Sage Software’s president said its channel partners could be among the big beneficiaries of a restructuring effort that create business units linked to customer segments.
The Irvine, Calif.-based provider of mid-sized ERP, CRM and accounting applications said it would form a business management division, along with one dedicated to industry and specialized solutions. A payment solutions and health-care division will round out the company’s organizational chart.
Sage Software CEO Ron Veri said the company is trying to pursue a strategy that will make is team more connected to its customers. One key way to do that is to bring its accounting, ERP, CRM, and related businesses into the business management divison. The industry and specialized solutions division, meanwhile, will focus on vertically-oriented products such as online payroll and HR systems for the construction, real estate, and nonprofit industries.
“There’s been this artificial boundary between front office and back office. Customers don’t want to be forced into one or the other,” Verni said. “We’ve also learned that customers want more from us than just selling a product. If they are interested in business process outsourcing, things which are difficult to do, they want a partner to help them do that.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the company will be working more directly with those organizations, however. “We would always prefer to include our partners, which is why we create partner programs for them,” he said. “Some customers will elect to (work with a partner) and some won’t. We always want to make sure that the customer gets served.”
In many cases, the business units will also allow Sage to offer more back-end revenue sharing to its channel, even if the channel isn’t the one doing the work. If a reseller find a customer that wants Sage to handle its maintenance and support, for example, the partner will receive a portion of that revenue.
Sage is making the move so ease the ability of customers to grow their business with the company. If an Act customer or SalesLogix customer wanted to move to Accpac Pro, they would have had to purchase from two different parts of Sage.
“As you move through your business life, you shouldn’t have to give up the business relationships you’ve created,” he said. “It should be that someone would know all about you – if you move to that next point in your business.”
As part of the transition, Sage said its former chief marketing officer Nina Smith will lead the business management division while Doug Smith, president of Sage’s small business software division, will lead the industry and specialized solutions group.
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