The Sage Insights 2014 conference provided inspiration to everybody part of the Sage ERP ecosystem. The annual conference was held at Champagne Sports Resort in the Drakensberg and attended by more than 250 Sage ERP Africa business partners, which included many partners from southern, East and West Africa as well as the Middle East.

In his opening address, Jeremy Waterman, managing director of Sage ERP Africa and the Middle East said: "The key to being a successful business player in the ERP sector is realising the existence of major disruptive trends and ensuring solutions adapt accordingly. Whether you are a business owner, software developer, or a sales person, disruptive technologies, such as cloud, mobile and connected services are a reality and applying its principles will make you one step ahead of the competition. You need to find a way to be disruptive or you will be disrupted."

Waterman noted that 2013 had been a very busy year during which Sage had rebranded from Softline and established itself as the brand leader in the supply of effective business solutions to small and medium size businesses throughout the African continent. Their presence in East Africa is on the increase and they have established a significant foothold in West Africa with the opening of a Sage office in Lagos, Nigeria. Further to this, Sage ERP Africa has also assumed the management of the Middle East region during 2013.

Himanshu Palsule, chief technology officer at Sage North America, focused his keynote address on the impact of mobility and cloud as disruptive forces in the market today, and how the Sage 300 ERP business was leveraging these as an opportunity in developing the product roadmap. "Our markets are transforming, the web and mobility have disrupted the value chain and we need to react responsibly to the disruption by investing in purposeful innovation. We need to give customers flexibility and choice and therefore our roadmap for the future will include a total reimagining of the product, focusing not only on mobility and cloud but also modernising the user interface for an improved customer experience. Sage ERP 300 has been chosen as one of the select small to medium business (SMB) products worldwide that Sage is investing in to effectively position it as a competitive force in the cloud."

In the keynote delivered by Amanda Jobbins, chief marketing officer for Sage, highlights of Sage's Global Brand strategy, were shared. "At Sage we are on a new and exciting journey with the development of our brand in the minds of customers. We want to ensure consistency in our visual identity and ensure that customers recognise us a global leader and a partner that will give them the freedom and confidence to succeed."

Keynotes were also delivered by Christophe Vanackere, director of international operations at Sage ERP X3, on the seven exciting new strategies for Sage ERP X3 V7 to be released June 2014 and Tom Nolan, head of Sage CRM, focused on the road ahead for Sage CRM and the integration with Sage 300 ERP as well as Sage ERP X3.

A strategic sales summary was delivered by Keith Fenner, senior vice president for Sales at Sage ERP Africa and Middle East. "Our excellent growth figures show that as a company we are disruptive and contribute in building the economy in Africa by being innovation partners for businesses. In going forward and ensuring that we keep a customer for life, it will be important to accelerate disruption by ensuring the development of relevant and modern solutions."

Waterman concludes: "Sage Insights 2014 was the most exciting conference in many years because it focussed on what was actually being delivered now. The conference in 2013 defined the way forward for our three core products – Sage 300 ERP, Sage ERP X3 and Sage CRM in terms of meeting the challenges of cloud and mobility. This year it was all about the actual execution of these strategies. There are particularly exciting times lying ahead for us, our business partners and Industry Solution Vendors (ISV’s) as we work together to deliver disruptive solutions to the customer. The conference was an excellent opportunity for us to network, share information and very importantly, have some fun."

Editorial contacts
Aloma Swanepoel
aloma@wattcommunications.co.za
011 425 6290

About

Sage ERP Africa is a provider of business management solutions, including financial, distribution, service management, retail, warehouse management, project costing, manufacturing and CRM, to the mid-range market. Sage ERP solutions are delivered to 130 countries exclusively through a global network of solution providers, including over 150 throughout Africa. The Sage ERP Africa product line includes: Sage ERP X3, Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP Accpac), Sage CRM, Sage 300 ERP Retail and Sage ERP X3 Retail as well as Sage third party partner solutions. With a choice of languages, currencies, locations and legislations - Sage ERP offers efficient multi company and multi-national solutions.

Sage

We provide small and medium sized organisations with a range of easy-to-use, secure and efficient business management software and services - from accounting and payroll, to enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and payments. Our customers receive continuous advice and support through our global network of local experts to help them solve their business problems, giving them the confidence to achieve their business ambitions. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and entered the FTSE 100 in 1999. Sage has over 6 million customers and more than 12,700 employees in 24 countries covering the UK & Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil. For further information please visit www.sage.com