My reasons why - may not be valid for everyone:
1. Sage Alerts and Workflow is a Sage branded offering, so to a certain extent they stand behind it and ultimately are responsible for the integration and support of the function. This is critical if something goes wrong.
2. When a module such as Alerts and Workflow works fine, I don't want to second guess Sage. They reviewed it in detail and decided it would work well with the ERP, which it does.
2. It is easy to sell. Many customers will opt for it over anything else simply because it has the Sage name attached to it. I know we in the channel can be critical of Sage, but for the most part the customers are very loyal.
3. Alerts and Workflow includes the standard alerts and is not that difficult to use and customize/add new alerts.
4. There are always going to be alternatives to the standard offerings that will save money, but ongoing support is required by the partner. I have reviewed potential customers that have numerous add-ons that are not standard offerings, and as a new consultant there would be a learning curve to support them. That's not free for the customer, so ultimately what is the long-term cost?
I have never seen Visual Cut, but I believe there is a session on this at MOTM. As for the one person support, see Jerry's comment on the required sale of VSoft. That's a risk.
BPA is more complex and a larger investment. If the customer has multiple customization needs where it may be used, then it probably makes more sense. Otherwise, if it is just alerts that are required, it may not be worth the investment.
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John Hoyt
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