New Harvest goes to the cloud

New Harvest has selected AWCape to supply Sage cloud-based solutions for its newly created business, following its unbundling from Golden Harvest. AWCape supplied and deployed a Sage 300 People HR & Payroll and Sage 300cloud business management solution, which has been fully integrated and both systems deployed on a private virtual cloud, ensuring access to the solutions from anywhere, at any time.

Headquartered in George in the Western Cape, New Harvest has several retail outlets including an upmarket store in the George Mall from where it sells and distributes fruit, vegetables, meats, liquor and other produce. The company also imports high-quality food products.

Dominik Dimatellis

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Dominik Dimatellis, Director of New Harvest, said that following the decision to unbundle New Harvest from Golden Harvest, the newly formed business had just over a month to get its accounting and payroll systems up and running to support operations going live in July 2020.

“Because we had previously used Sage ERP Accpac and Sage VIP Premier Payroll, supported by AWCape, we were confident that Sage and AWCape could provide the right solution for our newly established businesses,” Dimatellis added.

“The implementation process was effortless and delivered within budget. Sage 300 People is exceeding our expectations in terms of functionality and ease of use, with full integration into Sage 300cloud. The most significant benefit is the ability to log into the solution from anywhere at any time, which enabled us to become operational during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Jeff Ryan

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Dimatellis commented: “I appreciate the professionalism of the AWCape team. The team has vast experience with cloud solutions. Since they have supported us with Sage cloud solutions before, we have never been offline or had any worries about system backups being done in time – it all happens seamlessly.”

Jeff Ryan, Director for Business Development at the AWCape group, said: “With New Harvest having 150 employees in varied roles and regions, tight timeframes, and COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, only a cloud solution could deliver on the business requirements. This made the choice of Sage 300 People to enable employee access from anywhere, a must.

“In addition, Sage 300 People offered New Harvest both Payroll and HR capabilities. This meant that the human resources and payroll departments could have real-time access to the same set of data, reducing inefficiencies and saving time. Integration between the accounting and payroll systems was simple and seamless, creating further efficiencies.

Gerhard Hartman

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“I was impressed with both the AWCape and New Harvest staff and how we were able to deliver within quite different and difficult circumstances during lockdown. It also highlighted how important it is to have cloud solutions to support your internal staff and create business opportunities, no matter your industry.”

Gerhard Hartman, Vice-President: Medium Business, Sage Africa & Middle East, said: “New Harvest and AWCape have achieved an impressive feat in rapidly rolling out the Sage 300cloud and Sage 300 People solution under such an aggressive deadline in the midst of a pandemic. The success of this project highlights how cloud solutions enable businesses to respond rapidly to a volatile environment, helping them to be more agile, efficient and in control of their processes during a time that it matters more than ever before.”