Saleslogix

There is nothing that people like better than having options. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration with your accounting system is no different. As Sage has evolved as an organization it is important to understand how their perceptions of integrated CRM have evolved as well. Knowing the history helps quite a bit when looking at the options of integration with something like Sage ERP MAS 90 MAS 200 (soon becoming Sage 100 ERP) and an application like Sage CRM. The first thing to note is that MAS 90 MAS 200 has been around for a considerable period of time. And, during the late 90’s when CRM was first making headway the preferred integration was Sage SalesLogix. Believe it or not there are still some people on that integration and it works for a few organizations. After the acquisition of Accpac (and Sage CRM) from Computer Associates in 2004, new opportunities arose because Sage CRM was already integrated to Sage Pro (then named SBT) and Sage Accpac.

While Sage ERP X3 does have a fully integrated CRM module which includes marketing/sales functions that link directly to the Sage ERP X3 Sales features (such as quotation management and sales order entry), the system is designed more from an order entry and customer tracking system. This leads to a discussion of what Sage is planning to help their existing and future X3 ERP customers in the area of CRM with the other solutions they currently support, most notably Sage SalesLogix and Sage CRM.

Yesterday Nucleus Research, a renowned technology research firm, had a press release stating that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications have a $5.60 return for every $1.00 invested in CRM.  Those of us in the industry that are intimate with implementing CRM have seen how customers can benefit greatly from the right approach to using CRM as a strategic tool for operational excellence within many firms.  The major shift that we are now seeing is that firms are no longer trying to decide whether or not CRM has value and more interested in how to leverage the technology for the biggest benefit to the organization.

As was announced this summer at Sage Summit, many of Sage Software’s Accounting / ERP product names such as MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500, Accpac and Peachtree, as well as Abra HRMS, will be renamed under a major rebranding initiative by Sage North America. As the details of the rebranding effort begin to be shared by Sage, we also learned that the following products will NOT undergo a name change: Sage ERP X3, Sage Pro, SalesLogix CRM, SageCRM and ACT!

Sage announced the addition of Sage SalesLogix KnowledgeSync alerts, the Sage SalesLogix Customer Portal and additional Web administration enhancements for Sage SalesLogix Cloud and on-premises users. The features are the latest in a series of ongoing enhancements that extend CRM flexibility and business value beyond traditional SaaS offerings.