Sage 100 ERP and other apps.

Thanks @DougHiggs that helps a lot. You're connecting to their terminal server via rdp I assume. How about directly running locally on your tablet, using a drive mapped back to their app server through a vpn?

You are correct.... using rdp once the connection is established. I haven't tried the drive mapping using the Surface yet but assume it would be similar to using Win 7 or XP... Depending on the bandwidth, a vpn with a mapped drive can be excruciatingly slow using 100 standard. I would test with using 100 advanced or premium prior to making any recommendations.

Thanks again @DougHiggs. Now that you reminded me, I did know that the performance on a standard 100 install was extremely slow across a mapped VPN drive. Thanks for the info.

FYI - someone in another group tried Blytheco's BlyMobile and mentioned that it did not support scripting which may or may not be a factor if you head that route.

Thanks @WayneSchulz that is an issue. We've looked into a couple mobile solutions, scripting and other 3rd party enhancements keep getting in the way.

@BrettLyder If you want the full functionality of Sage 100 from a remote device, I don't think you have any other options than an rdp to a terminal server, either through a vpn or through a web deployed option like Citrix. However, I would recommend that you examine your salesman's needs before you give up on other apps like iSales100 from XKZero. (This is an iphone app an not appropriate for a Surface. However, there are other options other there as well.) Also remember that the Surface and Surface Pro do not come with a cellular modem option which means that your mobile sales guys will either have use a USB device or turn the mobile phones into a mobile wifi hotspot. This could leach to technology user challenges if the salespeople are similar to those I typically run into. BTW, I have a Surface Pro and love it. I'm just trying to think of all the pros and cons. I would definitely not run the client directly on the Surface unless you will be running on a wifi network connection greater than 50 megabit regardless of the edition of 100. The average cellular connection is significantly less than this. I have never seen this arrangement work well, even with the Advanced edition. At least not since 3.71 days.

@WayneSchulz does BlyMobile support a windows platform? I know it supports iOS. We looked at BlyMobile as a solution for a 100 client. If the client doesn't already have an RDP solution, I'm not sure there is a lot of value in BlyMobile. The functionality is very similar to an RDP experience. (I tested on an iPad.) Also, I had significant issues with entering PO's (which was the customers focus). They were working on a fix last I checked but the client will stick with the terminal server they have an move forward with Parallels or RDesktop instead.

Thanks for the ideas @ShawnSlavin . Our customer has an alternate U/M add-on that they insist their salespeople can't live without.

Why not just move to 100 advanced, set up a vpn and then map a drive? Test it for speed/bandwidth first.

Side Note: blyMobile specifically is not compatible with scripting UI commands like those that disable, enable, hide, show fields. Seems to be okay otherwise. The challenge is figuring out how to know in script you are running under blyMobile (uses iNomads from PxPlus)

Sage's SData technology shows promise for development capabilites for entering orders without having to have a remote desktop session. Their ""Quick Order"" functionality in CRM is pretty watered down but they are getting there. Seems like someone could build upon that to bring in support for UDF's and such. Although Sage would not support that type of tinkering with the code, it doesn't mean a person with the correct know-how couldn't pull it off. (You mess with it you own it)

@alanniergarth - great observation. Sage web services allows write access to the sales order entry and customer master tables. It wouldn't take much to build a data entry web form if the only functionality needed was entering sales orders.