From the Sage MAS Team

[#1]

As mentioned in a number of blogs before, we collect a lot of feedback to help us determine enhancements in future release. This includes customer site visits; usability studies; in-product surveys; and our on-line feedback forum.

In addition to this, we also have two groups of Advisors:

• The Customer Advisory Board (CAB) – which consists of a number of customers (users of Sage’s products), and
• The Product Advisory Council (PAC) – which consists of a number of Sage partners/resellers

The primary role of these Advisors is to serve as a dedicated group of customers/partners that support the long term success of Sage’s products through validation of product plans and designs. Advisors are a resource to product management, designers/business analysts, developers, and other groups within Sage that require product related feedback.

When selecting Advisors, we look for customers/partners that:

• are passionate about the product;
• have strong product knowledge;
• can provide constructive feedback and guidance, but are able to look beyond features and bugs to think strategically about the long term product directions;
• represent a cross section of industries, company size, and product usage; and
• are willing and able to participate in regular meetings, design reviews, product surveys , beta/controlled release programs and other activities where Sage requires input in or feedback on product direction or decisions.

We currently have about 10-15 Advisors per board/council. Advisors typically serve for 1 or 2 years, so that we can rotate in new Advisors to ensure that we get feedback from a wide variety of people and gain new insights with some “fresh eyes” looking at the product related issues.

I would like to thank all customers and partners serving as Advisors. Your time commitment and efforts are appreciated and your insights and advise are a valuable source of input into our product direction.