However, although Microsoft's Project Green will provide an improved UI, better interoperability via Web services, and new features for context-sensitive BI, there is always a high probability of doing so by tying the ERP systems more tightly to several Microsoft infrastructure products, such as SharePoint Portal, Exchange, Outlook, SQL Server, and SQL Reporting Services. Certainly, this will be a non-issue for pure Microsoft shops, whose infrastructure strategy revolves around these products. However, for many enterprises with multi-platform solutions, or even those that are lagging badly with Microsoft products' upgrades, there will either be the imminent need for deploying these recent technologies (at least for optimal performance reasons) or otherwise face the ramifications of missing out on the above depicted enhancements of Project Green.
In all fairness, whether or not this is an intentional attempt by Microsoft's to lock-in enterprise applications users to its own infrastructure stack, it is not much different than Oracle, which has made it clear that it intends, over the long term, to migrate its lately acquired PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers to its own database and middleware stack, recently renamed Fusion. Still, despite Oracle, SAP, or IBM wanting customers to prefer their respective platforms, these customers tend to have more choice than those of Microsoft, which tends to tightly bundle all its technologies and make them interdependent. However impressive, the MBS "affordable adaptability" approach outlined previously (other than deploying Web services) seems to focus on a Microsoft-centric approach, with no mention of the ability for the "common user experience" to include technology other than MBS or Microsoft Classic.
Conversely, the "freedom of choice" and "openness" mantras have been professed independently by Sage/Best (and especially ACCPAC). Namely, contrary to its archrivals and to most of its current parent-sister companies, ACCPAC has embraced the support for multiple platforms, considering it as a competitive strength rather than a weakness within truly an international market. While no one disputes Microsoft's dominance in the market segment, in Europe a notable percentage of servers (and even some desktops) already run on Linux, while IBM DB2 and Oracle database still have strength and appeal in many parts of the world.
Thus, the vendor supports all the above-mentioned platforms, and because of the Advantage system's architecture (i.e., separate object-oriented business logic from database), it is not an excruciating job to update drivers for ACCPAC to produce new platform supporting versions. Consequently, both ACCPAC Pro and Advantage Series run on Windows and Linux, and Microsoft SQL database. Differing however, Pro Series also runs on Microsoft FoxPro, while Advantage Series also runs on IBM DB2, Oracle, and Pervasive. This selection has yet to be seen from any other vendor within this tier of enterprise application providers.
Sage claims to have an aggressive integration plan in place (which will likely be fleshed out more during upcoming user conferences) to ensure the customers have, in essence, the benefit of best-of-breed solutions offered from a single vendor and providing the out-of-the-box integration that they need. Yet, the number of distinct code bases is indisputably sizable, making the task of providing clear migration paths between these quite arduous, as it can be witnessed by many partners, prospective users, or analysts who typically have a time of making sense thorough the maze of the available product menu.
While the idea to enable the research and development (R&D) team to gain economies of scale by leveraging the chosen technology foundation to build common application components as commodities that can be deployed within the entire product portfolio is tempting and promising in the very long run, it will only happen in a few years time in the best case scenario, if at all, and most likely only for respective Sage's offerings in North America and the UK. The mitigating factor is the fact that, before that long-term evolution takes place, data and personalization setups will be transferable all the way up from entry-level products to enterprise-class systems, making migrations somewhat smoother.
Microsoft likes to depict itself as having the mighty R&D war chest that Sage lacks, while Sage will joust that technology is not "be all, end all" and that it has instead acquired players that are dominant in many countries. Time will only tell who the winner will be in the channel battle fought by the MBS multinational VARs against the Sage/Best regional players, which rather rely on building up strong relationships with SMEs in niche areas.
Small enterprises remain comfortable doing business with a look-alike SME VAR, especially if they can sense the relevant expertise and can hold the provider to account. While larger partners might be needed, the larger the opportunity is, Sage/Best contends that its partners are of a normal size (with $10 million [USD] in revenues at most) and there is no disparity between the largest and the smallest, which MBS will likely have.
Indeed, Microsoft's challenge with its partner program is to somehow draw together two distinct classes of partners: 1) authorized MBS resellers used to relatively healthy margins and a slower hands-on sales cycle of accounting and ERP products; and 2) the more volume-oriented Microsoft Classic partners. The giant also has to deal with partners of virtually every shape and size, from mom-and-pop corner shops servicing very small businesses/small offices/home offices (SOHO) to extremely large system integrators (SI) with their Fortune 500 customers.
In all fairness, whether or not this is an intentional attempt by Microsoft's to lock-in enterprise applications users to its own infrastructure stack, it is not much different than Oracle, which has made it clear that it intends, over the long term, to migrate its lately acquired PeopleSoft and JD Edwards customers to its own database and middleware stack, recently renamed Fusion. Still, despite Oracle, SAP, or IBM wanting customers to prefer their respective platforms, these customers tend to have more choice than those of Microsoft, which tends to tightly bundle all its technologies and make them interdependent. However impressive, the MBS "affordable adaptability" approach outlined previously (other than deploying Web services) seems to focus on a Microsoft-centric approach, with no mention of the ability for the "common user experience" to include technology other than MBS or Microsoft Classic.
Conversely, the "freedom of choice" and "openness" mantras have been professed independently by Sage/Best (and especially ACCPAC). Namely, contrary to its archrivals and to most of its current parent-sister companies, ACCPAC has embraced the support for multiple platforms, considering it as a competitive strength rather than a weakness within truly an international market. While no one disputes Microsoft's dominance in the market segment, in Europe a notable percentage of servers (and even some desktops) already run on Linux, while IBM DB2 and Oracle database still have strength and appeal in many parts of the world.
Thus, the vendor supports all the above-mentioned platforms, and because of the Advantage system's architecture (i.e., separate object-oriented business logic from database), it is not an excruciating job to update drivers for ACCPAC to produce new platform supporting versions. Consequently, both ACCPAC Pro and Advantage Series run on Windows and Linux, and Microsoft SQL database. Differing however, Pro Series also runs on Microsoft FoxPro, while Advantage Series also runs on IBM DB2, Oracle, and Pervasive. This selection has yet to be seen from any other vendor within this tier of enterprise application providers.
Sage claims to have an aggressive integration plan in place (which will likely be fleshed out more during upcoming user conferences) to ensure the customers have, in essence, the benefit of best-of-breed solutions offered from a single vendor and providing the out-of-the-box integration that they need. Yet, the number of distinct code bases is indisputably sizable, making the task of providing clear migration paths between these quite arduous, as it can be witnessed by many partners, prospective users, or analysts who typically have a time of making sense thorough the maze of the available product menu.
While the idea to enable the research and development (R&D) team to gain economies of scale by leveraging the chosen technology foundation to build common application components as commodities that can be deployed within the entire product portfolio is tempting and promising in the very long run, it will only happen in a few years time in the best case scenario, if at all, and most likely only for respective Sage's offerings in North America and the UK. The mitigating factor is the fact that, before that long-term evolution takes place, data and personalization setups will be transferable all the way up from entry-level products to enterprise-class systems, making migrations somewhat smoother.
Microsoft likes to depict itself as having the mighty R&D war chest that Sage lacks, while Sage will joust that technology is not "be all, end all" and that it has instead acquired players that are dominant in many countries. Time will only tell who the winner will be in the channel battle fought by the MBS multinational VARs against the Sage/Best regional players, which rather rely on building up strong relationships with SMEs in niche areas.
Small enterprises remain comfortable doing business with a look-alike SME VAR, especially if they can sense the relevant expertise and can hold the provider to account. While larger partners might be needed, the larger the opportunity is, Sage/Best contends that its partners are of a normal size (with $10 million [USD] in revenues at most) and there is no disparity between the largest and the smallest, which MBS will likely have.
Indeed, Microsoft's challenge with its partner program is to somehow draw together two distinct classes of partners: 1) authorized MBS resellers used to relatively healthy margins and a slower hands-on sales cycle of accounting and ERP products; and 2) the more volume-oriented Microsoft Classic partners. The giant also has to deal with partners of virtually every shape and size, from mom-and-pop corner shops servicing very small businesses/small offices/home offices (SOHO) to extremely large system integrators (SI) with their Fortune 500 customers.
