Line 500 Product Strategy/Roadmap

Andrew Credland

Line 500 Product Development Manager

2

Agenda

1. Feedback from Sage User Network Conference

2. Sage Research

3. What Next For Line 500 / Sage 1000

4. Next Steps

3

Sage User Network Feedback

4

Sage User Network Conference

Good– Reliability

– Sage has a good reputation

– Software is users friendly

– We create good updates and enhancements

– Tech support response times are good

– We are flexible

5

Sage User Network Conference

Bad– BPs need to have better product knowledge

– We need to listen to end users more

– Need better compatibility with 3rd party software

– Communication needs to improve

– Reporting capability needs to improve

6

Sage User Network ConferenceComment Product

Better integration with Microsoft i.e. reports etc can be exported/copied in excel etc without further intervention or the use of other reporting tools. N/A

Remove the licensing restrictions on Forms Designer

Web Enable Forms Designer.

Replace AutoQ with something more flexible. Line 500

Ability to use Prepayments and Accruals according to normal accounting practices

Better reporting in Sage 500

Easier input screens. Find Sage 500 very cumbersome and unuser friendly. Compare Sage 50 and 100 which are far better. Line 500

webservices/api for all data Line 500

More work into/and with Sage BI Line 500

better reporting from core product

greater reliability for universal (web) client

improvements in appearance of main screens Line 500

Simple and cost effective purchase requisitions, for low user organisations.

User forms to be used for low users for integration into the modules without the need to have sage logins, e.g. manual cheque requests. We can use other products to upload, but a sage solution would e preferred Line 500

more stability in the universal client Line 500

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Sage User Network ConferenceComment Product

Stop confusion on Sage 1000 vs. Sage 500

Clearer and longer term product road map sent to all customers not just resellers

Line 500

You can load budgets from excel spreadsheets into NL via a menu option - can the same be done for loading forecasts into MRP?

Report writer is not user friendly - could Sage not be supplied with a user friendly GUI report writer such as Crystal Reports or Impromptu without us having to spend £1000's on licences for each of our 64 users

More analysis fields available in stockm, slcustm, plsuppm tables. We are forever searching for an available field to hold additional analysis classifications Sage 1000

Bring Line 500 fully into line with the Microsoft Windows user interface

Improve basic navigation facilities where lacking, e.g. on a multi-page entry screen, be able to Page Up and Page Down not have to go back via First Page

Integration with Microsoft Excel in standard product Line 500

Better scheduling tool for manufacturing visual interface for production lines

integrate BI / Reporting tool, KPI display via user specific dashboard

Line 500

Improve BI solutions for Line 500

Web integration with 3rd party products Line 500

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Sage User Network ConferenceComment Product

improvements to Sage Paperless

being able to post invoices while a payment run is being completed Line 500

Payroll History - being able to see all pay items of any period and also for left employees

make user set-up easier Line 500

better development support / documentation for SLX SalesLogix

Improvements to reservation of stock in L500

Allowing bundled items to be split into components managed singly Line 500

German VAT & Tax

Stock recal disappearing Line 500

Fix web browser interface 100% - if possible no java

make pop authorization standard in purchase order entry

Improve user menus / options / access management / forms improving management screens. Also allocate option for different forms / menus for different companies on single login. We have 14 companies & some log into 2 but some run JC & some contract costing so need different options / screens Line 500

Ability to save various enquiries and reports in purchasing module as excel spreadsheets using a straight forward option from the action bar

More integration / development in the e-procurement side. To make it easier to integrate with a range of preference to use punch-out technology as opposed to e-market place solution. Line 500

bar coding module for W/H

Import data via Excel N/A

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Sage User Network Conference

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Sage Research

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Sage Research

•3 trends emerging

– - User driven ERP

– - Flexibility and Interoperability

– - Liberation of data

•47.3k businesses that meet the typical definition of the upper mid market

– - £10m to £500m turnover

– - Typically 100 to 500 employees

– - Most common international need is Europe

– - Predominantly based in the following sectors;– - Manufacturing, Construct, Automotive, Wholesale & Retail and Financial Services sectors

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What Next For Line 500 / Sage 1000

What Next

What’s happened so far?

1. A review of what the future holds for Line 500 / Sage 1000

2. Decision to combine Line 500 and Sage 1000 after the forthcoming Line 500 Payroll and Sage 1000 v2.3 releases

What does it mean?

1. Sage 1000 will become a package of ‘best of breed’ business software applications

2. Line 500 and Sage 1000 will become a single ERP application

3. Interoperability will provide the flexibility of running Sage CRM or Sage SalesLogix

4. Suite will be further extended to offer integrated Payroll and HR applications

5. We will be spending around 18 months developing the Sage 1000 suite before the next release

6. Primary Focus will be on ‘Usability and Interface’, ‘Interoperability’ and ‘Reporting’

It also means that there is currently more investment and activity in the future of Line 500 / Sage 1000 than for some time.

The FutureSageCRM

SageSLX

Sage1000 HR

Sage1000

Payroll

Sage 1000 Future Architecture

Payroll ERP CRM

k-PAYE

Sage 50 Payroll

Line 500 Payroll

Line 500

SageCRM

Sales Logix

UI UI UI

Web based workspace

DB DB DB DB

Sage Reporting

Value-Add

3rd Party Integrations

DB

DataWarehouse

Sage Services

(e.g. Mobile)

UIUI

HR

Evergreen

What stage are we at?

• We’ve already started !

• Planning and detailed scoping underway

• Technology Proof of Concepts to kick-off in January

• Roadmap / business analysis kick-off mid December

• Department fully engaged from April

• A commitment to come back to the User Network for consultation and when available show the progress