Sage News and Discussion

Just took this off a Sage reinstatement quote: Silver Features: SILVER PLAN BENEFITS: oFive Support Cases oOption to purchase additional five support cases for $995 oRemote desktop support o10% cost savings on Anytime Learning online training courses o$100 cost savings per person registered for the Sage Summit Conference GOLD PLAN BENEFITS oUnlimited Support Cases oPriority Access along with extended support hours (5:00am-8:00pm pst) during normal business days oRemote desktop support oUnlimited Anytime Learning online training courses o$200 cost savings per person registered for the Sage Summit Conference oUpgrade planning assistance o20% cost savings on Realtime training

oUpgrade planning assistance What oh what could this be?

I saw something like this before and thought the same thing - how are they going to ""assist"" in planning upgrades?!

Via: http://www.sagemas.com/~/media/Company/ERP/White%20Papers/MAS90_BusinessCare_Brochure.pdf

When you choose the Gold plan, Sage support analysts assist you and your authorized Sage business partner during the planning phase of your initial implementation and upgrades. This service includes providing you with best practice tips, review of system requirements, thirdparty compatibility considerations, pre- and post-upgrade recommendations, and troubleshooting. * Upgrade Planning Assistance is for planning purposes, and excludes customization, report writing, data conversion, and training. Must be coordinated and scheduled in advance with Sage. Sage reserves the right to limit the number of hours

I don't however know if that uses a support case - which I believe that it should. And in that case it's really just a broadening of the scope of what Sage will provide support for.

But Gold support is unlimited cases, correct? So no, it doesn't matter if it's a case or not.

Does anyone have a feel of the numnber of customers optting for Gold Support? I don't have any and very few have even silver.

My sense is that for active resellers there are relatively few silver plans. for resellers trying to sit back and collect commission they probably have more. I think I may have three silver and no gold

if Sage were to reinstate just 5% of the expired pool, that is significant revenue. When Sage says they will work with the business partner on upgrade, that gives Sage an out and the ability to control their exposure.

We recommend Gold for the first year to avoid the nuisance calls. There used to be a discount for additional modules when you were Gold, but I guess that is gone too.

By nuisance calls, I mean people who want free training while they are learning the software.

I have one customer on Gold and she generally only calls Sage if I don't answer the phone right away and it is urgent. I don't think I'll lose much sleep over Sage getting some of the ""I know you told me how to do this once but I can't remember"" calls that always seem to coincide with sitting down to work on a big project... The Sage ""upgrade planning"" that excludes most of what you need a consultant for on the upgrade does scare me though.

I was just taking my daughter to Staples. There's a new gas station in town. It's offering the lowest prices. There is one other low price competitor in town. The remaining gas stations (3 or 4) all offer higher prices -- usually 5 cents more. I noticed that business for the normally higher priced stations was hardly off at all. Business at the station which used to be the lowest price was noticeably slower as the low price buyers who frequented that station migrated the other low price competitor. Which made me wonder whether the Sage Silver is primarily going to impact those customers used to paying per call - while customers paying annually all along will not be (as) impacted or tempted to call Sage. Just a thought.

Yes we have some on Gold.

I think we have two on Gold and are glad to have them on Gold. I think Sage loses money on the one considering how many times they call.

Historically almost all Bronze, just a few Gold and Silver. But for some reason our last two new sales elected Gold, which is the first time I can recall that happening. It's all about to change, ready or not.

I have one ""customer"" that is now on Gold because they found out while on Silver (and ran out of cases) that Sage will do the upgrade and train them as a support case. They are a US company owned by a Swedish company and all transactions regardless of Country have to be imported and exported to change the currency back/forth to/from dollars/Kronas. Sage ""assisted"" with their upgrade including ""assisting"" in redoing the VI jobs I created in version 3.71. They are now on 4.4. Apparantely the Upgrade Planning Assistance covers a lot of territory and does not necessarily include the Dealer.

It was my understanding that ""upgrade planning assistance"" was just helping them with the compatibility matrix, etc. not actually doing the entire upgrade for the customer and leaving the reseller out of it.

This is kind of sickening and pathetic at the same time. It's one thing for Sage to leave money on the table but it's another thing to actively destroy value and opportunities for the channel partners.

Imagine the collective cost of the time partners have to spend talking customers through this...

Does anyone know if we'll continue to receive an e-mail with the upcoming Business Care(less) client renewals. Historically, they have been sent two months in advance of the renewal date. This e-mail is what I use as a reminder to generate BC invoice for the client. TJ, my CC rep, isn't sure about the status of these alerts. I am expecting the answer to be ""No, Atlas doesn't have that abilitiy""..........

I'm going to guess you are correct, Jeff. We'll have to set up our own internal alert system....

I already do that in Act. Will have to wait and see what Atlas does for us.....

Sage used to reference the reseller on the renewal notice. The latest one I saw has no mention of the reseller anywhere on it.

Tip: Get used to a life without any margin on maintenance.

@WayneSchulz Then Sage better get used to life without maintenance because if every member of this group started actively telling customers not to renew and to wait for amnesty and to buy MAS90 with Terminal Services instead of MAS200, Sage would notice fast. @PeterWolf I sound like a liberal, but I think its time for us var's (and not just 90minds members) to fight back and unionize. We need to find a viable alternative so we have a fallback. Sitting around and basing our financial futures on the 'generosity' of Sage allowing us to make money from 'their' customers is fucked...excuse my french..

Sometimes a union is necessary for a defined period of time. @WayneSchulz I was just having the same thought.

We have a few years for our Sage customers to re-tool our plans so they are not the same as Sage's. We'll loose the low end folks (doctor offices, those who ""never call"") and at the same time as @MarkChinsky suggests - we need to diversify.

@JohnLeonard - Here is what my clients are starting to see on the e-mail renewal notice. We are a distant 4th without any contact information.

@JeffSchwenk It's war and we don't even notice...

So harsh. As much as I was joking the other day about it, I am sincerely waiting for Sage to start signing off on partner directed communication with ""PS. We hate you"". @MarkChinsky - 90 Minds + OASIS can be a union - of sorts - if we work together correctly. All the more reason why I was stumping for a 90 Minds + OASIS customer conference of our own. Where we deliver the messages that we want and we control the agenda. Shit - maybe we could even make the keynote ... gasp ... inspirational instead of a recitation of ill-defined objectives that sow dischord, confusion, fear and anger. Pascal defnitely has a mission to cost-cut to greatness and that includes taking whatever he can out of the middle. They will be slowly screwing themselves over the next few years as they continue to destroy the channel. (Unless they plan on hiring an extremely competent internal sales force. Doubtful.) It's time for us to start controlling our own futures as a group. I'm starting to aggressively market Sage CRM with other partners (see http://azambapartners.com/2012/02/06/how-to-spread-the-gospel-of-sage-crm/) but I'm always interested in taking it up a step or two. Anyone have any solid thoughts on this?

Amen, Brother @PeterWolf! We are always interested in expanding our CRM market and have thought about working with other members on similar projects. For example, we had a JobOps opportunity but we don't offer it and don't necessarily want to add it. It would be wonderful if we could partner with someone from this ""union"" when things like this arise. In addition to JobOps, there are all sorts of add-ons/customizations that some of us may or may not be familiar with such as scripting, SMI, KnowledgeSync, SPS, Avalara, Crystal, etc., etc. While the support available here is unbeatable, we (or at least, I) don't utilize the members with skills we may be lacking. Maybe I just haven't caught on to that aspect yet....

Not the best image, but line 4 is to pay online

@JohnLeonard So no partner mention at all in your version of @JeffSchwenk 's document...

@ThereseLogeais - Amen Sister........ Your comments are the reasons why 90 Minds was started in 2005 (and OASIS last fall). We have several experts in each of the areas you have mentioned. Please don't be afraid to reach out to them! And for all that read this, please keep your profiles current with these strengths!!!!!

Wow, I just noticed that. My version was from the link that my client received. It appears that that paper copy doesn't even bother to mention the partner alternative.

I think we need to create a 90minds blog on this and all link to it. Not the bitching, but the @WayneSchulz politically correct version of why you still need a ""Insert VAR name here"" support/access plan even though sage gives you 5 'free' cases.

Has anyone checked with Sage management about the ""upgrade planning"" vs ""doing the upgrade for them"" discrepancy?

@MarkChinsky - I agree 100%. If each member was required as part of their membership to post even a single blog entry per month, we would have a sizable amount of articles within no time. The goal would be to keep it positive and of benefit to customers / prospects. I think we need to take this off-thread / start a new thread.

@PeterWolf I agree. We belong to this group and they crank out alot http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/

I could do 5 a day - but why would I do it on 90 Minds when half the members don't make an effort? I'm not trying to be an asshole but to cut right to the chase.

Could be hard ass and say, if you don't create 1 per month, your name and URL won't be on the blog site. From: do-not-reply@socialcast.com [mailto:do-not-reply@socialcast.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Schulz Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 4:02 PM To: Mark Chinsky Subject: Re: [90 Minds Consulting Group] Just took this off a Sage reinstatement quote: Silver Features: SILVER PLAN BENEFITS: oFive Support Cases oOption to purchase additional ...

Then here's what we'll get : Why to buy ERP Software By Wayne Schulz Why to buy ERP Software from Schulz Consulting The pitfalls ERP and How Schulz Consulting Can Help I don't think we're going to volunteer ourselves into participation but I might be wrong.

You are depressing but most likely correct, Wayne. We had a similar problem with Ignite, our team blog about Sage CRM (http://ignite.azamba.com). To counter this, everyone had to submit five article ideas to a shared Google spreadsheet doc.The ideas were reviewed, titles / ideas tweaked, duplicates pruned down. Then everyone had to go pick three articles and put their name and the month next to them. Problem mostly solved. (just the writing was left to do)

We sell links on the 90Minds blog - and then the people who write - and there are a team - split the pot. But realistically what motivation do I really have -- or does anyone really have who is doing this on their own site? I can make more money paying attention to my site than 90 Minds. Not that I don't love everyone dearly but let me just get right to the core of the problem. Do we want to babysit those who make no effort?

Wayne is correct on this one - and I am one of the many non posters............ For a few, blogging is like breathing - It is a natural part of life For most of us, it is a struggle! I am not defending it, but just commenting on it. Perhaps over the next week or so, someone will post an idea that will be an aha moment for the non posters.........

I think there are a lot of benefits to creating a successful brand around 90 Minds / OASIS. We have no problem requesting a fee to encourage participation - what harm is there in requesting a monthly blog article as well? I think for you to contribute a single article per month to 90 Minds will not harm your (or anyone else's) individual efforts and can still help establish the brand of 90 Minds. Establishing a strong 90 Minds / OASIS brand will: a) create additional value in membership and drive additional interest from other partners b) create additional value for customers and prospects working with a 90 Minds / OASIS member c) help us have more leverage when working with third-party add-ons d) help us have more leverage when working with Sage e) increase group and member visibility in search engines Other benefits of course - those are just from the top of my head.

We are talking about one article a month ... at most, this is two hours per month per person. It goes back to an idea that I proposed a while back - bump up fees and hire a part-time or full-time 90 Minds person to build the brand. The right person could coordinate article assignments and edit the results to ensure consistent quality.

It should be a mandatory requirement to remain a member. One warning and then out.

One comment - isn't this about us not liking the changes Sage is forcing on customers and us? And now you want to force changes on *this* membership? I would have to agree with @JeffSchwenk in that not all of us are active bloggers - not that we shouldn't be or want to be. I just think it's a little hypocritical to lash out at Sage and then do the same thing to this group. I agree with @PeterWolf - ""what harm is there in REQUESTIING a monthly blog article?"" not demanding one... (Okay, now I know my membership will be pulled. Sorry, it's just been one of those days...)

The other option is non-contributors (paying members or not) don't get listed in the links or don't have an active follow link to their website and active contributors can have 1 link to their website per blog post. Seems like a fair compromise.

@ThereseLogeais - you are right. It's one of the challenges that I personally struggle with in this group and it's purpose. I think cumulatively we could make it something more. For it to be go to the next level, there needs to be contribution from all members. Or it turns into Wayne doing 95% of the work with everyone else benefitting. That being said, there is nothing inherently wrong with the level that it's at right now. There is a lot of value for current members. And, I think, more members are in your camp than in my camp as far as kicking it up a notch. I think the discussion is an important one to have though as Sage's policies will continue to marginalize us. We stand a better chance at survival and success by standing strong as a group than fighting individually. That's how I feel but, again, there should be a discussion about it before leaping to the conclusion that we all want to go that direction.

@PeterWolf I agree with you completely about having a better chance by standing strong as a group. What does that mean for individuals in the group? I think we need to have choices like our customers need choices - one blog per month OR higher fee OR @MarkChinsky's option of no listing or links OR...??? But a discussion is a good place to start.

What I think we should do is have a small team dedicated to the blog - with one post per day being the goal. Policing forced posts is going to be a nightmare for several reasons: A. Who wants to show those who've never posted to WordPress how they add/edit/correct/retrieve password. This in itself will be someone's part time job. B. Editing topics for appropriateness C. Policing the # and quality is going to be ugly

I can contribute a post every 2 weeks (on top of the 4 product lines I'm blogging about now for my own site.).

I try and blog something every month. I have no problem in it being repurposed on the 90 minds sight. We also have additional bloggers who right for us on a monthly basis (Last Year Myths of the Cloud, this year Cloud Predictions). That should give my Wordpress site 2 per month. If only 1/2 are picked up that is 10 for me ( i know math, but I am also a slacker).

I spent so much time reading everyone's thoughts, I don't have any time left to write my blog article.

According to the webinar I am on now (which was labeled as branding but has been 90% Summit hype), the Summit discount that is part of the Silver or Gold plan is only good for a two week period in April.

I bet Sage is understandably concerned about attendance