From the Sage MAS Team

[#1]

As a senior product manager at Sage, I have a variety of responsibilities which define my role. But of all the varied tasks that are required of me, by far my most favorite one is getting out on the road and visiting customers in their offices and at partner-sponsored customer meetings.  In the past few months I have been to Portland, OR, Phoenix, AZ, San Diego, CA, Tulsa, OK, and Plainville, CT.  Along the way I have met some pretty terrific customers who use Sage ERP MAS 90, 200 or 500. During my visits I always ask what our customers like best about their current ERP product and also ask for areas in which we can improve. The customers I met on these visits, though extremely varied in the products they distribute or manufacture, all seem to want the same things from Sage. The common themes, in no particular order are:

• When planning product enhancements, Sage should keep keystrokes down to a minimum so our staff can stay productive while minimizing opportunities for human error
• Even companies that have been using our software for several years need solid training. Turnover makes training of new employees an ongoing process.
• Distribution customers who are running on Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 v 4.4 are delighted with the Inventory, Purchase Order and Bill of Materials module enhancements, and are starting to use the Customizer enhancements in ways that really benefit their businesses.
• Customers are excited to see that Sage ERP MAS 90, 200 and 500 now have easily accessible websites where they can submit and vote on enhancement suggestions.
• Many Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 customers have challenges reconciling the Purchases Clearing Account.

Also, virtually every customer I visited said something similar to this: “Sage’s greatest strength is its channel.” All of the customers interviewed see their partner as not only a provider of software and services, but as a trusted business advisor who, along with Sage, helps them achieve success.  

So how are we utilizing this feedback? When planning product enhancements we listen to the feedback and try to incorporate as much as possible in our designs.  For training, Sage University has created free training on YouTube at:   http://www.youtube.com/user/SageUERPLearning and also provides a variety of longer training courses, delivered in a variety of ways. For details, visit: http://www.sageu.com/

And if you are curious about the enhancement feedback sites that others are raving about, you can access them at: http://www.sagemas.com/MAS_500_feedback for Sage ERP MAS 500  and http://www.sagemas.com/MAS_90_200_feedback for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200. Taking a moment to do that helps you connect with us and gives you the opportunity to have a voice in future product direction.  You can submit new ideas or just vote on your favorite ideas submitted by others.  

But I hear some of you ask, “What happens to the info customers share with product managers when they visit or call us?” The answer is, the information doesn’t stop at product management. I write up a summary of my findings and share it with the executive leadership of our business unit, customer support managers, sales managers, and every single member of the Sage ERP MAS 90, 200, and 500 development team including designers, developers, quality assurance analysts, usability analysts, product marketing managers and the other product managers on our team.  Everyone here is serious about being more customer-connected so that we can deliver Extraordinary Customer Experiences for all of you.

So, don’t be surprised if you hear that a Sage product manager is in your neighborhood and wants to stop in.  But, with over 60,000 customers in North America, we may not make it to see everyone.  So just in case we don’t make it to your corner of the world, please go to the feedback sites listed above and tell us how we can make the software you use better.  And, if you’d like to share what it is you like best about your Sage ERP software, please post it as a comment below.  See you soon!

[#2]

Thanks for explaining how the information you collect is used. Our customers consistently ask about the development of the Payroll module (moving to the framework). I am curious if this is one of the themes you hear consistently.

[#3]

You are very welcome!  Yes, customers are asking us about the plans for Payroll too.  Please send all the customers who ask about this to  http://www.sagemas.com/MAS_90_200_feedback to vote on this idea.  It is especially important that when they vote on this idea they also leave a comment to Sage as to what the business reason is that they want to see the module in the business framework.  Thanks for posting!