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Love Sage 50 Forecasting
I was disappointed to read this as I love Sage 50 Forecasting. I have created many forecasts on this and its predecessor Winforecast, from simple sole trader forecasts to complex projections linked to even more complicated Excel spreadsheets.
Sage Job Costing
For a company like Sage, two weeks notice is a complete joke. In the case of job costing, this program is central to the running of some of my clients systems. I assume no alternative is in the pipline either, other than Sage 200?
A period of Consolidation
I suspect there will be similar announcements form other firms in the next year or two. Competition in the software market is fierce and companies will be looking to cut costs - probably with more product mergers to come.
win4cast one of the great products
sage frigged around with it and made it too expensive , can someone please buy it back
Sage may be sunsetting but Adaptive is rocking along
Really sad to see this - I remember Winforecast in its early iteration when I was still in practice. It was a professional accountant's wet dream. In other news, I recently met with Adaptive in the Bay Area - they're growing like topsy with great customer stories to back up their marketing.
The really sad part about this is that Sage had it to crush "spreadsheet hell' - now we step back 20 years.
Who is the competition that is eroding Sage's profitability on 50 Forecasting?
When I moved to Excel 2013 (from Excel 2003) earlier this year and found that my Hotlinks stopped working (and Sage confirmed that they had no compatible product) I looked around for a decent alternative and couldn't find one.
My solution was a 2nd hand Excel 2010 from eBay.
Adaptive
Thanks John.
It's interesting to hear what you, and Dennis, have to say about Adaptive. Their website seems to show a product worth investigating although it's difficult to tell exactly how it works in practice.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone with practical hands on experience of using Adaptive and the kind of level that they price at (no prices on website is never encouraging!!)
Forecasting needs
Thanks John.
For me, and I suspect many small practices, the forecasting requirement is to be able to easily and robustly provide forecasts for a variety of small entities, which may, or may not, then require future updating, and which may well not need to be linked to an accounts package (to import actuals).
It sounds like Adaptive is aimed more at large organisations with regular, complex, forecasts
There are others out there
Just to add a wee bit to the Adaptive yap - yes, it is probably fair to say aimed at larger businesses but there is no reason why a well seasoned Excel jock couldn't 'adapt' (sic) to their own needs for say templating client groups and using Excel as a data pump for robust forecasting.
Elsewhere, I am seeing firms like Anaplan, Tidemark, Qlik, Tableau, Pentaho and Good Data alll offer modest cost tools that allow for different ways to represent data from Excel that help clients get better insights and understanding. Not for the very small business but certainly usable for the upper end of the SME market.
Still - I guess Sage has now ceded the market to Excel. Bonkers.
To John's point about Sage endeavouring to make 50 better - well - I tend to go 'duh?' I really don't understand why Sage continues on this path. I've said consistently over something like 8 years now that you can't expect to compete in 21st century if you try put lipstick on a pig.
There are so many core issues with 50 they could have solved all their problems by starting off with a blank sheet of paper and re-imagined accounting. The fact they continue with this approach coupled with what we've seen with Xero and others speaks volumes.
Oh well. another rusty nail in a disintegrating coffin. Such a pity that users are the losers as well at a time when the profession needs more not less real help.
Sage have lost an important USP
With this latest news from Sage it is hard to see what their USP will be for Sage 50 going forward.
The recent loss of ACT and Construct, followed by Forecasting and Job Costing, not to mention their failure to follow through with Intelligent Reporting, means that Sage 50 is now just another book-keeping and payroll solution.
I have clients using Forecasting as a tool for their management accounts, taking advantage of the links to actuals and budgets. Obviously they will feel let down, but spare a thought for other clients with whom I am currently working towards doing the same, they will feel their investment of time and money has been wasted.
Winforecast was a great product in its day and unlike Forecasting could be used for consolidations. The advantage both products have over Excel is the ability to report Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cashflow without the user having to manage the often complex formulas.
Like others, I will be very interested to learn of alternatives to Forecasting.