Sage, Talend form partnership to boost Sage ERP X3 interoperability performances

Issued by Watt Communications: for Sage Enterprise
Johannesburg, 30 Mar 2011

Sage (LSE: SGE), a leading business management software provider, and Talend, the worldwide leader in open source integration solutions, today announced the completion of a partnership, which will integrate Talend's integration technologies with Sage ERP X3, Sage's global ERP solution aimed at medium-sized companies.

Thanks to this global partnership, Sage ERP X3 customers will benefit from significant productivity gains generated by the opening of their IT systems and the ability to automate massive data exchange.

This partnership follows the first OEM agreement that was signed back in 2007, which simplified information exchange between Sage CRM and third party applications. Having worked together for several years and valuing each other's company culture, both firms have decided to extend their partnership to Sage ERP X3 globally.

The Sage ERP X3 solution leverages Talend's integration tools to enrich its integration capability. This integration rests on Sage ERP X3's Web services API.

In addition, Sage and Talend are working jointly on an additional component to be released in the near future that will leverage SData2 (see http://sdata.sage.com), the communications protocol defined by Sage at a global level and which is based on international industry protocols (http, ATOM).

SData allows the integration of products between Sage products as well as any third party solutions in real-time and over the Internet. With the Sage ERP X3 connector, users will benefit from an immediate opening of their IT systems as well as important productivity gains arising from the faster exchanges (migration, extraction and synchronisation).

The Sage ERP X3 connector will now be included as standard in all editions of Talend's integration software, therefore Sage ERP X3 clients will no longer need to develop specific integration interfaces and will benefit from seamless integration with third party applications.

Because Talend Open Studio is integrated with Sage ERP X3, it means customers' IT budgets will not be impacted by traditional integration costs associated with proprietary systems.

Those companies that wish to adopt Sage ERP X3 will see their migration projects greatly simplified. Apart from the technology upgrade, Sage ERP X3 users will naturally benefit, without any additional costs, from the expertise that Talend provides as a worldwide leader in open source software, offering a breadth of middleware solutions that address both data management and application integration needs.

Emmanuel Obadia, Senior Vice-President of Enterprise Products, Sage ERP X3, says: “In many respects, the strategic approach of our two companies is the same: customer choice, cost-effectiveness, open information systems, greater interoperability and a global dimension. Talend has proved that in just four years, it can provide high performance technology for not only a competitive cost for mid-sized businesses, but also with a simple and interoperable implementation. We are happy to cement our relationship today in order to provide our clients with the open source flexibility that Talend provides.”

Francois M'ero, Vice-President of Global Sales at Talend, says: “We are proud today to forge an alliance with Sage, one of the main publishers of business management software. Like Talend, Sage has the ambition open up access to its business management software, in order to provide all the companies, whatever their size, an alternative choice to proprietary software.”

(1) Extract, Transform and Load

(2) SDATA is specifically designed as a business application protocol and establishes both a consistent integration interface for Sage applications as well as a pattern for custom extensions that are designed for application integration. SData is a REST based protocol that provides a lightweight, Internet-friendly and high performance method of sharing data.

Softline Accpac

Softline Accpac is a provider of business management solutions including financial, distribution, service management, retail, warehouse management, manufacturing and CRM to the mid-range market. Accpac solutions are delivered to 130 countries exclusively through a global network of solution providers, including over 150 throughout Africa. Softline Accpac's product line includes: Accpac ERP, Accpac CRM, Accpac RMS, Service Manager and Accpac Insight. Softline Accpac also distributes Sage SalesLogix, Sage Geode and Sage ERP X3, a full-service enterprise management software system for mid-to-large businesses. With a choice of languages, currencies, enterprises, locations and legislations, Sage ERP X3 offers an efficient, multi-company solution.

Softline

Softline is a leading provider of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions to small, medium and large sized companies. Founded in 1988 by Ivan Epstein, Alan Osrin and Steven Cohen, Softline was established during the formative years of the software industry and listed on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa in February 1997. Softline expanded to establish a strong position within its area of focus in South Africa and Australia. Focused on the development of accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions, Softline has a 20 year track record as a market leader. The group has a broad range of products offering users a variety of software solutions to run their businesses efficiently. Softline's leading brands include Softline Accpac, Softline Pastel (Accounting and Payroll) and Softline VIP. The combination of the group's product offerings provide Softline customers with comprehensive, well-branded accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions. In November 2003, Softline was acquired by the Sage Group, a FTSE 100 company. The software group includes market-leading businesses throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia, supplying business software to the small, medium and large sized business community. Softline has a solid track record of profitability and cash generation. The group delivers quality accounting, payroll, CRM and ERP software solutions that improve the efficiencies of businesses around the world.

The Sage Group

The Sage Group is a leading global supplier of business management software and related products and services, principally for small to medium-sized enterprises. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. Sage has 6.3 million customers and 13 400 employees worldwide. We operate in over 24 countries covering the UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, India and China. For further information, please visit www.sage.com.

Sage ERP X3 (http://www.sageerpx3.com)

Sage ERP X3 is a dedicated solution for mid-market and larger companies with international demands enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Over 3 000 customers representing 165 000 users worldwide already chose Sage ERP X3 because it is easy to use, fast to deploy and cost-effective. For more than 10 years Sage ERP X3 has been a proven and comprehensive ERP solution addressing mid-market companies' specific requirements and challenges in various industries from manufacturing, services to distribution and many more. Sage ERP X3 is present in 53 countries and counts a network of more than 1 500 Sage professionals and 200 partners in its ecosystem.

Talend (http://www.talend.com)

Talend is one of the largest pure play vendors of open source software, offering a breadth of middleware solutions that address both data management and application integration needs. In just a few years, Talend has become the recognised market leader in open source data management. Many large organisations around the globe use Talend's products and services to optimise the costs of data integration, data quality, master data management (MDM) and application integration. With an ever growing number of product downloads and paying customers, Talend offers the most widely used and deployed data management solutions in the world. Talend makes enterprise grade data management and application integration solutions available to organisations of all sizes.

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Sage, Talend form partnership to boost Sage ERP X3 interoperability performances

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