My first thought was you were talking about the pizza chain.
Sage's de-emphasis on the channel has been evident by the departure in the past year and a half year of many strong channel advocates within Sage, particular those in senior management positions. Sage in Europe has stronger relationships with its end users and that approach is being implemented here in NA. The recent elimination of Bronze level maintenance is also an indication of Sage's effort to draw customers unto itself and reduce the value a VAR provides. We can expect further actions by Sage to undermine us as it works to improve its financial performance. The recent change in maintenance margin further indicates that it's all about how the current pie is divided up. There is very little action to increase the size of the pie.
This direction has come from a very high level at Sage and negative reaction from the channel isn't going to change it. It will only change if the financial results Sage seeks are not achieved. In the past the perception was that as the Sage succeed, so did the channel and vice a versa. That is no longer something we can depend on and for some time the opposite is largely true. If we truly believe that Sage needs a strong channel, we need to rely less and less on its products and turn to alternatives as a way for channel partners can remain financial strong. Perhaps in time if financial results are not met Sage will return to its channel roots, but until that time comes we need to be more independent of Sage.