Kate's comments here raise an important point for all of us to keep in mind: stay aware of a vendor's perceived salience of Sage 100 to its business.
MSI has done just fine bolting its service module onto other accounting systems. While it still has some Sage 100 customers, that installed base is not as large as its other platforms, and MSI apparently doesn't see growth in its Sage 100 customer base as in its top-3 revenue goals.
How do I know this? First, I remember being told this "between the lines" by an MSI rep at a Summit 5+ years ago. This is surely confirmed by the company's continued reliance on the Sage-obsoleted sData interface. If this was an important market for MSI, they would have changed to the BoI interface years ago; it's not that hard to do.
There are other vendors who "officially" integrate with Sage 100, but we know their support is lousy, or their integration is always years behind Sage updates. Vendor performance in these areas should be important considerations for our customers during their decision process. This is information that only we can properly educate customers about, and yet we usually don't.
Helping customers research and make these decisions is a potentially large value we can offer. It is definitely a hard thing to do. If you want to work on this, you should take part in our monthly "Office Hours" session with Ron Baker and Ed Kless. (This coming Tues at 11 CT.)
(Editorial: Sage 100's inability to complete sData is one reason other apps have trouble connecting to it. sData's REST protocol is far more standard to integrating cloud apps than object-based (and very proprietary) BoI. Irvine's resistance to it is another reason for its integration challenges with Sage CRM. SMH.)
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Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-20-2021 10:24
From: Kate Krueger
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
I have a client that has been using the ServicePro product for a few years. It does what they want as far as mobility and technician tracking but the integration to Sage has been a total nightmare. MSI still uses sData but similar to Sage, doesn't have anyone that knows sData. My client receives hundreds of errors on a daily basis that MSI can't fix or explain. Last I heard they were working on a business objects integration but that has been "almost ready" for several years. For those of you with successful integrations - are those using sData or the mythical business objects integration?
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Kate Krueger
Business Applications Manager
Eide Bailly, Inc.
Denver CO
970-692-5113
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2021 15:44
From: alan niergarth
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
Thanks all. The client had a discovery call with TimeLinx. Price was a definite factor. So now they need to see the feature and price ranges for alternatives. They could come back to TimeLinx.
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alan niergarth
Velosio LLC
Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2021 12:40
From: Barb Rippberger
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
Yes, it was a lengthy implementation. Some of it was due to the client adding functionality, but also MSI trying to figure out the integration. It was painful, but I believe the client is happy with how it is working now, especially with the mobile aspect. We have another client that we acquired right after their Service Pro implementation and it took a year plus for them to get up and running too. I'd set expectations that it could take a while.
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Barb Rippberger
Technology Integrators
Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2021 12:21
From: Therese Logeais
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
It was a very lengthy implementation but I believe the customer is now satisfied. @Barb Rippberger?
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Therese Logeais, Technology Integrators
Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2021 12:17
From: Jeff Schwenk
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
@Therese Logeais???
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Jeff Schwenk
FORMER 90M Board Member
Bottomline Software, Inc.
Waynesboro VA
540-221-4444
Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2021 11:59
From: Jerry Norman
Subject: Service Software for Sage 100 - MSI?
MSI says they are reemphasizing Sage 100; they had downgraded it for several years. I know that ~5yrs ago the feedback had been that integration efforts took a long time to accomplish.
If they're figuring out what they need, your customer should checkout timelinxsoftware.com. It integrates through Sage CRM, and they have considerable success in the Sage CRM/100 world.
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Jerry Norman
At-Large BOD Member, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112