Highlights from New Orleans in case you missed it
Whether by car or plane, the minute you arrived there were bright Sage-green banners across the city welcoming you and creating a sense of excitement. Sage Summit 2015 did not disappoint! From the powerful kickoff - featuring Colin Powell and Deepak Chopra - to inspiring morning keynotes, the audience applauded Sages’ initiatives of Sage and optimistic how Sage would help its business grow. Here are some highlights of the event this year.
Sage Executive Team
Immediately when Sage Group CEO, Stephen Kelly, took the stage on Monday morning to welcome the attendees, there was a sense of calm yet anticipation of things to come. Stephen charted the course for future Sage technologies including a commitment to Cloud-based solutions, refreshed and modernized user interfaces across the portfolio, and new solutions in new markets. He repeatedly stressed the worldwide focus of Sage to deliver first-class solutions to small and medium-sized business.
Of particular interest to the crowd was the statement from Stephen Kelly and commitment that “end of life” and “forced migrations” were no longer part of the Sage portfolio strategy. Be sure to follow us as the outcome of this new directive unfolds.
What does all this mean?
As a Sage customer, you can expect up-to-date and newer features quicker! Which leads me to…
Sage Portfolio
Many products in the Sage portfolio have aggressive modernization interfaces and projects slated for release in the coming months. Of particular note was the commitment to Sage 100 to complete the migration of the Payroll, Job Cost, Work Order, and MRP modules into the newest framework. During individual product breakouts, users were able to experience the newest upgrades via hands-on workshops, apply usability tricks through training and participate in future product roadmap sessions. By dropping the ERP acronym from its product lineup, Sage is striving to deliver easier to use, quicker to deploy, robust business suites with more nimble applications going forward. Read blog Sage Officials drop term 'ERP'.
Sage X3 Online was formally released to the general public, delivering the full suite of Sage X3 with a low-cost deployment option for companies moving to Cloud-based IT strategies. Sage X3 Online reduces the investment of hardware and software installation upfront creating an attractive option for customers that want to simplify the dependency and costs of IT infrastructure. Furthermore, Sage X3 Online eliminates the scheduling and maintenance of patches and releases for customers by managing these automatically in a multi-tenant environment.
Exhibitor Space
The vibrancy of Sage and its portfolio was certainly on display as hundreds of Independent Solution Vendors (ISV) promoted integrations and enhancement options to many Sage products. The Sage exhibit was dynamic. From hands-on kiosks representing the newest Sage solutions to multiple theater presentations sharing industry best practices to the Sage staff addressing support questions, Sage was prepared to exceed customer expectations.
Time for fun, too
New Orleans presented an excellent opportunity to interact with other customers, partners, and solution providers in between sessions and after-hours. Of course, evening entertainment was easily found throughout the city including jazz on Frenchmen Street to a live performance of Walk the Moon and fireworks to conclude the conference. On Wednesday night, RKL eSolutions hosted more than 50 of our very own customers and strategic partners at our annual Customer Appreciation Dinner in the French Quarter at historic Muriel’s on Jackson Square complete with a ghost story.
It’s not too early!
If you missed out on Sage Summit 2015, it’s not too early to start planning for Sage Summit 2016 in Chicago. Next year’s event will take place the McCormick Center July 25-28.
