General Consultant Discussion

Pascal Houillon is out at Sage. In the earnings release (out today) Sage announces that Pascal is departing effective May 6, 2015 with a search for a replacement underway. Sage NA still singled out with slow growth (4%) with Sage Payments continuing to decline. Read the full release http://www.sage.com/~/media/group/files/investors/20150505-press-release-final.pdf

Sage is reporting 10% growth on ERP X3 - which while good doesn't seem like it's the rate you'd expect for a product which has significant marketing behind it. Presumably the growth numbers for X3 are starting at a lower number so reporting relatively larger increases should not be as difficult. There are going to be a lot of Sage VARS waking up today reading this news saying ""thankfully we've diversified away from Sage"". I expect an extensive reorganization effort within North America driven by Sage UK Stephen Kelly.

I guess I'll have to find a new default profile pic.

Pascal note is on page 3

Guess I need to adjust my Christmas card mailing list.....

Guess we'll need a new official car of Sage Summit...

Wonder when the Brit's will realize that their dogs aren't coming up with the game they wish to pursue. But at least their dogs are getting the reseller treatment.......

So much for the 'fokus' jokes...

YAY!!!

I guess I can cancel the on line French class now.

I am only surprised by the timing. No replacements were named, implying not much warning. I suspect that SPS was the fatal dagger. The press release also talked about the CEO Europe's replacement, although he is sticking around to the end of FY, which Pascal is not. It also says that 2/3 of global S&M and R&D are made in the ""Futures folio"". We know X3 is in that. I suspect that Sage One will somehow morph into some sort of salesforce platform. But I wonder is Sage CRM is in that folio? I haven't seen much evidence of that. Langner and LaBahn were partners before Sage (co-named on a patent). So I suspect that LaBahn has his parachute packed. His initiative into Mobile has been a dud, we all know how game-changing the payroll solution he promised in July has been. Did Spring know that Pascal was a short-timer when he hired on? There is not one piece of silver lining in this at all. Really a shame, but not surprising.

One of the more interesting pieces of scuttlebutt lately is about salesforce hiring investment advisors. Dennis Pombriant floated a scenario that the investment advisors aren't to SELL sf, but to help sf BUY a piece of Sage. This could be a gambit for Sage to prevent going into play when its stock tanks. Sage's 6-month summary continues to toot the commitment to 28% profits and dividend payouts. I think a hostile takeover is very much on the minds of the Sage Board.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/KWnYlmE4664

This video made me feel like I was at a wake

These guys needs some media training. Clearly rehearsed. No smiles. No excitement about products; they could be selling furniture for all their excitement. The phrasing they use is that which is used when they want to gloss over crappy results. Kelly mentioned they're doing ""business mentoring"" -- how does a company like Sage make money at that? It's pretty clear that they are speaking too investors who look at Sage for its dividend, not as a tech growth stock. The more I see today the more I think Pombriant might be on to something ... takeover protection.

@JerryNorman - No smiles, No Excitement? This is Sage. I have difficulty doing those two things at the same time with Sage. I am looking forward to @ChuckPeddy NOLA 2015 entertainment. I have always wanted to attend a NOLA funeral procession. This could be the year. Maybe an effigy of Pascal in the casket.....

Never thought that Pascal would last when Stephen Kelly arrived but thought perhaps Pascal would be around with a post Summit departure. Looks like Mr. Kelly is planning ahead...

Eh! They're British. They're reserved.

And they have no love of the French @RobertWood

Further proof they were ecstatic to announce the departure of Messr. Houillon.

I know you'll be needing a picture to use in replace of Pascal's - may I suggest the attached? It will be a focusing moment

@MoiraGoggin That's crazy!

I'm not sure anyone at Sage is sage enough to be Napoleon.

Should we send him a special invite to join 90M????

Napoleon?

French guy. About your height. He had an affinity for conquering Europe. I figured you guys went to school together, @Real...I mean @JohnHoyt.

Yes, the guy that kept jumping into the river in Paris - they said he was in Seine. I'm just not sure we want that kind of person in 90M. Or maybe we do, just to bother the Brits.

Watch for wikileaks articles on Sage management e-mails.

So will Hamanshu get the ""death"" nod??? He has been the most visible of the remaining old guard......

Bumping this to point out that LaBahn - who Jerry correctly pointed to as the architect for most of the current mess (mobile, price hikes, subscription, data cloud) - was promoted to a Global position quietly a month or two back. Sage has indicated that he is welcome to stay aboard. If he leaves, it will be by his own choice. Just my opinion.

Good point Peter. I'd forgotten about the WW promotion. LaBahn is clearly ""the new product guy."" I can only conclude from all this that Pascal and Labann (and probably Humanshue) are better at corporate politics than Langner.

I so would have been fired a long time ago. I'm terrible at corporate politics because I speak my mind....

Pascal probably spoke his mind, but we didn't notice because we couldn't understand him. (Merde! Someone used Google translate when I spoke.)

@PeterWolf - I asked Sage PR about LaBahan when the news broke about DeShaies and they would not confirm a title change for him Hi Wayne, Donald Deshaies has left Sage to pursue a new opportunity outside of Sage. We thank Donald for his numerous contributions to Sage and wish him well as he takes on a new challenge. We are actively recruiting for his replacement. Until then, Joo Sohn will lead Sage channel partner programs under Rich Spring, our new Chief Revenue Officer. There's been no news or announcements about a role change for Doug LaBahn. He's still currently our Senior VP of Product Marketing and Management. Let me know if you have other questions. Thanks!

Interesting ... I was told that by a good source. It would make more sense if he was out on his rear with the rest of the upper management.

Yet, I do remember something about the Global promotion Peter mentioned. Reading tea leaves here, it sounds like he was ALMOST promoted. I think the salesforce thing might well be a bigger deal than Sage first let on.

I believe Peter before Sage.

I remember seeing LaBahn's Global promotion in a Sage email or on a sage webinar. I don't see any tracks about it now. Odd

I've reached out to my inside sources - maybe I got some bad information. Honestly, I had a really hard time processing his elevation to the global level considering his track record over the last three years so I wouldn't be surprised if I was fed some bad info.