Comments on: Sage's latest saas attempts: a further analysis

By: Martin Topping

Martin Topping — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:17:42 +0000

A very interesting article. I was at Sage for eight years in the 80s and 90s, from before they became a plc through to having perhaps a dozen acquisitions. I loved it; when I started there were less than 50 employees and just four programmers in R&D. By the time I left it employed about 6,000 people. It’s impossible for an organisation like that to be nimble and reactive, there are too many layers and the vision and ideas don’t flow. That’s not a criticism of Sage’s success just a fact of business life. I think Sage funding a startup to develop the next generation of products nurtured and protected – yet distinct from the corporate monster is a very compelling approach.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:51:29 +0000

I think a strategy for Sage when it comes to Saas that fits with their historical growth strategy is to let the development happen with these start-ups and acquire one, two, ten of them. Sage has grown by leaps and bounds by acquiring software companies in the past and that's probably the best way going forward.

Think about it. A start up doesn't have the internal resistance, political or otherwise, there's no bureaucracy, no entrenched assumptions, and not a surplus of money to chuck down a seemingly bottomless pit when there's no clear vision or sense of urgency.

Sage can sit back and evaluate the comers, then swoop in and buy out the guys who show the best promise of a good fit, then incorporate the thing into their existing lines.

One man's opinion.

By: Gary Kind

Gary Kind — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:56:25 +0000

Paul Stobart is right to a degree. Many SMEs when it comes to their accounting data still like to retain visibilty and control of it. I work with many SMEs (and Line 50) and there is still a perceived issue of loss of data, which even though it is probably better taken of, with a hosted solution as opposed to a local one.

I contacted the Sage 50 product manager some time ago to show my Sage 50 web prototype I had created which keeps the look and feel of line 50 but delivers it in a web browser. This technology could be then used to sell it as *either* a SaaS or local installed solution, you can view it at http://sage50web.domorewithsage.com

Gary Kind

By: Emily Coltman

Emily Coltman — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:35:13 +0000

Now why am I not surprised, after reading Jason's article, to find you have something to say about it too

"the newbies are mostly reaching a segment of the market that Sage cannot service very well"

Couldn't agree more. My clients are tiny businesses and they're so far really happy with FreeAgent. They like how easy it is to use and they like sharing their info with me online. If I tried to teach them to use even Sage Instant I think they'd be throwing fits.

Micro business owners need something that's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to use, ultra-user-friendly and doesn't need them to understand double entry. None of that is true of Sage.

Sage is a great product in its place but – and this is something many accountants don't comprehend – it's not the only product there is!