The Mantralogix-Sage Partnership

I’m often asked – how long have you been affiliated with Sage?  And do you sell other ERP/ CRM software?  I’m quick to answer “a long time” and “no, we are exclusively Sage!”.  Last week Mantralogix had the pleasure of hosting a visit from Sage North American CEO, Pascal Houillon, and it got me thinking about my quick answers.  How long has it been?  It made me take a closer look at our Sage partnership and consider why don’t we look at other competitive products to offer our customers?  Well to answer these questions let’s look at Sage in more detail!
Sage is a world-leader in accounting and business management software to startup, small, and midsized businesses around the globe.  Their applications cover a huge range of business requirements, including accounting, customer relationship management, distribution, manufacturing, human resources, warehouse management, and specialized products for specific industries.  In North America alone, Sage has more than 3.2 million customers while worldwide they have over 6 million!  The North American head office is in Irvine, California while the parent company, The Sage Group plc, is located in the U.K.  Overall Sage has offices in 23 countries, including Canada, and they employ more than 13.500 people.
Interestingly, The Sage Group plc (public limited company) was founded in 1981 in North East England specifically Newcastle Upon Tyne, by a local entrepreneur, David Goldman, who was seeking to automate the print estimating process in his business.  Working with Newcastle University students, he developed software to manage both print estimating and basic accounting.  Once David realized that other companies like his own would benefit from the software, he formed a company to begin selling it.  By 1999, Sage was listed on the FTSE 100!  Quite an entrepreneurial success story like so many of our customers!
I’m quite impressed with Sage’s stated vision “Our vision is to be recognized as the most valuable supporter of small and medium sized companies by creating greater freedom for them to succeed”.  For Sage the goal is to support customers in looking after their business, anywhere, anytime.  And their strategies focused on cloud computing and mobile access are proof that they are serious about their vision.
Sage’s distribution model is varied and while customers can go to them direct, they are heavily reliant on their partner network to add practical value to the products that they “manufacture” and distribute.  Having been an owner of a plastics manufacturing company in my past allows me the perspective of an owner, entrepreneur, marketer, manufacturer, distributer, etc.  Not only do I understand the needs of a small business, I know first-hand the value accounting and business management software can deliver to the bottom line.  And that continues today in my ownership of Mantralogix Inc., a company I founded in 1996.  I’ve truly learned that it’s not about the software, it’s about the outcomes the software can help facilitate!
I have had a long affiliation with Sage (since 1998) and am very proud of what they have accomplished!  I am also very proud of the Mantralogix team and I see that our two organizations have a number of shared values!  It’s about our customers – what they do, how they do it, what aspirations they have – and how we can help them to achieve their goals faster and with even better results.  Like Sage, one of my passions is getting to know our customers’ stories – all of which bring inspiration into my life!  I’m always amazed by the ideas and fortitude that entrepreneurs have – the reason that I have one of the best jobs in the world!
Chatting with Pascal last week reminded me about how closely aligned our organizations are.  He talked about the customer experience and how at the center of all that we do is the value we bring to our customers (and not what products we sell and what features we can present).  Over the years, Mantralogix has brought many different Sage solutions to our customers, always evolving, some retired, some new ones added.  We feel that many different needs can be filled by one Sage solution or another, partnered with our practical approach to implementation and change management.  We believe in Sage and we admire our customers.  And nothing makes us happier than bringing the two together!

(Left to Right) Jackie Qiu, Denise Penney, Pascal Kakanou, Derrick Lildhar (Sage), Jess Mann, Kerry Mann, Pascal Houillon (Sage), Mike Wingrove (Sage), Charito Alo, Michelle Buesucesco, Nicholas Brown, Kenny Wu.