Sage 100

How many folks attended the roundtable yesterday?  Where is the HL thread regarding member comments?  Is there one?  @Anne Sawyer did a great job putting it together!  Unfortunately, that was my main take away.  Yes, there were a couple standard power points, most of our questions posted earlier were answered (in record time) but I didn't feel ANY excitement, any positive vibes, nothing.  I do think someone needs to break the news to the programmers that Sage is actively diverting resources to Intacct.  Where are the quarterly promotions for Sage 100?  Yes, this was a programmers presentation, not sales so nothing was expected.  Nice of Dianetta to drop in, but I fear by the time she realizes what is going on, she will have opened the third envelope and exited via the revolving door.

​And what does the lack of any comment threads mean for this group?  Has everyone resigned themselves to where Sage is heading?  If you are young, are you looking at moving to Acumatica or some other competitive product?  Are you lining up behind @alan niergarth and @Bob Tobey to hand in your laptop?

PS  I do hope Linda's dog starts to feel better!!!
​​​

------------------------------
Jeff Schwenk
FORMER 90M Board Member -140,000,000 is a TERRIBLE thing to waste!!!
Bottomline Software, Inc.
Waynesboro VA
540-221-4444
------------------------------

Why talk when nobody is listening?

---------------------------------
Wayne Schulz
Schulz Consulting
860-516-8990
---------------------------------

Good Morning...yes I listened to the roundtable...but didn't hear anything exciting.  There is a saying.."you can't teach an old dog new tricks" and that is for me and my customers.  I am sticking with Sage100 until I retire, hopefully soon.  I believe Sage knows that is the case for a lot of customers. IMHO, they will keep the act going as long as subscriptions are renewed.

------------------------------
Lourdes Sobrino
LU² DSD Puerto Rico
Guaynabo Puerto Rico
787.485.9638
------------------------------

I would have loved to attend but wasn't able to since I was traveling back from Acumatica Summit. Can anyone report what any of the new features are?

------------------------------
Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
------------------------------

We probably won't get the What's New details until the Feb 22 call.

Biggest technical tidbit I recognized is they are planning to put PM 2.0 into the 2022 Sage installer, and not including WO (which I believe was supposed to be active until 2023).

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 08:30
From: Steve Iwanowski
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I would have loved to attend but wasn't able to since I was traveling back from Acumatica Summit. Can anyone report what any of the new features are?

------------------------------
Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
------------------------------

@Kevin Moyes, my notes said they will "offer" a v2022 release with Non-Framework Work Order Module, upon request.  What a hassle... ​

------------------------------
Madeline Stefanou
RKL eSolutions, LLC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 11:43
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

We probably won't get the What's New details until the Feb 22 call.

Biggest technical tidbit I recognized is they are planning to put PM 2.0 into the 2022 Sage installer, and not including WO (which I believe was supposed to be active until 2023).

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 08:30
From: Steve Iwanowski
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I would have loved to attend but wasn't able to since I was traveling back from Acumatica Summit. Can anyone report what any of the new features are?

------------------------------
Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yes, I remember Linda mentioning something about Sage still thinking about how to make WO available separately.  Personally I think the tactic is an attempt to get everyone to believe the move to PM 2.0 is the only option.
Converting WO data automatically to PM 2.0, with history... that was good news.


------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 11:46
From: Madeline Stefanou
Subject: Sage Roundtable

@Kevin Moyes, my notes said they will "offer" a v2022 release with Non-Framework Work Order Module, upon request.  What a hassle... ​

------------------------------
Madeline Stefanou
RKL eSolutions, LLC
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 11:43
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

We probably won't get the What's New details until the Feb 22 call.

Biggest technical tidbit I recognized is they are planning to put PM 2.0 into the 2022 Sage installer, and not including WO (which I believe was supposed to be active until 2023).

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 08:30
From: Steve Iwanowski
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I would have loved to attend but wasn't able to since I was traveling back from Acumatica Summit. Can anyone report what any of the new features are?

------------------------------
Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I attended, and asked questions.  The responses were underwhelming.  We have ben waiting for a formal "road ahead" document forever.  You know the kind I mean with some meat on the bones.  (Yes, I saw what @Wayne Schulz posted from September, that is not enough).  So maybe the problem is that it is not enough, and not that they don't on occasion "post something".

Answer to issues with PM are frustrating.  From the day they requested Scanco to produce the WO Framework Module, they knew they would be taking it back themselves, and this rewrite time is an indication they either were not prepared, or it was that bad.  To be the "only think" included in v2022, is disappointing.  And to have wholes they are not fixing, like the Negative Tier Problem, or WIP Reports that don't reconcile, and now telling use clients that bought IRP or took the licensing from MRP as a replacement still need to wait another year for a product that works with PM 2.0 is disheartening.  Especially when it was not clear if IRP 2.0 (v2023); will even have Projected Demand.  

------------------------------
Madeline Stefanou
RKL eSolutions, LLC
------------------------------

I thought the hour was both disappointing and a bit encouraging.

Sage changed out the presenters an hour before the show started. That's how we got the product mgt folks instead of Elliot & Co. I see why they did this, but Anne will explain to them that this quarterly session requires direct tech interaction. (90 MInds will also attempt to have period interactive sessions with product mgt  separately.) So, this agenda change disappointed our audience because it was not what was advertised.

On the encouraging side, I thought we got far more candid feedback on the Sage Survey and later questions than we've seen in the past. We might not like the answers, but at least there wasn't a foot of BS on the floor at the end. 

Mike Ritchie didn't show up accidentally; he could have just sent Linda. Ritchie did a decent job of informally outlining their key challenge: keeping current customers on Sage 100 until they can migrate to Intacct. He now clearly understands the challenges to getting customers to stay close to the current version, and Sage knows that on-plan customers who aren't reasonably current are more likely to jump ship. (A recent market study showed only 4% of Intacct customers came from Sage migrations ... this wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but I suspect this fact woke up Sage to see that if they want to use this asset, it will take time and a lot of work.)

Sage isn't going to change their all-in strategy on Intacct. But comments by Ritchie, who sits higher in the food chain than anybody we've interacted with (not just "heard from") indicated to me that Sage is beginning to recognize that the Sage 100 needs some more attention to meet their goals for it. I don't really know how they can do this, because they have only one, a newbie, in a position to promote it (and I'm not clear if that is her only product, either) and I doubt there is budget for more developers. So ...

I am also skeptical about how they can execute a strategy of keeping current customers while not spending any effort to try to sell it to new customers. 

It is what it is. We must use that reality to inform our individual decisions.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112
------------------------------

Good points Jerry. 

I thought it rather telling that Mike expressed confusion at people worrying about internet connectivity, as a reason to not go Cloud.  It's a rather naive opinion, and shows a certain amount of Sage-induced tunnel vision, ignoring real world conditions. 
When I worked in the auto manufacturing industry (3rd party logistics), if our systems went down for more than a few minutes, it cost tens-of-thousands in penalties, per assembly plant, per minute.  We had backup diesel generators that could be refueled while running (and on-site servers, with Live parallel running backups in our data center). 
In some environments, the risk of downtime associated with any single point of failure (outside your control... like internet connectivity), no matter how many redundancies you have, is simply unacceptable.  Brick wall: no, never.

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 12:59
From: Jerry Norman
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I thought the hour was both disappointing and a bit encouraging.

Sage changed out the presenters an hour before the show started. That's how we got the product mgt folks instead of Elliot & Co. I see why they did this, but Anne will explain to them that this quarterly session requires direct tech interaction. (90 MInds will also attempt to have period interactive sessions with product mgt  separately.) So, this agenda change disappointed our audience because it was not what was advertised.

On the encouraging side, I thought we got far more candid feedback on the Sage Survey and later questions than we've seen in the past. We might not like the answers, but at least there wasn't a foot of BS on the floor at the end.

Mike Ritchie didn't show up accidentally; he could have just sent Linda. Ritchie did a decent job of informally outlining their key challenge: keeping current customers on Sage 100 until they can migrate to Intacct. He now clearly understands the challenges to getting customers to stay close to the current version, and Sage knows that on-plan customers who aren't reasonably current are more likely to jump ship. (A recent market study showed only 4% of Intacct customers came from Sage migrations ... this wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but I suspect this fact woke up Sage to see that if they want to use this asset, it will take time and a lot of work.)

Sage isn't going to change their all-in strategy on Intacct. But comments by Ritchie, who sits higher in the food chain than anybody we've interacted with (not just "heard from") indicated to me that Sage is beginning to recognize that the Sage 100 needs some more attention to meet their goals for it. I don't really know how they can do this, because they have only one, a newbie, in a position to promote it (and I'm not clear if that is her only product, either) and I doubt there is budget for more developers. So ...

I am also skeptical about how they can execute a strategy of keeping current customers while not spending any effort to try to sell it to new customers.

It is what it is. We must use that reality to inform our individual decisions.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112
------------------------------

Yes, I about choked on that one, as I sit here working from home via the only internet option I have at this location (no matter HOW many invitations to service I get from other providers), which is CRAP.

------------------------------
Beth Bowers
Mom to Samson, Peanut, ChiChi, Canton, Cagney and Daisy (NO Oxford comma - shriek!)
Tennessee Software Solutions
269-445-1625
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 13:23
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

Good points Jerry.

I thought it rather telling that Mike expressed confusion at people worrying about internet connectivity, as a reason to not go Cloud.  It's a rather naive opinion, and shows a certain amount of Sage-induced tunnel vision, ignoring real world conditions.
When I worked in the auto manufacturing industry (3rd party logistics), if our systems went down for more than a few minutes, it cost tens-of-thousands in penalties, per assembly plant, per minute.  We had backup diesel generators that could be refueled while running (and on-site servers, with Live parallel running backups in our data center).
In some environments, the risk of downtime associated with any single point of failure (outside your control... like internet connectivity), no matter how many redundancies you have, is simply unacceptable.  Brick wall: no, never.

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 12:59
From: Jerry Norman
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I thought the hour was both disappointing and a bit encouraging.

Sage changed out the presenters an hour before the show started. That's how we got the product mgt folks instead of Elliot & Co. I see why they did this, but Anne will explain to them that this quarterly session requires direct tech interaction. (90 MInds will also attempt to have period interactive sessions with product mgt  separately.) So, this agenda change disappointed our audience because it was not what was advertised.

On the encouraging side, I thought we got far more candid feedback on the Sage Survey and later questions than we've seen in the past. We might not like the answers, but at least there wasn't a foot of BS on the floor at the end.

Mike Ritchie didn't show up accidentally; he could have just sent Linda. Ritchie did a decent job of informally outlining their key challenge: keeping current customers on Sage 100 until they can migrate to Intacct. He now clearly understands the challenges to getting customers to stay close to the current version, and Sage knows that on-plan customers who aren't reasonably current are more likely to jump ship. (A recent market study showed only 4% of Intacct customers came from Sage migrations ... this wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but I suspect this fact woke up Sage to see that if they want to use this asset, it will take time and a lot of work.)

Sage isn't going to change their all-in strategy on Intacct. But comments by Ritchie, who sits higher in the food chain than anybody we've interacted with (not just "heard from") indicated to me that Sage is beginning to recognize that the Sage 100 needs some more attention to meet their goals for it. I don't really know how they can do this, because they have only one, a newbie, in a position to promote it (and I'm not clear if that is her only product, either) and I doubt there is budget for more developers. So ...

I am also skeptical about how they can execute a strategy of keeping current customers while not spending any effort to try to sell it to new customers.

It is what it is. We must use that reality to inform our individual decisions.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112

I have already gone through hurricanes…with weeks without power….. Most customer dont want to even about cloud…..

---------------------------------
Lourdes Sobrino
LU² DSD Puerto Rico
Guaynabo Puerto Rico
787.485.9638
---------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022
From: Beth Bowers
Subject: RE: Sage Roundtable

Yes, I about choked on that one, as I sit here working from home via the only internet option I have at this location (no matter HOW many invitations to service I get from other providers), which is CRAP.

------------------------------
Beth Bowers
Mom to Samson, Peanut, ChiChi, Canton, Cagney and Daisy (NO Oxford comma - shriek!)
Tennessee Software Solutions
269-445-1625
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 13:23
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

Good points Jerry.

I thought it rather telling that Mike expressed confusion at people worrying about internet connectivity, as a reason to not go Cloud.  It's a rather naive opinion, and shows a certain amount of Sage-induced tunnel vision, ignoring real world conditions.
When I worked in the auto manufacturing industry (3rd party logistics), if our systems went down for more than a few minutes, it cost tens-of-thousands in penalties, per assembly plant, per minute.  We had backup diesel generators that could be refueled while running (and on-site servers, with Live parallel running backups in our data center).
In some environments, the risk of downtime associated with any single point of failure (outside your control... like internet connectivity), no matter how many redundancies you have, is simply unacceptable.  Brick wall: no, never.

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------

... and people think I'm nuts when I say there is room for on premise and cloud and hybrid-cloud.  Cloud computing is nothing new.  Time-sharing, (later re-brand as "cloud") was popular in the 1960's 1970's and the early part of the 1980's.

------------------------------
Doug Higgs
Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
(312) 315-0960
Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 13:23
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

Good points Jerry.

I thought it rather telling that Mike expressed confusion at people worrying about internet connectivity, as a reason to not go Cloud.  It's a rather naive opinion, and shows a certain amount of Sage-induced tunnel vision, ignoring real world conditions.
When I worked in the auto manufacturing industry (3rd party logistics), if our systems went down for more than a few minutes, it cost tens-of-thousands in penalties, per assembly plant, per minute.  We had backup diesel generators that could be refueled while running (and on-site servers, with Live parallel running backups in our data center).
In some environments, the risk of downtime associated with any single point of failure (outside your control... like internet connectivity), no matter how many redundancies you have, is simply unacceptable.  Brick wall: no, never.

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 12:59
From: Jerry Norman
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I thought the hour was both disappointing and a bit encouraging.

Sage changed out the presenters an hour before the show started. That's how we got the product mgt folks instead of Elliot & Co. I see why they did this, but Anne will explain to them that this quarterly session requires direct tech interaction. (90 MInds will also attempt to have period interactive sessions with product mgt  separately.) So, this agenda change disappointed our audience because it was not what was advertised.

On the encouraging side, I thought we got far more candid feedback on the Sage Survey and later questions than we've seen in the past. We might not like the answers, but at least there wasn't a foot of BS on the floor at the end.

Mike Ritchie didn't show up accidentally; he could have just sent Linda. Ritchie did a decent job of informally outlining their key challenge: keeping current customers on Sage 100 until they can migrate to Intacct. He now clearly understands the challenges to getting customers to stay close to the current version, and Sage knows that on-plan customers who aren't reasonably current are more likely to jump ship. (A recent market study showed only 4% of Intacct customers came from Sage migrations ... this wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but I suspect this fact woke up Sage to see that if they want to use this asset, it will take time and a lot of work.)

Sage isn't going to change their all-in strategy on Intacct. But comments by Ritchie, who sits higher in the food chain than anybody we've interacted with (not just "heard from") indicated to me that Sage is beginning to recognize that the Sage 100 needs some more attention to meet their goals for it. I don't really know how they can do this, because they have only one, a newbie, in a position to promote it (and I'm not clear if that is her only product, either) and I doubt there is budget for more developers. So ...

I am also skeptical about how they can execute a strategy of keeping current customers while not spending any effort to try to sell it to new customers.

It is what it is. We must use that reality to inform our individual decisions.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112

Yes, we all have customers with infrastructure that doesn't include reliable broadband. (Many of our New Orleans customers fit that description.) But these are niche customers, a niche that will narrow over time.

I suggest that a stronger message for these customers is to move them to a modern Citrix interface. This removes all the friction we encounter with multiple workstation installs. If you haven't experienced this, you should: it is a long way from the "classic" RDP of 2010. It can go a long way toward making up for not having a browser interface. Of course, you don't need a cloud server to make this happen. (I think Sage is missing an opportunity for stickiness by not actively promoting this approach separately from the SPC push.)

One thing that did come across to me on Wednesday: Ritchie's group does not have a clear product strategy beyond "clean up the ugly bits." Timothy H had a clear message by Jan 2020 (he quit when Sage changed course on him), but I don't hear one now. They keep developing PM, but to what goal? What is a clear statement of customer profile they want to attract/keep with this? What product strategy do they have to keep current distribution customers from bolting to Acumatica or Microsoft?

Crickets. There isn't one. We're on our own for interpreting what is here and why it matters to current customers.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 13:23
From: Kevin Moyes
Subject: Sage Roundtable

Good points Jerry.

I thought it rather telling that Mike expressed confusion at people worrying about internet connectivity, as a reason to not go Cloud.  It's a rather naive opinion, and shows a certain amount of Sage-induced tunnel vision, ignoring real world conditions.
When I worked in the auto manufacturing industry (3rd party logistics), if our systems went down for more than a few minutes, it cost tens-of-thousands in penalties, per assembly plant, per minute.  We had backup diesel generators that could be refueled while running (and on-site servers, with Live parallel running backups in our data center).
In some environments, the risk of downtime associated with any single point of failure (outside your control... like internet connectivity), no matter how many redundancies you have, is simply unacceptable.  Brick wall: no, never.

------------------------------
Kevin Moyes
Technical Systems Analyst
Munjal White Consulting Co.
Toronto ON
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-28-2022 12:59
From: Jerry Norman
Subject: Sage Roundtable

I thought the hour was both disappointing and a bit encouraging.

Sage changed out the presenters an hour before the show started. That's how we got the product mgt folks instead of Elliot & Co. I see why they did this, but Anne will explain to them that this quarterly session requires direct tech interaction. (90 MInds will also attempt to have period interactive sessions with product mgt  separately.) So, this agenda change disappointed our audience because it was not what was advertised.

On the encouraging side, I thought we got far more candid feedback on the Sage Survey and later questions than we've seen in the past. We might not like the answers, but at least there wasn't a foot of BS on the floor at the end.

Mike Ritchie didn't show up accidentally; he could have just sent Linda. Ritchie did a decent job of informally outlining their key challenge: keeping current customers on Sage 100 until they can migrate to Intacct. He now clearly understands the challenges to getting customers to stay close to the current version, and Sage knows that on-plan customers who aren't reasonably current are more likely to jump ship. (A recent market study showed only 4% of Intacct customers came from Sage migrations ... this wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but I suspect this fact woke up Sage to see that if they want to use this asset, it will take time and a lot of work.)

Sage isn't going to change their all-in strategy on Intacct. But comments by Ritchie, who sits higher in the food chain than anybody we've interacted with (not just "heard from") indicated to me that Sage is beginning to recognize that the Sage 100 needs some more attention to meet their goals for it. I don't really know how they can do this, because they have only one, a newbie, in a position to promote it (and I'm not clear if that is her only product, either) and I doubt there is budget for more developers. So ...

I am also skeptical about how they can execute a strategy of keeping current customers while not spending any effort to try to sell it to new customers.

It is what it is. We must use that reality to inform our individual decisions.

------------------------------
Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112