CRM Software Comparison Blog

Melbourne, Australia - Sage CRM today announced a comprehensive migration strategy for its Sage CRM Solutions product portfolio in Australia anchored by the new Sage Migrator tool, which enables data migration from customer and contact management solution ACT! by Sage to its portfolio of CRM products: Sage CRM, SageCRM.com and Sage CRM SalesLogix.

Migration from Goldmine to the Sage CRM Solutions portfolio has also been introduced as the first in a series of migration paths to enable users of competitive offerings to easily transition to a Sage CRM solution.

“Moving information from one CRM system to another has historically been complicated by the number and types of different data sources involved,” explained Ross Stange, Managing Director of Sage CRM (A/NZ).

“Many small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are daunted by the prospect of changing systems for one reason or another be it cost, time or concern about losing critical company data. As a result, we’ve developed a suite of products to facilitate the process and take the ‘migraine’ out of migration.”

The Sage Migrator uses advanced technologies to ensure data accuracy, maintain low total cost of ownership (TCO) and address the full spectrum of user scenarios, regardless of format or data source. The Sage Migrator was designed for:

• First generation CRM adopters who recognise the need for a CRM system and need to migrate their data from several disparate sources;
• Current CRM users who have outdated CRM systems that do not support their evolving business needs in a functional or cost-effective manner;
• Current CRM users reluctant to upgrade or re-architect their existing systems due to uncertainty created by vendor consolidation and their need for better business process integration; and
• Sage CRM customers looking to migrate easily across the product family for more advanced CRM capabilities as their businesses grow.

Andrew Boyd, Vice President of Strategy (Global CRM) for Sage CRM Solutions, commented: “Migration is a critically important functional requirement that needs to be managed properly.” Gartner has found that ‘dirty’ data is the number one reason that CRM projects fail, while other studies have discovered that poor data can impact the overall TCO and actually lower it by 20 per cent if ignored.

“Company’s business needs are evolving causing them to rethink earlier CRM decisions,” Boyd added. “A clear migration option reduces the cost and complexity of implementing a new CRM system.”

Today’s announcement reinforces Sage CRM’s strategic focus on customers and commitment to providing freedom of choice.

“Sage CRM customers can choose a CRM solution that meets their needs today with the confidence of knowing they can readily grow into a more advanced solution as their needs evolve,” Stange added. “We’re making solid progress against the integration, localisation and migration commitments made to the Australian market last year.”

Sage CRM’s global CRM strategy, first introduced in October 2005, takes advantage of the company’s strong local presence in countries around the world, where sales, service, and support capabilities serve over five million businesses and work with 23,000 business partners and 40,000 accountant partners. By centralising the development of key functions such as localisation, integration and migration, Sage can deliver stronger and more flexible products to local markets faster.

The Sage Migrator will enable Sage CRM’s Australian business partners to develop a migration service competency to help their customers grow while simultaneously creating new customer acquisition opportunities for the channel.

The Sage Migrator is priced from AUD$705.00 to AUD$1,699.00, per time-based user licensing, and will be available nationally from 1 July 2006 with the following migration packs: ACT! by Sage (versions 6, 7 and to Sage CRM, SageCRM.com and Sage CRM SalesLogix. A migration pack for Goldmine (version 5 and 6) to ACT! by Sage, Sage CRM, SageCRM.com and Sage CRM SalesLogix will also be available.

Filed under: Sage