Sage conference draws African support

Issued by Watt Communications & G Watt Design for Sage Enterprise

Johannesburg, 13 Feb 2013

Jeremy Waterman, Managing Director of Sage ERP Africa.

The Sage Insights 2013 Conference was a resounding success and a true celebration of the mobile revolution and the challenges it poses for enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). More than 250 Sage ERP Africa business partners attended, which included 32 partners from East and West Africa.

In his opening address, Jeremy Waterman, Managing Director of Sage ERP, Africa focused on the mobile revolution and the challenges it holds for software vendors. He said: "It is not really the concept of mobility that is revolutionary, but more the reality of the delivery mechanism that has undergone an evolution."

Himanshu Palsule, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product Strategy at Sage Group, said in his keynote address: "All Sage products going forward will be built with a mobile and cloud strategy in mind. This is not a trend with an end in sight; it is a new way of life."

Benoit Gruber, Vice-President of Product and Alliances Sage ERP X3, Product Marketing Europe and Sage mid-market, spoke about the road ahead for Sage ERP X3 and the planned release for version 7.0. This new technology update will make native thin client access to Sage ERP X3 a reality from any device, desktop or mobile.

Sean Mooney, Head of Research and Development at Sage CRM, assured partners that Sage CRM will remain at the heart of integrated business.

See also

The Mobile Revolution

A strategic sales summary was delivered by Keith Fenner, Senior Vice-President for Sales at Sage ERP Africa. "We have had an extraordinary year and the success of Sage ERP X3 in Africa continued, with triple-digit growth in 2012. It is an ideal fit for many of the larger companies in Africa."

Another highlight of the conference was the announcement of Parity Software as the winner of the Sage National Solution Provider award for 2012. This is the highest recognition awarded by Sage for excellence in development, sales and technical expertise.

"We are extremely pleased by the fact that after 30 years in business, we continue to receive the highest industry accolades and that we still provide top quality business solutions for Sage and other business partners," said Parity's managing director, Warren Williams.

* Article first published on itweb.africa

Sage ERP Africa

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 ERP 1000, Sage CRM and Sage RMS, as well as Sage third-party partner solutions. With a choice of languages, currencies, locations and legislations - Sage ERP offers efficient multi-company and multinational solutions.

Sage

The Sage Group is a leading global provider of business management software to small and medium-sized companies, creating greater freedom for them to succeed. Sage understands how and why each business is unique. It provides products and services that suit varying needs, are a pleasure to use and are secure and efficient. 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 13 500 employees in 24 countries covering the UK and Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil.

For further information, please visit www.sagesouthafrica.co.za and www.sage.com.

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