Sage News and Discussion

Rumor is Joe Langner is departing Sage. Exact timing and circumstances of departure unknown.

This is moving closer to confirmed status.

I would very much appreciate a copy of the announcement - wayne@s-consult.com

Joe Langner reported out. This will likely be the start of another re-org. http://bobscottsinsights.com/index.php/technology-news/3673-vp-langner-gone-at-sage

Why do I feel like it's just going to become an even worse shit show for the channel? Oh yeah ... Because it always does!

It will be interesting to watch. I guess most of these integrated services which did not seem to catch on will be pushed down to small business and gradually fade from mid-market. This may be good for third party solutions if Sage deems the R&D that they put into creating their own integrations to be too costly. Perhaps the mobile apps they produced had some ROI but I doubt it. I still have a bad feeling about Sage's R&D spend for mid-market. There's no way to get additional R&D featured in a sexy investor report so anyone coming on as the replacement EVP has little incentive to use R&D as a new key initiative. Langner and Labahn were pretty much a team. I'm sure there are a few others that came over in that group. I'll be very surprised if all the team does not clear out but maybe this is just Joe taking a better position somewhere else and the team will stay the course with a a ""replacement Joe"" retaining the strategy.

Amazingly, what most of us have considered to be of marginal purpose - integrated/connected services - have really sparked substantial interest with our customers, especially mobile services. I had several CEO's attend the Inspire Tour, and they were like kids in a candy store. They immediately identified how these could be valuable in their businesses. To a large extent CEO's have been ignored and the gatekeepers, Controllers, have not been interested in these services nor told the CEO's. Last week I met with one of these at his office and told me how impressed he was with the direction Sage is going. Almost fell out of my chair!

Perhaps Stephen Kelly found out about the discussions management was having about JobOps and decided to nip that in the bud. ??

Here's my 2 cents on this. 1) Regarding Doug Labahn. I've heard from a reputable inside source in Sage NA upper management that the new Sage UK CEO loved Doug and his pet projects and they want to spread the love and the message across the globe. 2) Regarding Joe Langner. I've heard that he was asked to step down but was given a decent runway to find a new position. 3) Regarding the connected services. I think @JohnHoyt 's experiences are a minority and in general they aren't working. A big part of this is that they pushed the channel away and felt that they would ""sell themselves"" (words that I heard attributed to Mr Labahn from several sources within Sage). Seems to me this is setting up for more of the same. High investments in fantasy products that will ""sell themselves"" with no need for a channel and low / no investment in the bread and butter products like Sage 100 and Sage 300. I could be way off here. I hope so. Either way, it's more important than ever to 1) explore options before it's too late and 2) start shifting your model to be less dependent on software revenue. This will be a hot discussion at the upcoming Meeting of the Minds. Hopefully everyone will be there.

It isn't the specific product customers are interested in. It's the result. Whatever will contribute to productivity and better or more accessible information they want. They are done with throwing people at this, and are finally understanding that technology can help them achieve these objectives. This is what I'm hearing.

What continues to be a mystery to me is why Sage continues to keep Pascal, unless he really is just a flunky for the UK parent. I spoke with him at Summit, and he still has not mastered English. He also has the personality of a day old croissant. He has been less accessible than any of the recent CEO's. Sage needs a leader who talks and meets with the channel and is visible to the customers. Americans love that. Based on what Pascal appears to do, Joe has seemed to be the CEO.

I agree with this points. I've been told the new Sage UK CEO has a more PR bent so maybe things will change for the better on that front. It won't help the channel though as we will see continued erosion of margins and channel love.

@JohnHoyt Surely you don't think Pascal is less accessible than Sue Swenson was. She was downright unapproachable (and not embarrassed by it in the least). With respect to Sage UK - all that matters is whether NA can help UK hit KPI that have been established to investors. Don't be fooled by a charming new CEO because they all ultimately have the same goad of making shareholders To the extent that NA can meet or exceed established KPI - things will be good for Sage NA. To the extent that Sage NA cannot then heads will (continue to) roll. What @PeterWolf is saying is right on the money. Consider this yet another wakeup call. The software dealer, reseller and value added reseller have VERY limited lives. Do not plan on being one of those. You can no longer make a living by allowing anyone to dictate a commission that they may (or may not) pay you in the future. That includes Sage as well as the myriad of hungry SaaS providers who will be pursuing the channel aggressively. Instead the model is to use the various software tools as a way to achieve consulting goals for end users/customers. The people who make the most money will be specializing in an industry. Build a recurring revenue model where the customer pays you directly for a service you are providing. Collecting and remitting fees on behalf of another company is a dead end. If you are counting on any material margin from new or future sales of software/maintenance/services and you are expecting to work more than 5-10 years longer then you're going to run up against a brick wall.

Actually I spoke with Sue many times. She spoke at events and was more than willing to make time and seemed genuinely interested. I know I am in the minority, but that was my experience. Pascal on the other hand is not visible anywhere at events. I say I spoke with him at Summit, but when he decided he was finished talking, he started looking at his e-mail again on his phone. And it's not the stereotype rudeness that Americans seem to think about the French. French people in my experience are very friendly. He is just awkward around people and does not belong in that position. Hard to believe he used to sell software. Yes, maximizing shareholder value is an absolute for public companies, but some are able to do that while being respected by their customers and partners. Apparently Sage is not one of those. We have never made money on software, even now at our high tier, but that has never been our purpose. We are consultants and serve our customers. Sage is one option of many that are all essentially the same. Using Sage software is just a tool for them and it is our responsibility to help the customers deal with Sage, interpret what is available and works, and improve their businesses. Sage can either respect what we do or not. If not, then they lose. After all, we are a 93 year old firm, so we have proven we know what we're doing, and we're not going away.

That is the main differentiator between publishers and most resellers. Channel partners are generally in it for the long haul, making long term investments to balance the short and long term health for their company, typically with the customers front and center in their thoughts. Publishers are generally responding to short term needs to show good results, typically with shareholders in mind.

Nobody who saw the content in last quarter's FY14 review meeting should be surprised. Sales levels and growth are nowhere near what they expected. Worse, X3 is lagging. But, what of Pascal? I would have expected that the NA CEO would take the hit first. So, was he able to throw Langner under the bus? Or perhaps Pascal is being reassigned to another place with Sage WW? Was Pascal able to argue that the results in NA were essentially driven by decisions in UK, and so a lot of blame should stay there also? Or, perhaps more likely: Langner executed the defined strategy poorly. I can buy some of this. Channel communications have not been realistically respectful, the decisions made little holistic sense, and as a result the more successful ones (the ones actually selling to new customers) started deploying their lifeboats. That portion of NA business could be legitimately laid at Joe's feet by Pascal. IMO, change has been overdue for 9 months at least. The channel-hollowing has accelerated, and it's easy to see that 3 years hence, nobody of any significance will be left. If my hypothesis is correct, then I think Pascal has now used 2 of his envelopes. http://www.notboring.com/jokes/work/3.htm

lol...the best jokes are always those that ring true.

Update: There is a rumor (may be confirmed by now) that Himanshu is on his way to the UK for a meeting. Before I could help myself I blurted out to the person telling me: ""SCARY!!!

Say hello to the new EVP Mid-Market - and a man who cannot be fired from any position within Sage ...

If you weren't a little frightened at this news, remember this from his Bio on the Sage site: "" . . . and is interested in quantum physics in his spare time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a position in UK.

He would be closer to Stephen . . . Hawking, that is. They could discuss where Schrdinger's cat is.

Himanshu is CTO and Head of Strategy so I'm sure that he travels to UK often for meetings. I don't think this necessarily means he is being promoted/demoted. So who is up for the 2015 pool to guess the next Sage leader to depart?

Yes. And if Joe knew he was leaving in Dec, then Himanshu would probably have known of changes to his position then, too.

Himanshu, your first task when you return to Irvine is to tell Pascal to Prepare Three Envelopes.

That was my answer in the pool - Pascal.

I second @JohnHoyt for pool - Pascal is next.

If Joe hadn't left first, I'd agree, Moira. That is an odd twist. There are SOOOO many reasons that Pascal should take the fall first. That he didn't makes me scratch my head over this.

@JohnHoyt what's so scary about that? I am interested in quantum physics in my spare time too.

@JerryNorman - you are making the assumption that North America is in control of their own strategy. I'm not so sure that is true.

I wasn't really making that assumption. You convinced me last year that UK calls the larger shots here. But I do see your point in your comment. My confusion revolves around just for what Pascal would be accountable when UK calls the larger shots. What part of UK's strategy could Pascal have implemented differently, and what part of this did Joe implement without control by Pascal? What would Pascal have Joe do differently? It doesn't really matter for us, beyond a mildly entertaining brain teaser; unless Kelly reverses course on financial commitments, not much of substance will change. It could be that this PR: it is easier for UK to bury the firing of an exec vp than the CEO of the division delivering 40% of Sage's revenue.

Pascal doesn't have to be responsible for anything other than how NA executes the strategy that is mandated by the UK. Otherwise, he's there for when they need someone to blame.

Yes. Which gets us back to his 2nd envelope. Which also implies that betting in the pool on Pascal might not be a sure thing.

@RobertWood I was thinking of making a Planck constant joke, but it became too complex. ;-)

One thing I do think is cool about Pascal, though, is he ""rocks out to Queen occasionally."" [From his Bio]