This was my request for discussion at the November BPAC meeting. (Note: Most of my requests in the past from the follow up notes of the meeting are color coded in red, meaning they can't or aren't going to do them.)
One important item I want to discuss is the quote/order process and the lack of automation. The weaknesses of the current process were very apparent this last quarter, specifically with regard to migrations to 100c/300c.
Although eventually most perpetual customers will be migrated to the c line products, the current process, no matter what is ordered, is primarily manual and postings and communication back to the channel lag. With the c migrations, it was almost impossible to quote a customer without first having it reviewed and approved by the sales advisors (in Atlanta eventually). We then could present this to the customer and wait for a decision and sign the paperwork. We then sent it to the sales advisors for entry and confirmation. This is all very labor intensive and depends on the reliability of e-mail and faxing (for the payment authorization), both of which we had issues with between us and the customers and to Sage. This is actually not that different when ordering standard product, although it is a longer process when working with the customers, and they know the investment at least a week before signing the order.
It seems that a large company like Sage should have a more automated process where there are few questions with regard to pricing and the channel is able to do most of the work. Ever since the new portal has been instituted, we have lost much of that capability we previously had.