Sage has invested a great deal in the release of MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 to deliver another useful business reason for their customers to maintain their annual software subscription/maintenance agreements. As a part of their investment, they have made a tremendous effort to educate everyone about the benefits of the software and to their credit, the release was shipped on time. Now that it is in our hands, we’ve started our own testing and evaluation and will be sure to keep you updated.
Archive for the 'MAS 90 and MAS 200' Category
With the release of MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 Sage has published the new Supported Platform Matrices (SPM) for both MAS 90 and MAS 200. A departure from releases in the past, there are separate documents for version 4.4 and prior versions. While it may not affect a large number of users, another departure with the 4.4 SPM is the absence of support for Novell.
You can find the current SPM (including references to Windows 7 compatibility: 4.3 and 4.4 will be supported, earlier versions will not) by following these links:
MAS 90 version 4.4
MAS 200 version 4.4
MAS 90 versions 3.71-4.3
MAS 200 versions 3.71-4.3
The unfortunate news at this point is that Windows 7 compatibility is not supported for MAS 90 or MAS 200. The good news is that Sage is continuing testing and plans to issue “additional details” during the month of March. We’ve anticipated the compatibility announcement would follow the release of version 4.4 and there have been no surprises to this point. You can read the official Sage statement addressing Windows 7.
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.
We offer a combination of classroom and on-site training to help managers and users save time and money by getting more familiar with the features of their software. Here is a list of the upcoming courses scheduled for the classroom:
Core with Payroll: February 8 – 12
Core without Payroll: February 8 – 11
Introduction and System Manager: February 8
General Ledger: February 9
Accounts Payable: February 10
Accounts Receivable: February 11
Payroll: February 12
Data File Structures: February 15
Introduction to Crystal Reports: February 16 – 17
We maintain a very flexible training schedule. If you are looking for a particular course, let us know and we can work together to make adjustments.
With the pending release of MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4, I thought it would be appropriate to direct your attention to the pre-release guide Sage issued in November 2009.
At 40 pages, it is a hefty document that outlines the features Sage’s development team is working to include. The final feature list will be included in the shipment with the official release notes.
As the Q1 2010 ship date approaches, we will highlight some of the features. You can also register for the upcoming webinar, What’s New in Sage MAS 90 and 200 Version 4.4 on February 9 by visiting the Sage Webcast Center.
Remember, with a current software subscription/maintenance agreement with Sage, version 4.4 will be shipped to you automatically.
What features are you looking forward to seeing with this release?
Each quarter, Sage releases or extends some promotional pricing for a variety of modules or scenarios. Here is a list of the latest promotions minus the fine print.
New!
- Off Plan customers can upgrade to Sage MAS 90 or 200 v4.4 or migrate to Extended Enterprise Suite and save 20% on lapsed plan fees OR add-on modules
- On and Off Plan customers with a Value Plan who migrate from Sage MAS 90 and 200 v3.71 to Sage MAS 90 and 200 v4.4 or Extended Enterprise Suite will receive a $1,000 plan reinstatement credit
- On and Off Plan customers with an existing CRM product can trade in their current stand-alone CRM solution and receive 25% off migration to Extended Enterprise Suite
- On Plan customers save $937 on the Productivity Tools Bundle: Custom Office, Visual Integrator and KnowledgeSync Enterprise. In addition, they receive the Sage MAS 90, 200 and EES Fundamentals of Custom Office UDFs Anytime Learning course for free!
Extended
- On Plan customers can enroll in Sage Payment Solutions and get a free Credit Card Processing module ($1,100 value)
- On Plan customers save $475 when purchasing Payroll and Direct Deposit together
- On and Off Plan customers can take advantage of 0% financing on migrations to Sage MAS 90 or 200 Extended Enterprise Suite
If you have questions about any of these promotions, let me know by leaving a comment below.
Even with the release of the latest Supported Platform Matrices, we have not received any official statement from Sage regarding their support for running MAS 90 or MAS 200 on Windows 7.
However, a discussion in the MAS90 and MAS200 Users and Consultants group on LinkedIn has provided a little insight. It seems the next service update, scheduled to be issued in March, will support Windows 7 for version 4.3. I have to restate that this isn’t an official endorsement from Sage, but two Sage employees provided confirmation in this unofficial discussion group. The version 4.4 release of MAS 90 and MAS 200 is also expected to support Windows 7.
Windows 7 is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. While MAS 90 and MAS 200 are not being released as 64-bit applications, if all goes as expected, MAS 90 and MAS 200 will run in either environment.