A new Sage 300 Action Group formed out of South Africa has pulled ISVs, VARs and consultants into a close-knit community, driving product support and knowledge sharing around the world.
Action Group spokesman and MWare Consulting CEO, Mich Martins, says the group, formed late last year, has proved phenomenally successful, with VARs and ISVs joining within minutes as soon the group expands to their regions.
Martins says: “Backed by industry powerhouses like Bobby Perel (Peresoft), Doug Ash (TPAC & Smart Hotels), Rob Reinking (BeyondERPTech), Craig Collins (Granite WMS) and Ed Sweeney (Sage AME), this group is a thriving ecosystem built by and for Sage 300 VARs and ISVs. There are now around 400 members across the AME region, across APAC, with members from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia, and in UKIA, Europe and North America.”
Martins says the Action Group was formed following a Sage Business Partner Advisory Council meeting last year. He says: “BPAC is basically a strategic forum where Sage collaborates with key VARs to gather insights, drive innovation and enhance its products and services based on partner feedback – from Sage Business Cloud Accounting, through to Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 200, Sage 300, Sage X3, Sage Intacct, Sage CRM and the Sage HR & Payroll products. But there is no ISV representation at BPAC, and that created a concern for us, because from an ERP perspective, an ERP vendor brings a horizontal product to the market, but if I'm looking to put a square peg in a round hole, then the ISV products come to the fore.”
Emphasising the importance of ISVs in the ecosystem, he says: “At our annual third-party advantage conference (TPAC), we drive the ISV model and show the VARs what products they can add to the SAGE base that will fill a specific hole for a specific client in a specific industry.
“We thought, rather than doing a TPAC once a year, let's keep that traction going,” he says.
He notes that the Sage 300 Action Group is not ‘just another discussion forum’, but is instead a movement. It offers quarterly ecosystem meetings, monthly ISV spotlights, tech deep dives, industry thought leadership and a WhatsApp group where ISVs and VARs communicate directly, 24/7.
"The Sage 300 Action Group is a significant step forward for the ecosystem,” says Bobby Perel, founder of Peresoft. “For the first time, ISVs, VARs and consultants have a dedicated, always-on platform to collaborate, share expertise and strengthen the Sage 300 community beyond annual events like TPAC. The level of engagement has been incredible – we’re seeing real-time problem-solving and valuable knowledge exchange that benefits everyone involved. This kind of collaboration is what drives innovation and ensures Sage 300 remains a powerful solution for businesses worldwide.”
The Sage 300 Action Group’s monthly ISV spotlights showcase their solutions and expertise. “Afterwards, we send the recording to the entire group, so a lot of insights and expertise are shared on those calls, and we’re potentially generating sales opportunities for those ISVs too,” Martins says.
“The WhatsApp group has turned into a very nice knowledge base in your pocket. There’s exceptional camaraderie and all the VARs and the ISVs on the WhatsApp group share knowledge like you cannot believe. The ISVs and VARs collaborate, exchange insights and support each other, and get almost immediate responses to any question posted by a colleague from anywhere in the world,” he says.
For customers, the Sage 300 Action Group is offering tangible benefits. Martins says: “I think that the level of support has gone through the roof. With the WhatsApp group, as soon as a query comes in, immediately it gets answered by somebody – who might even be a competitor in the VAR space. The customer benefits from the knowledge sharing and faster turnaround times.”
While much of the Sage 300 ecosystem is aboard the group, Martins says there is still room for growth: “We invite the VARs, ISVs, consultants, those who aren’t registered tech partners but do work on add-ons for the products, and also Sage itself to join the Action Group and benefit from the positivity around Sage 300 as well as SAGE 200 Evo. It's a good forum for everyone in the ecosystem, especially for new players to come in and see what it's all about.”
To join the group, e-mail mich@mware.co.za.
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