Sage BusinessVision is NOT being retired

On August 26 2015, Sage announced that there will be no retirement or end of life scheduled for any Sage products, in particular Sage BusinessVision (BV).  During a Sage BusinessVision partners conference call, Nancy Harris, EVP and Managing Director of Canada for Sage, and Scott Munro, VP of Product Development, ensured that current Sage BV users will continue to be able to use the product until they no longer want to, and decide to move to another solution.  Sage promises to keep its commitment to have customers for life by guaranteeing that Sage BV will not be retired.

What will Sage commit to for Sage BusinessVision now and in the future?
  • Payroll updates for current version and one version back
  • Ensuring Sage BV is compatible with current and future hardware (e.g. windows OS, internet browser compatibility)
  • Continue to enhance existing features to ensure Sage BV provides customers the benefits of what they know and use everyday
  • Special offers for existing Sage BV users to migrate to other Sage Products
  • Migration tool available to move data from Sage BusinessVision to Sage 50 or Sage 300 programs
What Sage will not commit to in Sage BusinessVision now in the future?
  • New product features being added to Sage BusinessVision (e.g. cloud option, new interface)
  • Focus on adding new customers or campaigns in marketing Sage BusinessVision to sell new licenses
  • Investment in development of add-on products that will work with Sage BusinessVision (e.g. CRM)
There are some major technology hurdles that are facing Sage BusinessVision.

On the conference call, it seemed as though Mr. Munro, VP of Product Development, could not confirm if issues will be addressed going forward. If you are a current user of Sage BusinessVision, it is recommended that you stay tuned for any official announcements on how Sage will address the following critical issues affecting Sage BusinessVision:

  • Crystal Reports v10 (released in 2003) is the current version used in Sage BusinesVision and is not supported by SAP or sold anymore. Crystal Report writer is included with each license purchased so users can customize or edit reports if they have the knowledge.
  • Pervasive v10 (released in 2007) is the database engine for Sage BusinessVision and has been discontinued by Pervasive since March 1, 2012. http://www.pervasive.com/database/Home/Products/PSQLv10.aspx
  • Current last day of operation in Sage BusinessVision is December, 31st 2020.  No transactions can be inputted into the system past that date.
So with all the facts stated what options are available to current users on Sage BusinessVision?

1.    Keep using Sage BusinessVision until more information comes out –

Now that Sage has committed to not retire the program, there is no urgency to move away from Sage BusinessVision, as long as your BV solution is currently solving all your business needs.  Note that Sage BusinessCare costs have increased by 3% every year for the last 5 years.  Although no new features are being introduced, the cost have slowly increased to receive product updates and payroll updates only

2.    Take advantage of the Sage 2 for 1 special migration offer –

For customers who are willing to explore other Sage Solutions options, there are considerable incentives to move to the one of the two closest products in the Sage ecosystem. The first is Sage 50 (formerly Simply Accounting), an enterprise wide accounting solution for smaller businesses, and the second is Sage 300 (formerly Sage Accpac) for the small/medium size business.

This offer allows customers to run Sage BusinessVision while trying out Sage 300 Online or on-premise system to see if it is the right fit for them, without paying any extra software costs.

How the offer works is, a customer will pay the equivalent cost of a Bronze Sage BusinessCare plan of their current Sage BusinessVision edition with existing user count and receive:

  1. Gold level support on their Sage BusinessVision product
  2. One user on Sage 300 online and one CRM user

*note – customer will have to commit to signup up to a monthly payment plan and commit to a minimum of 4 months.

 3.    Move to another solution –

Obviously, looking to replace existing software will require a discovery process, demonstration, and proposal stages to ultimately find a new solution.  There will most likely be multiple presentations and proposals per solution before you find the right fit at the right cost.

After the purchase, there is the cost of exporting data from BV and importing data into your new solution, usually via Excel, in addition to implementation and training.  All of which has no financial incentive. There isn’t a best case scenario that fits all customers.  Replacing a software solution can be a daunting task if it isn’t planned out properly.

The Answer Company has over 1500 ERP implementations and is the largest Canadian Sage exclusive reseller.  We have the expertise to help any customer find the right fit for any business within the Sage portfolio of products. There certainly are viable options for Sage BusinessVision Customers from Sage’s standpoint to try to keep their customers for life with major financial incentives to keep customers on their products.

Contact The Answer Company at 604.473.9166 or info@theanswerco.com for a consultation about your Sage BusinessVision program.