Sage Line 50 2007

Jason Wood kindly referenced my analysis of Sage’s results in a post where he comments about the US SaaS market in his capacity as a technology investor. Jason is looking at the world through the eyes of someone who is a bit of a Salesforce.com (CRM) and SaaS fan. I make no apology for reprinting Jason’s view about Sage. They suggest questions that didn’t come up in the analyst call. Sadly I was on listen only mode. I recall Paul Walker pretty much ducked a softball question about SFdC as competition: …we here in the U.S. forget that [Sage] they’re not only one of ... Read Full Story

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Sage has finally launched an online version of Line 50. It will only be available for members of the Accountants Club for the time being. Paul Stobart, CEO Sage UK said: “We are targeting this for accountants in practice. Over 200 firms expressed strong interest.” Functionally, there is no difference between this and the on-premise version. David Terrar had this to say: I’m delighted to hear Sage corroborating the concept of shared access to accounting systems, and the kind of benefits it can bring to collaboration between the SME/SMB customer and his/her accountant advisor. However, I’m completely under whelmed by the announcement. I’m prepared ... Read Full Story

Something’s been bugging me for a week or two. During a conversation with a start up colleague, he said his company use the packaged accounting application recommended by his accountant. As it happens, the accountant uses the same package. My colleague shrugged and said: “It is what it is.” I wonder just how appropriate those choices really are. 25 years ago, professionals were deeply concerned about putting computerised systems into the hands of non-professionals. They were book-keeping systems built by accountants for accountants. Those same packages dominate the market. And in all that time, they’ve not fundamentally changed. Sure, they’ve had makeovers and usability ... Read Full Story

This is not a wind up. Jason Carter asked my opinion about the results of CPA Technology Advisor’s assessment of five popular ‘high- end accounting packages.’ Sage AccPac 500 ERP achieved a ‘perfect five star ‘ rating. Jason does an excellent job eviscerating the credentials of those who undertook the assessment. Ever eager to grab any decent publicity, Sage US (You really must smack these guys around Ralph) put out what Jason describes as a ‘ nauseating ‘ press release. Even Sage must realise this is cynical. Jason comments: It is good press for Sage, who put out a nauseating press release that read ... Read Full Story