BAASS Business Solutions Inc. (BAASS), a distinguished North American Sage ERP partner, today released their highlights of Sage’s annual customer and partner conference, Sage Summit. BAASS participated in this year’s Sage Summit as a Trade Show Level Sponsor and marketing session leader.
This year’s Sage Summit was held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C. from July 21 – 26, 2013. Despite undergoing several changes as a company in the past few years, Sage Summit managed to produce a fair turnout, with attendance estimated at just over 1,800. The keynote address, delivered by Sage North America chief executive Pascal Houillon and Sage North America’s parent company Sage Plc CEO Guy Berruyer, focused on highlighting the company’s achievements over the past year rather than presenting significant company changes and product unveilings.
As a whole, the conference addressed recent Cloud and mobility trends. During the conference, Sage revealed their plans to move their ERP line (specifically Sage 100 ERP, Sage 300 ERP, and Sage ERP X3) to the Cloud, which will be hosted on Microsoft Azure. Sage also unveiled a demo of a voice-enabled mobile application that will allow businesses to access important data stored in Sage’s ERP and Fixed Asset products from anywhere at any time.
The biggest news to come out of Sage Summit, however, was Sage’s focus on accountants. Jennifer Warawa, Sage Software’s vice president of partner programs, and Tom Hood, CEO of Maryland Association of CPAs, announced the partnership of Sage and the Business Learning Institute and their plans for offering Web-based and live, in-person accounting tracks designed to give accountants more information on ways to grow their service offerings and use current technology for their success. The program will offer three separate tracks, including the technical expert track geared toward CPAs content with their practice structure; the aspiring track designed for accounting professionals interested in offering more consulting services to their clients; and the visionary track created for accountants who have embraced technology and already act as advisors to their clients.
“We have attended Sage Summit for many years, and we are excited about the direction Sage North America is headed," said Joseph Arnone, President, BAASS. "We believe Sage is moving in the right direction by offering Cloud-based ERP products and developing mobile solutions for businesses on-the-go. We support Sage’s decision to focus on providing accounting professionals with the information they need to use the technology they’ve been given. The focus has always been on getting accountants to invest in technology; now it is time to help them understand the technology and use it for their benefit.”