Sage News and Discussion

Who has already completed their MAS certifications? I think I need to do the SageCRM and SQL certs

I have.

What a cluster F*! The response I got back last week from the partner services department was all I had to complete was the CRM. Have asked for verification (again) on the SQL certification. So what happens in two weeks when these guidelines kick in and you are not certified? Are they extending the grace period? Confusion reigns supreme.

@JeffSchwenk what grace period would that be??

I received a notice for my company yesterday outlining what each employee's current certifications are and I only had one listed. The notice said all employees would also receive notice. So I get my individual notice and I now have 3 certs. Confusion DOES reign supreme...

From the date they announced this latest scheme to thin the herd to November 1.

Is there a manual for the CRM course or do we just have to take good notes and then go pass the certification? Similar question for SQL. Looks as if I have everything else: Application - Financials/Distribution Implementation Consultant Technical - NonSQL I'm thinking of taking SQL because I'm getting calls and could see managing more than one or two per year.

Update: Looks like when you go into the anytime learning you can download the manual.

Here's the curriculum for 4.45 if that helps. The assessment questions all came straight from the books.

Unless I am missing something - with the courses all being free through the end of October - shouldn't we register for every course just to get the study guide? From what I recall the study guides are pretty useful.

Yep!

I plan on signing up for any missing courses before EOM. Also, I received notice of my certifications and one of mine was missing, so hopefully this can get sorted out fairly quickly.

I have completed mine. BTW, anyone who handles both MAS and Accpac, if you speak up you won't have to take the same SQL Fundamentals course twice (and if you took it for 4.45 and speak up you don't have to take it again for the 4.5 certification)...

I talked with Celina yesterday to get squared away. Sounds like they are hearing from a lot of confused partners about the requirements. She said if you are not certified by March, support will no longer help you when you call.

Since the classes are free and the assessments are $25 each - there's not much reason to wait. I am going to register for a bunch of free classes to grab their materials even though I'll only go for the SQL and CRM certs. The biggest issue that Sage has is they have not been very clear on the requirements and I'm sure that's because Sage themselves don't totally understand them.

I was confused as well until I received an update on what my current certs mapped too. It's taken me a while just to understand what the new ""roles"" entail

Out of curiosity, what does it take for a MAS partner to pass the CRM test? Are we talking about ""Spell CRM"" or is it something a bit more rigorous?

Good question. Care to learn with me???? I think many will agree that the certifications could be a bit more rigorous. The hardest part is searching the PDF for the answer and be wary of the ""trick"" questions.

Jeff - if you are suggesting that I take the CRM test with you, I'm frankly a little surprised. You know I only work if I get paid so SHOW ME THE MONEY! (just kidding of course I would not do anything so unscrupulous)

(besides, I'm guessing the test is pretty simple)

Sinple for an expert!!!! If I pass, I may be calling less often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well.. who has taken it? What was the CRM test like?

I took this when it was five days in person in Scottsdale, and the test was completing an install and configuration, and you didn't get out until you had it completely correct. I'm guessing looking up multiple choice answers in the pdfs won't be quite the same experience. Nor will you get Bruce Holmes' comments on what features were ""designed in the pub"" and how to work around them. So far none of these tests actually measure anything close to real world proficiency. BTW, I just downloaded the pdfs and they are dated 8/18/2008, so there won't be any version 7.x stuff.

You gotta love Bruce.

@PhilMcIntosh I think Sage is assuming most of us will use third parties to install/complete engagements like CRM where we may not do more than one or two a year. In that light the certification (where the answers are in the PDF) seem to make some sense. It gives an overall familiarity though certainly not enough to do a complex install. It would be a nightmare to travel to different places for 4 or 5 different certifications. I guess this is also part of what's driving SaaS. If this was a cloud based product (arguments about security aside) how much of this type of training and authorization would be required? Once you take away complexity and all the manual handholding during the install/config -- the projects could actually be fun...

@WayneSchulz You understand the difference between ""certification"" and ""education"". I think you are assuming Sage does. This new program of making people with 10 to 20+ years experience take open book multiple choice tests (in the SageCRM case with OUT OF DATE materials) which are the same as newbies take just wastes our time to no one's benefit. Sage should hire Peter to put together a ""SageCRM is NOT just another module"" course that would actually be education. What they are doing now is giving people just enough info to be dangerous.

@PhilMcIntosh - I smiled reading your post because: a) As a member of the Sage CRM BPAC, I have been known to speak out against certification vs education. It doesn't matter though because Sage wants a big channel that at least understands Sage CRM in order to say ""yes - you do need CRM dear customer"". I can see their point on this because the more folks that know about the product, the better chances that it will be adopted by the current install base. Hopefully partners will know when to raise their hands for help if they need it. In general, I have found most MAS partners are willing to partner if needed or actually train their staff appropriately if they are committing to taking on a new product line. b) I give a presentation on ""Marketing and Selling Sage CRM to Sage Accounting Clients"" and one of the first things that I address is ""forget what Sage says about CRM being an accounting module"". That rhetoric is dangerous and really does nothing to sell the software or position it correctly.

For what it's worth ... Sage CRM is set to explode in the next few years (fingers crossed) and Sage (and the customers) need a strong channel. To help with strengthening the channel's Sage CRM expertise, I started a blog for partners (http://www.azambapartners.com) dipping their toes in the CRM waters early Summer but I let it languish. It's on my high priority list to reinvigorate that this quarter.

Since I was the only one to attend Peter's session at Summit, let me add my two cents. We started to work with SageCRM when EES came out. We had two implementations within a year or so. Then earlier this year, we had FOUR different clients approach us about ""this CRM thing."" Since pricing was going to change in the fall, we closed three of them over the summer. It IS exploding for us and yes, we've raised our hand to Peter who has been great to work with. We have since sent someone to the full Scottsdale training but if we hadn't gone through the certification, we would not have been well prepared to discuss ""this CRM thing"" when approached by our clients.

And let me add that I'm glad I had even one attendee since SAGE DOUBLE-BOOKED MY ROOM!!!! I found out when I went to the room to present and Stephen Smith was giving a presentation on Accpac SDK. Thankfully Therese walked by and saw me crying in the hallway and took pity on me. I had eleven people signed up so if anyone in this group was signed up, let me know and I can schedule a one-on-one presentation.

Update on Certified Consultant Status On October 7, 2011, you were sent a communication to provide you with a list of all the competency roles held by the consultants in your organization. In addition, a second communication was sent to each of your consultants to provide them with a list of the individual competency roles that they hold. The communication that you received was an accurate list of the competency roles held by your consultants. However, the communication sent to each of your consultants was not accurate and listed all of the competency roles held by each of the consultants in your organization. We have sent an updated communication to each of your consultants to provide them with an accurate list of only the competency roles that they hold. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your continued efforts toward certification. "" Look in your email, I am not making this up...

Lately I see some folks getting emails that I don't have. This is one of them. the strange thing is that I have been on the list for other mailings. It would be nice if they could get their systems sorted out.

Based on the followup email listing certifications, this was only for MAS 90/200. Either that our they have lost all my Accpac certs....

I think they have only done this for MAS and I received the same correction notice.

Ah ... ok. I'll step off the ledge.

Sorry Peter, but we did not get any confirmation about our CRM or Accpac certs. I talked to someone in Scottsdale and she said they are trying to consolidate all of their systems (same old, same old). Until then, good luck!

>>she said they are trying to consolidate all of their systems (same old, same old). LOL -- no, really -- this say's it all about the condition that Sage North America is in today. LOL ....

fyi: ann seidel x340102 celina oliver x343818

Good luck getting through....

Wow ... I'm facing a bit of a mess. Because my CRM certification was originally under Accpac - pre-Sage purchase, I now am facing the need to pass all four roles. Does anyone know: 1) Who's the mastermind behind these new certifications? 2) Was there a purpose stated behind them? I'm not trying to be funny - I've seen a lot of stuff about new tests and required courses and yadda yadda yadda but I can't recall ""What was the reason? How does this benefit anyone?"" Are we all going to be ""better"" after the tests? Sometimes - in my more cynical days - I imagine Darth Vader and the Emperor talking about crushing the rebellion. Except replace ""Darth Vader and the Emperor"" with ""Sage"" and ""the rebellion"" with ""the channel"".

Here's what Sage's Partner Program Resource Guide says about certification: ""The designation of an individual's capability to effectively support Sage solutions."" I think you're right about the Darth Vader interpretation as this will definitely ""crush"" many partners.

So they guy Sage tells all us MAS vars to go to for CRM expertise needs to take a bunch of multiple choice tests? I had some success getting Natalie Grizzle to comprehend that the SQL course shouldn't have to be taken multiple times for each product, but 0 success in trying to make her understand the difference between certification and education. And the people who ""planned"" this are now employed elsewhere...

Celina called me back earlier today and helped me out. Ann is on vaca (Hawaii I think) and will be back to the office Monday. I enrolled for all my stuff today. Bargain.

@PhilMcIntosh - Yeah... wow... why is this stuff so clear to us but the folks at Sage just can't get it? It kind of bothers me that folks who live in a corporate environment are also telling us in the channel that we must take a 2 day consulting course. This is why we need a union.

@PeterWolf - We work to make businesses more efficient and build long term relationships. Corporate behavior is measured quarterly and who cares if the company is still there if you won't be? Occupy Irvine, anyone?

I just realized that my Installation Assessment will actually expire prior to when I'm taking the respective Realtime class (Upgrading and Migrating 4.50). What am I missing? I left a v-mail for Ann. In all the Registration Confirmation e-mails I received for the Assessments, most say they expire 60 days from purchase. The SQL one doesn't say an expiration. So much for that 3-1-12 deadline, unless of course you don't yet purchase the Assessments - but I'd rather pay $125 now vs. $500 later for my required Assessments.

Just heard from Ann. The ""60 day expiration from purchase"" does not apply - regardless of what's stated in the system-generated Registration Confirmation e-mails. You have til the end of Feb '12 to pass the Assessments. But note that the ""2 Attempts"" still applies.

@PeterWolf - You may have already done this, but I just got my Accpac certification email today (I hope no one was actually waiting for Sage to tell them what they needed) and it was missing my Accpac CRM consultant mapping (even though it was on the email I had gotten over a month ago when I gotten my Accpac PSR to let me know what Sage's records showed). I emailed Natalie Grizzle and she located the records and fixed it for me.

Interesting thing I just realized after signing up to do all my certification tests was that most only give you 60 days to complete before expiring. I was under the impression I had until March 31!

@BrettZimmerman asked and was told that you do indeed have until March 31.

Good to know thank you. I am doing the assessments for 200 SQL and MAS 500 and would have had a pretty strained to get all those done. From: support@socialcast.com [mailto:support@socialcast.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Schulz Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 10:21 AM To: Jennifer M. Christon Subject: Re: [90 Minds Consulting Group] Who has already completed their MAS certifications? I think I need to do the SageCRM and SQL certs

I just heard from one of my guys that these emails are going out individually because Sage is processing them one by one. Too sad. The odd thing is my email (just got it yesterday) tells me I'm good with everything and I'm an interim consultant because I haven't taken the test. Click here for more info. (Paraphrased obviously but that was the gist.) To me, this is just the backwards approach that we (good business consultants) advise our clients not to take. I don't give two shits about what I have - tell me what I need. They didn't spell out: 1. Take the Consulting Academy and test. 2. Take the Technical Consultant course and test. Which is all I really need to know. I don't think it would have taken too much effort for them to express these emails as bullet points or checklists titled ""hey - sorry we created a bunch of admin work for all of you and all of our own staff. Here's a simple checklist so you can go back to your day jobs of selling and supporting software."" Sorry for the rant. This unnecessary admin stuff really burns me up.

I took the MAS 90/200 4.50 real time class today. It was scheduled as two days 6 hours each day. It consisted of a walk through the lab exercises (which I did along with the instructor) which finished in 2.5 hours. Much of the lab says ""in a real implementation you'd do ... but we're going to skip that"". Only new thing was that apparently in upgrading SageCRM linked to MAS from 7.0 to 7.1, there are a number of SQL triggers which have to be disabled before the upgrade and re-enabled after it. Even the instructor was baffled as to why Sage doesn't just provide us scripts to do that. <rant>I'm beginning to think the only reason people believe corporations can be more efficient than government is because when governments do this crap it makes it into the newspapers.</rant>

What triggers did they say you need to disable? That's news to me...

I never heard of that either and I went through the class at Summit. Are they suddenly adding new material?

Phil - are you saying that the class took 2.5 hours total, not 2.5 hours for the first day?

Yup - tomorrow you can log in and play with the virtual machine if you want, but all the instruction is over.

@Peter, Table Name Trigger Address trguAddressSyncMAS90 Address_Link trguAddressLinkSyncMAS90 Company trguCompanySyncMAS90 Custom_Captions trguCaptionsSyncMAS90 Email trguEmailSyncMAS90 Opportunity trguOpportunitySyncMAS90 Person trguPersonSyncMAS90 Phone trguPhoneSyncMAS90 Users trguUsersSyncMAS90

Thanks Phil - I appreciate it. I guess I don't understand why the upgrade installer file wouldn't automatically disable / enable the triggers ... strange.

UPDATE - I have been told (I have not confirmed this yet) that the message is not a showstopper. The upgrade should still continue without any issues if you don't turn them off. You can turn them off beforehand but it's not required. I would think the risk of not turning them off is that if someone is in MAS during the upgrade and they update information, it may not synch. We usually don't upgrade CRM while people are in any integrated systems as a matter of policy and I recommend that approach to everyone else.

Peter, I was told in the class that if you ignored the warning and proceeded with the upgrade with those triggers enabled, the upgrade would complete apparently normally, but CRM would not work afterward. It almost sounded to me like the triggers might get fired by something in the upgrade script. Since Therese said this wasn't in the class when she took it at Summit, I suspect someone must have discovered it the hard way. However, step number one on my MAS upgrade checklist has always been ""lock out users"".