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Sage Software Gets Closer to Customers With New Business Management Division

SB Informer
Wednesday, May 9, 2007; 05:40 AM

Sage Software has launched a new Business Management Division to better address its customers by aligning business units more closely to its customer segments. The new division brings its accounting, ERP, CRM, and related businesses into a single organization to serve the broad needs of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with core business management solutions. The new Industry & Specialized Solutions Division provides industry-specific solutions for businesses and organizations in the construction, real estate, and nonprofit industries, as well as serving businesses of all types with human resource management systems, online payroll services and other employee-management solutions. These two new divisions join the company's Healthcare Division, which serves healthcare practices, and the Payment Solutions Division, which supports merchants' payment processing needs.

"As our customers' needs evolve, our business must evolve to ensure we are presenting the best products and services to them in the way they need it," said Sage Software CEO Ron Verni. "Our new organization positions us to provide the right face to our customers, and deliver products and services that can contribute the most to their success."

Sage Software is the North American business of The Sage Group, plc, the leading worldwide provider of accounting and ERP systems for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, according to 2005 figures* from IDC. Sage Software has grown rapidly over the past 10 years, through both acquisition and internal development. The company has acquired and integrated into its portfolio 22 businesses since 1998, including many market-leading brands such as ACT! by Sage, Sage SalesLogix, Sage Timberline, Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage Abra HRMS, Peachtree by Sage, Simply Accounting by Sage, and others. The company has since delivered dozens of integrations across products to serve customer needs.

"Businesses that succeed never stand still, and this is especially true in the small and mid-sized business arena," said Verni. "As we bring more products and services to the market, we see our customers automating more processes within their businesses and looking for more commonality and simplicity in the applications they use every day. This is driving the next stage in our own business development. By bringing our core accounting, ERP, and CRM business management applications together under one roof, for example, we'll focus our development and customer service resources more effectively on customer needs. The same is true for our industry and specialized solutions, healthcare solutions, and payment solutions. In each case, we're now poised to meet the needs of customers in these segments more deeply."

Gartner analyst Bob Anderson, research vice president for small and mid-size business, acknowledges that SMBs are looking for applications that not only integrate data, but provide support for processes that span the traditional boundaries of individual business applications.

"Businesses don't see a border between their customer relationship tasks and their core accounting tasks. They want a single approach that makes it easy for their people to manage workflow, both inside the four walls of the business and by reaching out to their partners in the supply chain. Smart vendors are proactively transforming their organizations to reflect this reality, but the vast majority targeting SMBs still don't get it."

Sage Software's businesses are run by a team of industry veterans:

Nina Smith, currently chief marketing officer (CMO) for Sage Software, will head up the new Business Management Division as president. Smith joined Sage Software in 2001 from Webtrends Corporation where she was chief marketing officer. She previously spent 19 years at Xerox Corporation where she held a variety of senior management positions, including chief marketing officer. In that role, she was responsible for integrating Xerox marketing efforts worldwide. She also served as vice president of marketing and strategy for small and medium business operations, and vice president and general manager of mid-range printing products.

Doug Meyer, currently president of Sage Software's Small Business Division, takes the role of president of the newly formed Industry & Specialized Solutions Division. During his tenure at Sage Software, Meyer has been involved in virtually all of the Small Business Division's operations and has developed a deep understanding of its customers and markets.

Bill Wade serves as president of Sage Software's Payment Solutions Division. Prior to the acquisition of Verus Financial Management by Sage Software, Wade served as executive vice president, corporate secretary and board member for Verus. He has also served as chairman of the board of directors, CEO, and president of Network 1 Financial (NET1), a payment processing company he co-founded in 1989. He diversified NET1 into the transaction acquiring business in 1992, and led the company's expansion into electronic funds transfer (EFT) and Internet gateway service products.

Andy Corbin is president and CEO of Sage Software's Healthcare Division. Prior to joining Sage Software, he was an employee of Emdeon Corporation and served as chief financial officer and executive vice president, as well as chief executive officer of Emdeon Practice Services. Before joining Emdeon, Corbin served in senior financial positions at The Bisys Group, Inc., a provider of business process outsourcing services to the financial services industry, most recently as its executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to October 1996, he held various financial positions with the The Limited, Inc., General Motors Corporation, and Ernst & Young.

Sage Software also announced the appointment of Jim Foster, formerly executive vice president of mid-market business units, to the new position of chief technology officer (CTO). In this new role, he will be responsible for driving overall technology direction and strategies for the company. Previously, Foster was executive vice president, business units, mid-market division for Sage Software, responsible for strategy, operations, and planning for the company's mid-market product lines, including accounting, ERP, CRM, HR, payroll, and industry-specific solutions for nonprofits and the construction and real estate industries. Mr. Foster also served in several prior roles including president and COO for Best Software, executive vice president of product strategy and technology, and executive vice president for HR products.

Data based on software license and related product revenues. Source: IDC, Worldwide ERP Applications 2005 Vendor Shares: Top Vendors in Large, Medium-Sized, and Small Customer Segments, Doc #203672, Oct 2006

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