If your company uses faxing with MAS90 Paperless Office you may know that starting with version 4.3 the features of Paperless Faxing were significantly changed. Prior to v4.30  you could use any number of Internet based faxing services such as:

• eFax
• Faxaway
• MaxEmail
• Protus

Beginning with MAS90 and MAS200 4.3 your choices were narrowed to any service you like – so long as it was Microsoft Faxing service.

This required (starting with 4.3) users to setup a fax device/modem for use with Microsoft fax. Some users found this cumbersome where their prior method of using Internet faxing was seamless.

While you still can use an Internet based service (simply substituted an email address as directed by the various fax providers) you may find that it’s less convenient for those customers who receive documents both by fax and email.

The quickest solution may be Sage’s old Extended Solution – LM-1033 which they sold until recently and which enabled a more seamless integration with the above Internet fax services.

Sage no longer sells the enhancement directly however you can order the enhancement (presently showing as available at version 4.4 product update 2) directly from DSD Business Systems.

The cost is $ 1, 060 (this includes first year maintenance) and the annual recurring maintenance is $265

eFax, Faxaway, MaxEmail, Protus integration with MAS90 and MAS200 Paperless Office 4.4+

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Last week Sage sent around a pre-release guide to their upcoming MAS90 Online offering. Expect this to become available in October 2011 and MAS90 Online to be a competitively hosted version of MAS 90 aimed at companies in the 1 to 5 user range.

MAS90 Online modules will include:

Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Bank Reconciliation
Bill of Materials
Business Insights Dashboard
Business Insights Explorer
Electronic Reporting
General Ledger
Inventory Management
Library Master
Paperless Office*
Purchase Order
Return Merchandise Authorization
Sage ERP MAS Intelligence*
Sales Order

Important Notes:

1. Upgrades have to be done by the partner and by downloading the data and then uploading the newly updated/converted data. This means Sage doesn’t upgrade the customer automatically — and the customer still had the expense of having a partner (or themselves) doing the upgrade. This sort of baffles me but I guess at least the hosting saves some complexity.
2. Crystal Reports have to all be designed offline (I think this may have more to do with licensing)
3. No credit card processing
4. No SageCRM integration
5. Phone  support is additional/optional (maintenance is mandatory ).

6. Business Insights Dashboard and Business Insights Explorer will be available within the Sage ERP MAS 90 Online service.

Sage ERP MAS Intelligence (SMI) is under evaluation for compatibility at this time.

7. The following Modules and Functionality are NOT Available:
• Bar Code
• Batch Faxing
• Credit Card Processing
• Custom Office
• eBusiness Manager
• eBusiness Web Services
• FAS Integration
• Federal and State eFiling and Reporting
• Job Cost
• Payroll
• Sales Tax powered by AvaTax
• SageCRM
• Timecard
• Visual Integrator
• Work Order

8. No outbound email server for Paperless Office

9. No third party integrations

10.

MAS90 Online Pricing

Sage ERP MAS 90 Online pricing will offer customers a suite of business management software applications hosted by Sage, accessed over the Internet, for a monthly subscription fee. A minimum requirement of one full concurrent Sage ERP MAS 90

Online user license for one year is required to access the software, with optional add-on user licenses and services available for additional fees. Included in the monthly subscription fees are: the secure backup service, up to five Sage ERP MAS 90 Online companies, one gigabyte of personal storage, and one free named user license of both Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Discounts will be offered for multi-year contracts and pre-payments.
Sage ERP MAS 90 Online user licenses ($169*) are concurrent licenses and can be used by a pool of users.

In addition to Sage ERP MAS 90 Online user licenses, Sage also offers optional Remote Concurrent Access License (RCAL) for an additional monthly fee ($75*). RCAL licenses allow user access to Sage ERP MAS 90 Online system ─ but differ from Sage ERP MAS 90 user licenses, because they are named Citrix users.

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

As you probably know Sage stopped supporting Extended Solution (a catalog of enhancements for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200) back in 2009. For a period of time they were still allowing some orders of the solutions but had noted that all updates (within the same version) would cease in 2010. That date has been extended through April 29, 2011.

If you are using an Extended Solution on version 4.3 and have a need for an updated version 4.3 copy of that solution (for example if you’re installing a v4.3 service update ) then you should contact your business partner prior to 4/29 and arrange to receive an updated copy of the Extended Solutions.

via Sage:

Last Chance to Request a Customer’s Extended Solutions v4.3-Compatible Extended Solutions Titles. On November 30, 2010, Sage sent you a list of your customers and the Extended Solutions titles they own. Please reference this list and contact the sales advisor team at salesadvisor@sage.com to place your clients’ orders. Sage has granted a grace period to request v4.3-compatible titles until April 29, 2011

 

How Can We Help ?

MAS90 or MAS200 support issue?
MAS90 upgrade?
Second opinion?
Need a Crystal Report written?


Since 1986 we've supported all versions of Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 accounting software (plus most common add-ons like Crystal Reports, Business Alerts, Starship, Credit Cards).

Schulz Consulting located in Glastonbury CT and we have a nationwide network of consulting firms through our affiliation with DSD Business Systems and the 90 Minds Consulting Group.

We also consult nationwide via remote connect.

Concerned about consulting costs?

Our services are provided on a fixed fee basis. No surprise bills. No engagement work starts before we both agree on what the outcome of the work is to be.

Ready to start?

Please provide some information and we'll reply to your inquiry within one hour. Your email information is kept private and not shared with any other company.

Thank You,

Wayne Schulz
SCHULZ CONSULTING, LLC

• Your Name
  FirstLast
• Company Name
• Your Title
• Email Address
  Enter EmailConfirm Email
• Phone
• Website
• Which Best Describes Your Company
  • We own MAS90 or MAS200
  • We are thinking about buying MAS 90 or MAS 200
  • I am a consultant searching on behalf of a client
• What Version of MAS 90 or MAS 200?
  • Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 v3.x
  • Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 4.x
  • I have no idea - that's why I'm here
• How Would You Like Us To Contact You?
  • Email is fine
  • Call me
  • Either email or phone
• What Type Of Assistance Are You Seeking
  • Pricing on Sage ERP MAS90 or MAS 200 software I intend to purchase within 3 months
  • Replacing an existing MAS90/200 consultant
  • I would like to upgrade my MAS90 or MAS200
  • I have an immediate technical issue
  • I need a second opinion
  • RFP
• Additional Details on How We Can Help You?
  Please describe in detail any issue that you are experiencing or which you would like assistance with.
• Captcha

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Sage partner Hightower Inc have just announced that their Multi-Bin for Sage ERP MAS90 and MAS200 version 4.4 is available.

The feature adds the ability to track multiple bin locations per warehouse for specific MAS 90 or MAS 200 inventory items as described below:

Inventory Management
The Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 Inventory Management module provides receipt of goods data, the movement of goods within or between locations, the sale, removal of goods, and the precise valuation and status of goods remaining in inventory at any point in time. When integrated with Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution, you will be able to track multiple bin locations per warehouse per item.

Sales Order
With the Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200 Sales Order module, you’ll know the availability of specific units in inventory, or alternate items if an item is out of stock, specific customer pricing, customer credits, and much more, while entering orders. With Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution, you can mark inventory items involved in sales orders as allocated. Allocated inventory items are not available for purchase by other customers until you release the items.

Purchase Order
Streamline and organize your entire purchasing process – track shipping methods, track the date a purchase is required, track the name of person that places the order, and confirm the quantity ordered and the price. Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution modifies the Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200 Purchase Order module to utilize bin locations for receipt of inventory items. Bin locations are also utilized for return of goods and material requisition entries.

Bill of Materials
Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 Bill of Materials allows you to easily create and maintain a detailed bill of components and miscellaneous charges that make up your finished items and subassembly components. Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution module integrates with Bill of Materials so bin quantities can be tracked throughout the production and disassembly processes.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)
With RMA, once an item is returned, Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 will automatically generate all appropriate transactions, including credit memos, replacement orders, purchase orders, and vendor returns. Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution integrates with the Return Merchandise Authorization module so that quantity can be distributed to bins before transactions are generated.

Work Order
Issue work orders, develop schedules, and track costs associated with the manufacturing process. Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 Work Orders gives you the ability to see up-to-the-minute work in process information. The Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution module integrates with Work Order so bin distributions can be entered and updated along with each work order entry.

Bar Code
With Bar Code, collect data more quickly than ever before – warehouse and shipping/receiving staff can record bar coded items with a scanner and data is downloaded to Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200. Multi-Bin Advanced Distribution modifies the Bar Code module by expanding the import files to include bin locations.

via: Multi-Bin for Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

I just caught a post made by Jacqueline Li, Product Manager at Sage North America, updating the shipping status of the Sage ERP MAS Intelligence.

According to Jacqueline the Sage consultants and end users can download this directly from Sage Software Online (login required) and obtain registration codes from their online company project (also available within the Sage Software Online site).

End users should expect that mail notifications will be received in the month of October 2010 with full instructions on how to download the Sage MAS Intelligence (aka SMI).

LinkedIN

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

If you’re not familiar with Extended Solutions they are pre-written customizations (sold separately) that once installed work seamlessly within MAS 90 and MAS 200.
For years Extended Solutions were sold directly by Sage and considered to be the “secret sauce” that Sage consultants used when they implemented new systems for customers.

During any ERP software implementation there’s usually a tiny bit of missing functionality that’s needed. For example finding a fixed cost Extended Solution that for example performed ACH Payments for Accounts Payable (not a core MAS 90 feature) was significantly cheaper and easier than hiring a programmer to modify the software to perform that task.

Beginning with version 4.4 of MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions will not be sold separately. Instead Sage have taken the list of available solutions and intends to cull out the most popular ones for inclusion in future releases of MAS 90 and MAS 200.
Extended Solutions not selected for inclusion will have their source code made available to a number of select programmers (Preferred Development Partners) so that customers can have their enhancements upgraded.

On August 17, 2010 DSD Business Systems reported their progress on which solutions they’ve already upgraded.

Extended Solutions Recently Released

And they also reported on which solutions are in progress with a “soon to be released” date:

Extended Solutions Currently in Development

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Sage MAS Intelligence is the replacement for FRX Financial Report Writer which Microsoft is terminating support for at the end of next year. FRX had been the recommended financial report writer. With the decision by Microsoft to eliminate their product – the new recommended reporting tool is Sage MAS Intelligence.

Each user of MAS 90 or MAS 200 will receive a free copy of this program along with one user license. Watch for a notification from Sage in the coming weeks that will alert you to the availability of Sage MAS Intelligence.

Click here to view the embedded video.

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Sage has just made their MAS 90  FRX replacement available for download online. Branded as Sage ERP MAS Intelligence (say that 3 times fast) the Excel based solution connects to not only your financial data but all other module data (ex. Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, etc).

We provided you with a first look at Sage ERP MAS Intelligence (then being referred to as Sage Business Intelligence) back in March 2010 when Alchemex did a  demo for the 90 Minds Consulting Group.

View the product frequently asked questions below – or visit Sage’s site for more information and download links.

Sage ERP MAS Intelligence

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

As you may know Sage is preparing to release a new universal Business Intelligence product which will be used on the Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 product line.

Their current release plans indicate that this will ship in Summer 2010 as outlined in a recent announcement:

Sage MAS Intelligence will soon be introduced as the ideal FRx replacement product for Sage MAS ERP. On target to be released this summer, Sage MAS Intelligence offers powerful and easy to use graphical financial reporting capabilities to access business-critical information, and makes complex reporting easy using a new report designer. Going beyond General Ledger reporting needs, Sage MAS Intelligence will provide Business Intelligence across the entire Sage MAS ERP system, including CRM and Abra.

The products compared are:

Sage MAS Intelligence (Sage’s NEW offering scheduled for Summmer 2010)
Sage MAS 90 and 200 Business Insights Dashboard
Sage MAS 90 and 200 Business Insights Reporter

FRX
BizNet
Crystal Reports
F9

The comparisons provide for ranking a wide range of features under the categories of Data Access, Report Security, Report Delivery and Distribution, Reporting Capabilities, Sorting, Aggregation and Drill Down, Database Support Provided, Operating Systems Support and MS Office Version Support.

SageMAS Intelligence Comparison- FRX, Biznet, Alchemex, Crystal, F9

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Ever wish there was a way to quickly search your Sage ERP and CRM database without having to go through multiple lookup screens?

z.Find from Escape Velocity Systems uses a Google-type search to quickly locate data within your ERP or CRM database without the need to hunt from report to report or inquiry to inquiry.

You can search multiple databases as well as link in mulitiple non-ERP/CRM sources.

The product works with:

Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 (pricing TBD)

Sage MAS 500 ($6,000 plus $2,000 recurring maintenance)

Sage Accpac

Sage SalesLogix

Third Party Applications and Customizations

z.find search for MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500, Accpac, SalesLogix

More information – and a recorded demonstration – can be found on the Escape Velocity web site linked below.

Press Release:

EVS Launches z.Find for Sage MAS 500 ERP, Sage SalesLogix, Sage MAS 90 ERP and Sage AccPac ERP

Boulder, CO– Escape Velocity Systems, Inc. (EVS), a Boulder, Colorado based ERP innovation group announced today the launch of the z.Find now publicly available for Sage MAS 500 ERPand Sage SalesLogix. EVS also announced today the beginning of the z.Find beta program for Sage MAS 90 ERP. Development work is in progress on z.Find for Sage Accpac as well.

The z.Find is a search application that brings the first ever Google-type search capabilities to Sage ERP products. From a single interface, z.Find can return information that resides in multiple databases, third party add-ons or customized tables. “z.Find breaks away from the traditional, structured way of finding data in an ERP by tearing down the walls between modules and systems,” states Evan Garber, President of EVS.

EVS also announces that the z.Find application can be purchased, downloaded, deployed, and updated directly from the z.AppStore. “The experience of adding functionality to your existing ERP solution should be fast and easy; delivery through our z.AppStore makes that possible,” comments Garber.
EVS was formed in 2001 to combine specific industry knowledge and expertise with industry changing innovation and technology. The company’s focus is to create tools that enable mid-market enterprises to have a better, more effective experience with their ERP.

For more information, visit www.evs-sw.com or contact sales@evs-sw.com.

z.Find – Escape Velocity Systems

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

The Sage Extended Solutions for MAS 90 and MAS 200 web site has just been updated.

The new site is a  bit vague on the availability of the Extended Solutions listed.

Our understanding from speaking to partners who’ve attended Sage briefings is that as of version 4.4 (expected Q1 2010)  Sage will not be selling Extended Solutions.  They will however continue to support existing Extended Solutions for a period of time.

As noted previously, we understand that approximately 56 of the Extended Solutions (link to list of solutions is below) will be incorporated at some point (schedule TBD) to version 4.4 (and higher) of the Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 product.

http://www.s-consult.com/2009/11/19/sage-extended-solutions-absorbed-into-mas90-mas200/

In addition the following 25 Extended Solutions  are not shown on the new site and will be rendered obsolete by the release of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 and are expected to be retired.

Although there’s been no formal announcement, Sage have indicated in various partner meetings  that the following Extended Solutions will be incorporated to the main product after version 4.4 has been released (Warning: Subject to change):

March 2010: SO1096, PR1018, JC1046, AR1200, SO1271, AR1027, SO1035

June 2010: BR1005, BR1004

September 2010: SO1173, AP1043, AP1101, SO1354

For now we only know that 56 solutions are being added into MAS 90 and MAS 200 4.4+. Except as noted above we don’t know when they will be added or how long it will take to add them all into the product.

Disclaimer/Warning: Prior to making any decisions on Sage Extended Solutions please consult with your Sage Business Partner. All information provided is preliminary and subject to change. This represents our interpretation of Sage’s plans for their Extended Solutions and NOT any official statement on behalf of Sage.

New Sage Extended Solutions Web Site – thanks Brett Zimmerman, Tom Maurer

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

This package used to be called Component Exception Manager and it was a big portion of the Job Ops manufacturing package feature set.

Now Job Ops have unbundled the functionality. Given it a new name (Purchase Agent) and instead of pricing it at $5k or more — they’ve set an affordable price of around $1,500.

Check out the details below in the demo script that JobOps has distributed to us.

via: Jim Woodhead – DSD Business Systems – San Diego MAS 90 Consultants and Master Developers

View the Purchase Manager by JobOps for MAS 90 and MAS 200 full color brochure

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

I’ve known Hellene for many years when she worked as my contact at Sage Software. Always responsive, friendly and quick with to respond with needed information – she’s a great addition

What many people don’t know about Hellene is that she’s a wine connoisseur as well as a damned smart accounting software representative. Contact her at 973-758-6137  to chat about her collection of fine wines or via email at hellene.thurston@swktech.com.

I’m sure she’d also love to talk to you about any of SWK’s offerings.

SWK Technologies

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

If you’ve recently started to use the Paperless Office features of MAS 90 or MAS 200 you may have found that while you could fax documents via Microsoft Fax the capability to fax via Internet based services was omitted.

This internet faxing capability was removed when Paperless Office was included in the latest version of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200.

Now that capability is back, albeit as an add-on ($795 product + $265 maintenance = $ 1,060 total)

Sage’s Extended Solutions LM-1033 – Enhanced Faxing for Paperless Office adds internet faxing capabilities to Paperless Office by converting faxes to emails for the following providers:

Use this enhancement with paperless forms faxing from within your Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 system.

Generic faxing has also been added in case you need to configure your fax service to work with one of those that has not been listed above. Sage however does not provide any special support for configuring generic fax services so you’re on your own with any special configurations outside the 4 supported services listed above.

If You’re Not Using Paperless Office – Why Not?

Nearly 20 percent of the typical office space is set aside for storage, in addition to offsite storage. This method is both expensive and wasteful. Sage’s Paperless Office (included at no extra cost in both Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200) allows you to generate forms and registers to an electronic archive (PDF format) on your hard drive.

The software handles all system security (providing the option for only those who printed a document to subsequently access it) as well as the task of naming each document, filing it in the write spot on the hard disk and when desired allowing forms to be sent via email.

MAS 90 and MAS 200 Paperless Office Modules Include:

More Information on Paperless Office for MAS 90 (PDF)

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Looking for a Point of Sale solution that integrates to your Sage MAS90 or MAS200 accounting software?

Join the newest Endorsed Partner for Sage MAS 90, AccuPOS Point of Sale, and learn about the opportunity available for you to reach into the Point of Sale market without traditional challenges many partners face in the retail sector. Focused on cash and carry retailers and on restaurants, this award winning front end software uses the inventory of Sage MAS 90 allowing you to remain the expert in the product with which you are already familiar. AccuPOS has provided and supported Point of Sale for Sage financial management solution users for over ten years and we are excited to present them as our newest Endorsed Partner.

Accupos Demo

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Microsoft have announced that on 12/31/2010 their FRX Financial Report Writer will no longer be sold to those requiring a new license.

As of 12/31/2012 all Microsoft official support will terminate.

These are the latest dates that we have regarding the future of FRX support and availability. Since we expect some vendors to “self support” the report writer (including possibly Sage) you should check with your financial software supplier to see what their plans are for the product.

FRX Support Options – Post 2012

The question that we’ve been asked more frequently by both Sage and non-Sage users of FRX is what will happen after 2012. Will the FRX software stop working or are there alternate means by which users who are happy with their financial reporting can obtain support?

We provide support for FRX via our unlimited phone agreement (copy here). Other consultants will likely offer the same thing. When we spoke with Sage they were leaning toward (but not committing to supporting the FRX program beyond the 2012 end of life date).

You should consider that FRX (at least on the Sage MAS 90 level) has not been significantly upgraded since the last MAS 90 level service pack for FRX was issued dated December 2008 (Service Pack 10 for FRX v6.7).

Your Options

A. Self Support
Using internal resources, maintain your own help desk to answer user questions. If you’re already at this level then you probably are already also self-supporting. Remember that no new FRX modules/licenses will be sold after 2010.

B. Vendor Support
We think (though we’re not 100% sure yet) that you’ll see vendors like Sage (and others) offering to carry on the support for FRX during the period of time that they announce a transition to an as-yet unnamed financial report writer.

C. Use Third Party Support
Given that FRX has not had the need for a program patch since December 2008, you’re reasonably safe to continue using the program for at least the immediate future. Your main risk factor will likely be an incompatibility between FRX and a future operating system. However you’d likely know of such incompatibility months or years ahead of the time that you decided to upgrade operating systems.

Conclusion
Most consultants (including the ones you use to maintain your current financial software should be able to support you for the next few years. It would be prudent to begin the process of migrating your financial reporting to a new program just a soon as your vendor announces one.

Prior to 2010 you should plan to acquire any essential programs that you may need from FRX. If you need to acquire more licenses or remote you’ll need to do that before 12/2010.

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Would you like to have the advantage of the significant performance improvement offered by SQL data tables? Well you can with an enhancement for Sage MAS 90 or 200 that mirrors your data tables into SQL in real time.

SQL Mirroring for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 product that DSD Business Systems has offered for the past few years that they were demonstrating at Insights 2009.

From DSD Business Systems’ Product Page:

SQL Mirroring allows a user (version 4.05 to 4.30) to choose which Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 Data files to be mirrored directly into a SQL Database in “Real Time” . This means as the records are added, updated, or removed from the native Providex Database, a live record will be mirrored to your chosen SQL Database.The user may use Crystal reports to report directly from the SQL database.

For Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 Form Printing, if the module is a “Business Framework” module, then the Crystal Work Files are mirrored to SQL automatically.

NOTE: The SQL Mirroring product only writes, removes, and updates the SQL Database, but doesn’t read from it. Therefore, if you use another application to write to the SQL Database, those changes will NOT be reflected back into MAS90.

We’ve used this at a client who mirrored some large MAS 90 tables and the setup was easy (about 30 minutes tops) and once running the process is seamless with the tables mirroring in the background with no intervention on the users part.

Naturally reporting off the SQL tables is lightning fast and as noted in the product description any of the framework modules can have their Crystal Reports take advantage of SQL Mirroring.

Link – DSD Business Systems SQL Mirroring for Sage MAS 90 and 200

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

Blytheco is demonstrating their bMobile suite which uses PVXPLUS technology to translate MAS 90 or MAS 200 screens to html which are then easily rendered on web browers (Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari).

bMobile takes MAS 90 panels and converts them into Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and uses AJAX based technology to create a user interface which can be easily used via a web browser. Another interesting use for the program might be to make use of low cost netbook computers in the field. These netbooks are typically extremely inexpensive and offer just enough power to run a web browser.

Expect availability in the second half of 2009 late summer with pricing starting at $5,000 for up to 5 users.

link: bMobile

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

So they came to us asking if we could “fix it”.

Since we hadn’t worked with this particular software package before (and our rule is that we don’t bill clients for our learning time) – I advised her that I’d take a poll of other resellers of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 to see what they were using for Service Management.

Boy did I get an earful.

The question just came up again. Someone asked for some feedback on different service management packages. Since the analysis was written almost three years ago – I have to caution that some responses to it may have changed. Packages could have improved (or gotten worse). Take this information as a general overview of candid responses from experienced Sage consultants who have worked with these products and are providing the feedback to me.

I know each of these consultants personally – however to protect their companies and insure totally candid replies I’ve stripped out the firm name and identifying information.

These experiences are often the result of only one or two implementations. You may find that other consultants who have done dozens of impelementations of Service Management software have a totally different reply. The trouble is that I never can find these consultants. Service Management seems to be an area where consultants sell and run.

Here are my informal survey results. I do not claim they are scientific, authoritative or have any other special insight that you couldn’t get from asking around yourself. Simply take this information as one component of your own due dilligence as you reseach Service Management for MAS 90.

Full Disclaimer:

These results are from 2006 – the products mentioned may have been improved since I took this informal poll

While I know every person who submitted information – I cannot know what their level of competence with the product was. It’s very possible that some of the people who replied and whose opinions are included here were never properly trained and that taints their feedback. For this reason I strongly recommend using this information only as one portion of your own due dilligence when researching Service Management Software.

Service Management Options for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 – Survey Results

From: Wayne Schulz
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 4:34 PM
To: [prospect name]
Subject: RE: MAS90

Hi [prospect name],

As discussed today – I have put together some of the comments and feedback about the various Service Management packages for MAS90.

As I thought, none appear to standout. I’m continuing to look for a reseller with more than one or two clients using any one of these.

I think this is a fairly complete list of the Service Management available for MAS 90. I compiled the feedback from various emails that I have received over the last 6 months. These emails are internal communications between resellers as we are looking to find software or solve problems for our users.

The only solution that I have not seen anyone using but have repeatedly heard recommended is Job Ops. This is a more expensive solution from a company called Synergistic. The address is http://www.jobops.com

I hope this information is helpful. It appears to me from the comments below that you’re probably on the most widely used Service Management solution. I will follow-up with some additional information as I continue to query the resellers who work with these products to see if anyone has done more than three (so far what I’m seeing is resellers who’ve done one or two of these types of implementations).

-Wayne

IIG – Service Maestro

http://www.iigservicemaestro.com/ -

mixed feeback from resellers.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Service Maestro from IIG is not that bad, but it isn’t that great either. The product is solid. Support is very slow. It is difficult in an implementation to teach. There is a lot of functionality, and sometimes it gets confusing because there is so much functionality. It is not made for a particular industry, so lots of terminology is very generic and vague.

I like Wayne’s idea. Tell them that you will charge them for time and disclaim at the onset.

I have also heard great things about JobOps, but cannot get a client to take the large dollar investment. Probably worth it in the long run.

FEEBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
IIG doesn’t return phone call’s or e-mails inquiries for Service Maestro. I now believe that if you can’t basic sales questions answered, then watch out once they get the client’s money.

Ascent – Automated Service

http://www.ascent-sys.com/ – wmixed feedback (see below)

FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have several clients in the service management industry. Three are on Automated Service from Ascent, and three are on Service Maestro from IIG.

First the really bad: I spent 3 days last summer in Houston with their top (only) trainer. It was a painful three days to say the least. Obviously training, plane tickets, hotel, partner fee, and lost billable time were very expensive. By the end of the second day, I was on the web getting my airline reservations changed to that night. It was only the second day, and it was clear that this was an absolutely terrible program. Based on
what I heard, they really have it installed at one big company that is satisfied. I know that none of my clients are satisfied. There is absolutely no dispatching functionality. They have three “dispatch” functions, but they are all just terrible. Also, no job cost functionality.

We also choose this path because we also do Peachtree and BusinessVision. I was very excited about the prospect of learning only one service management solution for the three products that we carry. These were also jokes. The software just doesn’t work. One of the students in our class had the BV version for 6 months and still no go live. He spent the entire three days with the head programmer working on bugs.

FEEDBACK FROM AN END USER:
Yes, my current maintenance/support for MAS90 is through Ascent, since I also have Automated Servic (Ascent) support, this way all our issues are handled through one company. They have a very slow response time, although once they get involved, they are proficient at resolving issues.

They are located in Texas, so there isn’t any local support, they handle everything through PC Connect or VNC. If you would like, you can call me with any questions.

FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Ascent Business Systems has a very robust and well-integrated Field Service MAS 90 Add-on. Tell Shelley Roth I sent you. She’s been great to work with and is extremely helpful. Here’s her contact information if you want to talk with her, the package is called Automated Service.

Shelley Roth
Director of Channel Development
Ascent Business Systems, Inc.
1880 S. Dairy Ashford Suite 535
Houston, TX 77077
281-497-8882 x209
800-256-6853
sroth@ascent-sys.com

FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have a couple of clients on Automated Service. The product is good for Field Service and not so good for Depot or In-House service. Ascent is just about the only player that is still standing. Their service is ????, their customer centric focus is ???? and their willingness to listen to resellers is ?????

IIG I would not touch, Cognitive is not even a player sooooooo your choices are limited.

Watch out when applying updates and third party stuff. Acent will try to burn you. One of our clients they wanted 3-4K to integrate Paperless Office. The client told them to buzz off and they finally did it for $00.00.

FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Either of you ever deal with Ascent Systems (Automated Service)? The are the least service oriented group I have ever dealt with and I swear if they go home and have a nightmare about us, they come in the next morning and hit my charge card, nickle/dime!

FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We just sold one 2 months ago – they make you pre-pay and then they never tell you how much you used. Also they won’t go direct to the client for services – very annoying – so I prepay but if the client doesn’t use the hours I am stuck.

FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
We have done a few Automated Service installs at a couple of larger customers and found out the hard way that the Automated Service files are not standard MAS 90 structure and you can’t use VI to import to them all the time (some you can, some you can’t). We had to pay Ascent to do some custom data conversion and custom import utilities for ongoing integration. Every time we speak to Ascent it is more money, to the point that I should just send them my charge card and let them use it when appropriate. Service is a bit spotty
(slow or non-responsive). Product is as good as any 3rd party apps tend to be.

FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
I have one client and authorized by Ascent. The upgrade to 4.05 is not too difficult and Ascent has the patches/bugs worked out. The hardest is getting the GL to convert to 4.x. Support is available from Ascent – The client will need the current patches for Automated Service. This cannot be stressed enough. When I did an early conversion, AS wasn’t that mature with 4.05 and hard to work with Ascent to address issues. It has been very stable the last nine months. 4.10 will be released soon, but we’re not encouraging that yet.

Procedure is:

Prepare 3.71 data just like any conversion.
Install 4.05 MAS 90
Install 4.05 MAS 90 patches
Install AS 4.05
Install AS 4.05 patches

Convert company data.

BCS – Service & Warranty Management

http://www.bcs-tx.com/product/swm/index.html – I

am not positive these guys are the originators of this software. I also have no feedback at all on this.

Conative Systems

http://www.conativesystems.com/

A few have looked at this and found support lacking

FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
I looked at Conative in late 2002 also. [xxx]the owner did the presentation. It looked to be solid. However, during the on line demo, [xxx]kept going down side alleys showing us how some things could/would be handled which became distracting. The other presentation was done by Automated Services. The presenter that day was a novice and didn’t know much about the software. I decided to pursue Conative, but soon realized that it was a one man shop and getting simple timely quote was impossible. I gave up after two months.

FEEBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
Unfortunately I haven’t any recent experience with service software, but attempted to work with http://www.conativesystems.com/ a couple years ago. Owner is a talented, but I think it was too much for him to sell MAS 90/200, service his clients AND market an enhancement. I recall that most of the SM2000 implementations were customer specific, making it difficult to support and learn (since there was little consistency). While very robust, the product also didn’t “feel” like MAS 90 (screen design was different, function key assignments were different, etc). Having also reviewed Automated Service a couple years ago, I was less than impressed with their sales pitch (pick us because the other guys suck).

ACSG

http://www.aboutpm2000.com/Product/SWO.htm

Service Work Order – does not appear to be widely used – no feedback found

Conclusion

My recommendation to you is to do your own research in this area and insist on talking to users who have been using Service Management software for over 1 year in exactly the same way that you anticipate using it.

Avoid using a consultant who only has one or two implementations of the software.  My own personal belief is that you cannot make any money as a consultant doing “onesies and twosies” of a product.  If there is a source to many troubled engagements that I’ve seen it si that the consultant who sold the specialized product did not have the necessary skills to actually implement it. Usually you’ll get a hint of this if the consultant promises to hold implement the specialized package in “phase two”.

Also keep in mind that the above comments are unfiltered feedback from consultants and end users who I know and trust. This is not research that I’ve done myself – rather I’m compiling various emails that people had sent to me in the year 2006. Because this feedback is almost three years old the various packages may have improved. So use this information to compliment your own good research – and not as a replacement.

Update 5-5-2009 from Traci Clay Marketing Manager – Ascent Business Systems:

Ascent Systems has this to say in a certified letter sent to me dated May 1, 2009 (read the entire letter here) which they say points out what they claim is inaccuracy in several of the responses to the informal survey we took :

We do understand that every company has some less than favorable press out there and we can handle that, but we would like for the information that is blatantly incorrect to be removed from your post. We specifically request that posting number one, Feedback from a Consultant, be removed in its’ entirety. This post contains serious inaccuracies such as Ascent having installed AutomatedService in only one big company that is satisfied, no job cost functionality and the information regarding Peachtree and BusinessVision. We also request that the inaccuracies in posting number four: Feedback from a Consultant be removed. The quote that states “They wanted 3-4k to integrate Paperless Office” appears to be blatantly incorrect. We have no record of every quoting any customer that amount to integrate Paperless Office. If you believe that statement is important enough to leave in your post, we would appreciate the name/company of the Consultant so that we may verify the accuracy. We would be comfortable with only removing the inaccduracy in posting number four, but due to the many inaccuracies in posting number one, we feel the only recorse is to remove the post in its entirely.
To further enlighten you as to the success that both partners and end-users have with AutomatedService, I have included the Success Story that Sage presented during a quarterly Sage Channel Partner webinar regarding the joint BIG win we had. Ascent was able to sell Sage Softwasre along with Automated Service to Ranger America beating out the incumbent, Great Plains. I have also included a success story to give you a broader picture.

Update 5-20-2009 – FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT – ASCENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DSD Business Systems has two recent implementations of the Ascent Automated Service software. Overall, both of our end-users are happy with the product. The most challenging of our end-users is a mechanical pump distributor who also performs maintenance work on their products. They were previously using Conative’s SM200 product, which is a complete disaster. Since switching over to AutomatedService (AS), they have been happy. This end-user says that support response times are sometimes spotty and if the question is very complex it can take Ascent a while to get back to them. But, they always do get back, which has not been our experience with other Service Management products on the market. Overall, they say that Ascent’s AS product works for them and they are very satisfied with it.

As far as reseller support is concerned, DSD’s VP of Sales, Pete Morone, has been extremely happy with Ascent. He says that Chris Fix, their VP of Sales, has been accessible and willing to work with us. Jim Woodhead, our VP of Professional Services – MAS says, “Chris is very knowledgeable about the Ascent package and can be counted on to deliver on his promises and to resolve problems. I have no hesitation to recommend Ascent to a customer that needs a strong service management product.”

I read some of the older Consultant Feedback for AutomatedService, and I know from firsthand experience that some of the criticism levelled by other resellers is no longer true in 2009. While that criticism may have been valid 2-3 years ago, much of Ascent’s business model, staff, and software features have evolved greatly since then. At one point, 8-10 years ago, DSD had decided not to continue using Automated Service as a supplier because of their predatory policies regarding their relationship with our end-users. That is no longer a concern for us, because the Ascent staffers who executed those policies are long gone. DSD has nothing but the highest regard for Ascent’s current products and delivery model.

Doug Deane

President, DSD Business Systems

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.

• Multi-company transaction processing
• ACH processing for Accounts Payable (wireless transfers)
• Payroll Direct Deposit
• Custom pricing within Inventory
• Unlimited history

There are literally thousands of inexpensive enhancements that are already written for your MAS90 system. These install as if regular MAS 90 programs and each year when MAS 90 is upgrade – so are your enhancements.

We recommend that you always first browse the Sage Extended Solutions (catalog example below) prior to hiring anyone to customize MAS90. Even though some of the items available as add-ons for MAS 90 or MAS 200 will appear expensive at first – we think you’ll ultimately save money long term.

You can review the entire list of Sage Extended Solutions or browse down for a sample listing.

Mas90 Enhancements and customizations

© 2009, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300 and Sage 500 are registered trademarks of Sage. Have additional unanswered questions about MAS90? You may contact Schulz Consulting here.

We publish an email newsletter each Tuesday at 3pm – join here.