first customers for new data centre

INSIGHTS 2011: Sage Business Solutions inks partnership with Macquarie Telecom
Moves to the Cloud and directs strategy to focus on the channel
Hafizah Osman (ARN)14 November, 2011 09:17


Business software vendor, Sage Business Solutions will move into the Cloud with Macquarie Telecom, adopt new strategies to focus on the channel and has launched improved solutions.

Sage Business Solutions mamaging director, Michael Lorge, was speaking at the keynote session of its annual Insights 2011 Conference held at the Sunshine Coast.

Through its partnership with Macquarie Telecom, Sage will move its solutions into the Cloud and provide the SBS Cloud Initiative.

Lorge said the company partnered with the hosting vendor because it intended to extend on its previous Cloud offerings and provide its customers with a cost-effective premium service.

“We engaged IDC and conducted a series of workshops to identify what was happening in the market and as a result of that, created a strategy on how to go to the market with our products. IDC identified potential hosted organisations and after internal evaluations, we picked Macquarie Telecom,” he said.

Macquarie Telecom NSW sales manager of new businesses, Ruy Franco, said the company had invested $60 million to open up another Intellicentre (IC2) in 2012, in North Ryde.

With the new datacentre, it aimed to improve operations with the OSS systems and automated patch management functionality.

Sage Business Solutions is looking to soon provide education and training resources to its partners and consumers via Macquarie Telecom.

Offerings that will be moved to the Cloud include Sage ERP Accpac, Sage ERP X3, Sage Timberline, Sage ACT!, Sage CRM and Sage Saleslogix.

“Moving forward, we intend to keep up with trends and as they mature, ensure that our products continue to meet those needs. We will also focus on recruiting new partners and may soon explore opportunities with a global hosting vendor,” Lorge said.

The company recently added Netstock, IDU and Redonion Software to its partner portfolio and is in the midst of negotiating contracts with three other partners.

Phase one of the SBS Cloud Initiative will be rolled out in January 2012, with a single initial contract term of 36 months and premium contract terms for 12 and 24 months for new customers.

Existing customers who have already purchased Sage CRM will be provided with discounted prices.

The company also launched the next generation of its Sagecrm.com solution, which it introduced in early 2000 and its Sage ERP Accpac solution.