Sage Cloud

Sage Launch Cloud Product: 4th time lucky?

Despite dominating the SME on-premises accounting software market for over 25 years, Sage have struggled to find traction in the brave new world of cloud hosting. Initial attempts at licensing its best selling Sage50 software through the specialist hoster, Online<>50, gained little traction. The subsequent launch of the same product through the Accountants reseller channel, similarly, was expensive and gained little market share. The specially written scaled down new product, Sage One, sold direct, was better but missed early mover advantage, and has constantly been chasing the functionality and popularity of rivals Xero, Clearbooks, Liberty Accounts, etc. Following its launch in the States during Summer 2015, Sage have now launched a new product in the UK, Sage Live. Compared to Sage One, it has much more functionality, including a CRM module, a more comprehensive dashboard and a better front end app user interface for mobiles, tablets, smart watches, etc. So will Sage’s 4th attempt to secure some of the cloud SME market be more successful than its previous attempts? Time will tell, but the entry of a quality product from a trusted brand into the market may well increase the overall cloud market size, as cautious users finally convert their accounts function away from local hosting.

Blog entry by: Stephen Malkin

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.