Sage News and Discussion

Sage releases rebuttal to Nucleus Research Value Matrix Assessment Analyst firm Nucleus Research recently released their Value Matrix for ERP, which contains erroneous information about Sage ERP X3. This communication is to provide context and help clarify the assessment made by Nucleus Research in competitive situations where the research may be misused to evaluate our solution. Note that this document is flagged Sage internal use and may not be re-published

I'm not personally a big fan of 'analysts' but if you are competing against Sage X3, this chart is devastating for X3. I've never seen analyst be so negative. They are usually the most politically correct group about trying to find something positive in every solution, but somebody at Sage must really have pissed someone off. Perhaps left them with the bar tab or something

Ouch. However, take this all with a few grains of salt (and not just the one's in Sage's wounds). Take Acumatica for instance. I can believe it is up there on the usability scale, but I find it completely impossible to believe that it has more functionality than GP, NAV or B1 let alone X3. Although I am certain it is on the upward trend, it is my understanding that it, as any other relatively new ERP, still has functionality gaps that need to be filled in order to be as functional as the competition like Sage 100 which isn't even on the chart (hmmm). If it were on an equal functionality footing (out of the box) I would be surprised. I was also surprised to see Syteline as so easy to use. From customers who migrated off of it to B1 tell me it is about the same as B1and JDE being near the top of the usability scale must mean it has changed a ton since I last saw it. Usable for the functionality perhaps, but easier to use than all but 2 is surprising.

I would hope prospects are smarter than to take this type of analysis as gospel. Having been involved with X3 and taken many of the training classes, the package is much farther along than this and competes well. There's the odd French prompt every once in a while, but pff . . .

It also shows the general Cloud bias. if you don't have a shipping cloud product, you are mud. You can be offering a cloud product that is crap like SAP BYD and you are way ahead of a product like X3 with massively more functionality and maturity. If Sage would have partnered with @GaryFeldman to offer X3 in the cloud as their 'official sage cloud' solution, they would be much further over and up on the quadrant.

My general opinion is that if you want to fix your standing with these research companies, the best way is to sponsor a research project.

I guess they are all ex-politicians :)

I think Infor might be paying Nucleus some significant coin. Notice the presence of Infor products in the top right quadrant. Also, the attached very recent quadrant for CRM significantly jacked up the position of Infor CRM (formerly Saleslogix). Now, their reasoning for this, acquisition by a long-term parent for obvious strategic reasons, makes sense to me; but still ... Also note in the CRM quadrant the miserable position for Sage CRM. This is counter to just about every analysis I've seen of Sage CRM which put it steadily in a NE direction, and usually in that magic quad. Should we read anything into Sage NOT putting out a rebuttal to this positioning? Dunno.

You read my mind Jerry. (My apologies for all the filth you had to wade through.) I smiled when I saw the report that shifted Saleslogix from the junk heap to the top of the food chain when nothing more was done than slapping ""Infor"" on to the product. Funny stuff.

Peter, I didn't notice that the stuff I waded through was any different from my home wading pond.... I do think their point about SLX's previously not-completely-secure future was legit. And I can see how it would prevent them putting an otherwise high-functioning app into the NE quad. And, Infor has apparently done a terrific job of increasing the ease of use of their ERP collection; their ""SOHO"" effort is pretty unusual with result like Gary noted. And I must also say that Sage hasn't been really doing the things to convince many outsiders that are are actually going to follow through on their long-term CRM promises, especially in creating market space. But the combo of the SLX promotion, the number of Infor placements in ERP, and the crappy location of Sage CRM is too much of a coincidence! Something else seems a foot!