Sage 100

Post your thoughts about SmartLinc demo here: Sorry I was late as I was on a conference call immediately before the meeting. I think this solution looks great - though it's tough to tell until you see a demo integrated to MAS 90 or MAS 200.

I'm impressed but I never knew the details of Starship.

Pricing seems about on par with Starship Parcel ($4,995) and Starship Parcel + Starship Freight ($9,995). Their Diamond level is $17,500.

Smartlinc will provide the support initially but the goal is to have Sage provide the support in the future -- can we just have Smartlinc? I don't think Sage could do as good of a job.

Contact

Handle any carrier MAS90/200/500 and X3 - $4,995 Lite = Basic - (Gold) -- UPS/FEDEX - small package - containers Platinum = Small Package/ LTL - pallet - $9,9995 Gold Diamond = Small / LTL / Pack - $17,500 w/UPS Current version and two versions back Hazmat + FedEx = Yes Hazmat + UPS = NO (problematic working with them) Hazmat is an add-on --- setup and transaction costs End of January 2012 = Smartlinc release Requires a separate SQL server

I am asking Erik @ Sage if he can provide us with ""official"" Sage info regarding pricing, availability, FAQ , etc. I want to make sure that what Smart Linc discussed in terms of pricing and availability is in agreement with what Sage will announce.... so hold off on making any public posts or quotes to customers until we hear from Sage that the details are firm. tx

Other features - real-time manifest - no end of day required, driver will know what he is to pickup before he even gets to your door. Also pricing is real-time so no end of year updates required for UPS, etc. Prints BOL, pkg/pallet labels, C of O, proforma Invoice, emails customer info on shipment even if delivered via your truck (just no tracking).

Wayne - thanks for setting this up. I thought the interface looked clean. Hard to know all of the ""gotchas"" untill the shipping people really get into the details.

Being equipment agnostic is a major advancement over Starship.

I am thinking that you will not have a large exodus from starship unless there is some functionality lacking. They will keep paying there $600 - $1,500 - just like our MAS clients might like to go elsewhere but the cost to convert prevents many moves. New deals brings interesting option here. I wonder if the new starship still provides the number of packages etc before the driver arrives since they too all using web services.

+1 @JohnnyPabian - nice to have features are not really going to rip out a Starship -- I sense my customers are not all that thrilled with it but so far the switching cost pain may be too great (possibility that the new shipping works differently.. )

People are not going to change until life gets too unbearable for them. If you looked beyond the presenter today, the product seems to have some serious sizzle. But then I haven't ever seen a Starship interface, just read the negative comments all the time. Will be a very interesting roll out. Who is writing the interface. I heard SWK mentioned.

Good looking product. I'd love to be able to host it as a service for a monthly fee for the smaller customers. Does he realize that a vast majority of customers don't have SQL? Know your audience better. If it is truly web services, the BOI should be able to bring it is very seamlessly, but I'll beleive it when I see it and won't likely be an early adopter for existing customers.

I believe SWK is writing a link for Starship to replace the one Sage took out of 4.5.

Did he mention what the annual maintenance was?

Was there any mention of some type of upgrade deal to change from StarShip? It would be to SmartLinc's advantage.

Product can use SQL Express - free version.

Wayne asked me to post this e-mail feedback from Tom Bittner. Hi Wayne, I wanted to email you to correct some inaccurate statements I made yesterday. The target release if our solution looks like sometime towards the end of Q1 2012. Sean Leonard is the best contact at Sage that can answer questions regarding any shipping dates, etc. . We still have some testing procedures, presentations to the PCA groups and such prior to Sage releasing our system for resale as an endorsed solution. I hope I clarified things a bit for you. Sorry if I caused any confusion for you and your group. Regards, Tom

I'm back in the office now -- thanks for posting that Jeff. I had asked Sage for some confirmation on the information provided by Ship Linc -- whoever this dude is from Sage essentially told me to stick it up my ass and go wait for the official word. I'm gonna remember when Sage comes back looking for help promoting..... Thanks Tom, Wayne as Tom mentioned we are working through the integration phase right now. We will notify channel partners in advance of the customers on the availability of the new Sage Shipping by SmartLinc solution. Thanks, Sean Leonard Product Manager, Connected Services & Strategic ISVs Sage Mid-Market and CRM Solutions 6561 Irvine Center Drive Irvine, CA 92618-2301 (949) 788-5371 Email: Sean.Leonard@sage.com

I doubt we'll ever hear from Tom again - we'll have to work through Sage. Old Tom probably won't be able to sit for a month...

The price you pay for chasing the gold without knowing where the minefield is.

I bet we can still call Tom direct. He seemed helpful especially for demos.

@JimWoodhead - I liked the original version of your comment better

@JimWoodhead I agree - just let's please not chase Sage if something Tom told us with respect to pricing or availability turns out to be inaccurate. This was an early look.