Beyond all of the news surrounding the release of MAS 90 and 200 version 4.4, Sage has also issue a public product roadmap. This 17-page slide deck outlines the release plans for product updates one 1 and 2 (formerly known as service updates) for version 4.4.
According to this plan, the SQL server database support will be available with Sage MAS 200 version 4.45 targeted for Q4 2010.
Version 4.5 is targeted for Q3 2011 and should include an intuitive “Undo” function for everyday transactions. This release will also allow the tracking and collection of debt from past due accounts with support for national accounts; electronic payments to vendors; electronic delivery of AP checks and vendor deposits; and up to 25 years of paid invoice data.
The roadmap also reinforces the product retirement plans for version 3.71 (September 30, 2010) as well as 4.0, 4.05, and 4.1 (September 30, 2011)
Since Sage’s notice as a response to Microsoft’s decision to discontinue development of FRx, there has been a great deal of speculation as to what the ultimate outcome would be. During a recent discussion in the MAS 90 and MAS 200 Users and Consultants, Erik Kaas (Director, Product Management at Sage Software) confirmed that Sage has “established an OEM 
relationship with a business intelligence (BI) vendor (Alchemex) that offers advanced financial reporting, operational reporting, and advanced OLAP analysis capabilities.” He went on to explain Sage MAS customers (I assume only those with current software/maintenance plans) will be licensed for one free user of Alchemex with the option of purchasing additional licenses. He also made a point to note Sage will work on keeping future releases of MAS 90 backwards compatible with FRx.
Jacqueline Li (Product Manager at Sage) clarified that it is Alchemex’s Smart Reporting Stack (with a similar drill-down function to FRx) that will be available but the development plan includes bringing Analytics and Web Reporting along for MAS 90 users. are under construction. Erika Jelovsek (Senior Product Manager, Sage) further clarified that the free license will be released later in the calendar year as a product update after the initial release of version 4.4.
Sage has been quite vocal about the release of version 4.4 for MAS 90 and MAS 200, now scheduled for release on February 15.
Previously we shared the Pre-release Guide, a 40-page document covering every detail of the system enhancements planned for inclusion in the release. If you didn’t find the time to read each page, Sage has published What’s New in Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.4?, a more concise (5 pages) overview of the release.
Sage has also unveiled a Version 4.4 website and FREE What’s New in Version 4.4? Anytime Learning (click on the What’s New tab and log in or register), an audi0-visual walk-through of the enhancements.
