(914) 980-1472New chief, product launches highlight Sage confab
Education, collaboration and innovation were the central themes swirling around Insights 2008 — the sixth annual reseller conference of business management software provider Sage Software.
More than 3,000 attendees, including 1,800 resellers, flocked to the four-day confab held here last month to learn more about the products, to network, to glean new ideas and strategies, and to meet Sue Swenson, the new president and chief executive of the software conglomerate’s North America unit.
“You may be expecting me to come out with some big proclamations about what Sage is going to do to march to a different drummer,” Swenson said during her keynote address. “I hate to disappoint you, but I think it’s early for our first meeting. It’s certainly a great market and a great industry,” she added. “It’s also a great business.”
Some 20 percent of U.K.-based Sage’s 25,000 resellers are in North America.
Despite flat first-half revenues for its North American unit, at $500 million, energy at the conference was high, with a series of new product releases coupled with demonstrations and networking events highlighting the event.
“It’s great,” said Delvon Cowans, a project manager at MCG Business Solutions in Mobile, Ala., who has attended for three years. “It’s your one chance to see the people you talk to on the phone all day long, your one chance to mingle with upper management.”
At this year’s meeting, action seemed to speak louder than words.
Nina Smith, president of the company’s Business Management Division, acknowledged this, and although she tossed out boilerplate buzzwords and market trends such as “easy everything,” “ease of use,” “going mobile” and “globalization” during her keynote, she stressed that this is the time the company needs to present tangible solutions and answers for both partners and customers.
“We must have the right solution and the right products on the market,” she said. “We have to have the right relationships and the right presence culminating in the right experience for our customers.”
READY TO LAUNCH
The show also provided a platform for new product releases and upgrades, albeit many were accompanied by non-specific timelines.
Sage Accpac, Peachtree, Sage MAS 500, Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 were among the brands trumpeting scheduled new rollouts, while products such as DacEasy, Sage Pro, TimeSlips and Sage BusinessWorks are set to feature new releases as well.
A new strategy, “Extended Enterprise Approach,” also was unveiled at the conference, an effort that includes the concept of total office integration through new suite offerings for Sage MAS 90 and 200, which will be available in late June. According to Sage, the goal of the suite approach is to provide employees in sales, service, finance, operations and management with an integrated, “360-degree” view of business operations.
More than 3,000 attendees, including 1,800 resellers, flocked to the four-day confab held here last month to learn more about the products, to network, to glean new ideas and strategies, and to meet Sue Swenson, the new president and chief executive of the software conglomerate’s North America unit.
“You may be expecting me to come out with some big proclamations about what Sage is going to do to march to a different drummer,” Swenson said during her keynote address. “I hate to disappoint you, but I think it’s early for our first meeting. It’s certainly a great market and a great industry,” she added. “It’s also a great business.”
Some 20 percent of U.K.-based Sage’s 25,000 resellers are in North America.
Despite flat first-half revenues for its North American unit, at $500 million, energy at the conference was high, with a series of new product releases coupled with demonstrations and networking events highlighting the event.
“It’s great,” said Delvon Cowans, a project manager at MCG Business Solutions in Mobile, Ala., who has attended for three years. “It’s your one chance to see the people you talk to on the phone all day long, your one chance to mingle with upper management.”
At this year’s meeting, action seemed to speak louder than words.
Nina Smith, president of the company’s Business Management Division, acknowledged this, and although she tossed out boilerplate buzzwords and market trends such as “easy everything,” “ease of use,” “going mobile” and “globalization” during her keynote, she stressed that this is the time the company needs to present tangible solutions and answers for both partners and customers.
“We must have the right solution and the right products on the market,” she said. “We have to have the right relationships and the right presence culminating in the right experience for our customers.”
READY TO LAUNCH
The show also provided a platform for new product releases and upgrades, albeit many were accompanied by non-specific timelines.
Sage Accpac, Peachtree, Sage MAS 500, Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 were among the brands trumpeting scheduled new rollouts, while products such as DacEasy, Sage Pro, TimeSlips and Sage BusinessWorks are set to feature new releases as well.
A new strategy, “Extended Enterprise Approach,” also was unveiled at the conference, an effort that includes the concept of total office integration through new suite offerings for Sage MAS 90 and 200, which will be available in late June. According to Sage, the goal of the suite approach is to provide employees in sales, service, finance, operations and management with an integrated, “360-degree” view of business operations.
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