Sage Continues ERP App Overhaul Efforts With MAS 900 Upgrade
The upgrade is significant for Irvine, Calif.-based Sage as the company works to update its broad, and in some cases aging, application product line.
On-demand application vendor NetSuite said Wednesday that more than 500 companies have switched from Sage accounting, CRM and ERP products to NetSuite's competing Software-as-a-Service applications. NetSuite said the customers, including Irvine, Calif-based Laguna Tools and Tualatin, Ore.-based Lightspeed Technologies, had previously used Sage products ranging from the Sage Line 50 and Line 500 accounting packages to Sage MAS 90 and MAS 500 ERP application suites.
Along with trying to capture Sage customers, Microsoft and NetSuite have been aggressively courting the vendor's reseller partners as well.
Many of Sage's products are acquisitions and some of them are in need of upgrading. Last year Motasim Najeeb, Sage North America chief technology officer, detailed the company's challenge of updating its software products to attract new customers without alienating long-time customers.
Sage's product strategy today is to provide more frequent, yet small-enhancement releases. The new Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL 4.45 suite is one of several regular updates to the 4.4 release of the product the company is expected to make over time.
The 4.45 release is designed to work more efficiently with Microsoft SQL Server compared to the earlier 3.7x release, according to the company. Customers can purchase Microsoft SQL Server licenses from Sage or use licenses they may already own.
The Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL 4.45 suite is targeted toward small and midsize businesses. It includes core accounting, distribution, manufacturing, CRM, human resource management, business intelligence and other applications.