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Trainpipe - Sage TrainingNumber 1 for online Sage training. Learn how to use Sage quickly and easily from the comfort of your office/home. We specialise in Sage line 50, Sage Payroll, Sage Instant and ACT! by Sage. Screencast Sage TrainingOur online Sage training comprises a series of training movies that can be viewed from your own office or home 24 hours a day. Our online Sage training courses allow you to learn at your own pace, and gives the ability to watch your purchased courses on demand. Learn Sage and reduce your carbon impactBy learning Sage online, we can reduce your carbon footprint as no time and money is spent travelling to and from training centres. The online Sage training material can be viewed over and over so that you make the most out of your training costs. Sage coursesLearn Sage Line 50, Sage Payroll, Sage Instant and ACT! by Sage. We offer a set of FREE training courses to get you started. You can then purchase additional training material when it conveniences you. Sign up to Trainpipe today and learn Sage now! ACT!With more than 2.5 million individual users and 35,000 corporate customers, ACT! by Sage is the number one selling contact and customer management solution worldwide. The ACT! Product Family offers a range of solutions geared to individuals, small businesses, and corporate workgroups or teams to assist in increasing individual productivity, improving sales performance, and providing key insight into all customer interactions. Sage offers flexible deployment options including Windows, Web-based, and mobile access solutions to provide timely access to critical contact and customer information. ACT! is renowned for exceptional end-user adoption, low overall total cost of ownership (TCO), and high return on investment (ROI) for both individuals and organizations. Learn ACT! now! Sage Line 50The entry point into the range, Sage Line 50 Accountant 2007 has all the standard features you need manage all your customers and suppliers professionally. As well as helping you to balance your books and control your VAT, Sage Line 50 Accountant Plus has all the tools you need to keep track of your materials and manage your stock. The advanced capabilities of Sage Line 50 Financial Controller 2007 make it the ultimate business management software, helping you make smooth work of sales and purchase order processing, manage your stock and operate in foreign currencies. Learn Sage Line 50 now! Sage PayrollSage Payroll is the latest edition of the UK's leading payroll software for small and growing businesses. Sage have worked closely with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to introduce new processes that make it easier to manage your compliance requirements. Sage Payroll is now even easier to use and, with a new look and feel similar to Sage Line 50, you can also benefit from improved integration between the two. Learn Sage Payroll now! Sage InstantProcessing employees' payments is something every employer has to do. Designed specifically for small business in the UK, Sage Instant Payroll is a simple, easy to use package that enables you to process your employees' wages without the need to understand the complexities of payroll legislation. Learn Sage Instant now! Start Learning NowClick here to download our Sage line 50 training software. Start Learning NowClick here to download our Sage instant training software. Start Learning NowClick here to download our Sage ACT training software. Learn About SageThe Sage Group plc (abbreviated Sage, LSE: SGE) is engaged in the development, distribution and support of business management software and related products and services for medium-sized and smaller businesses. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and from time to time been the only UK software company listed in the FTSE 100 Index. HistoryDevelopment of the businessThe Company was founded by Graham Wylie, David Goldman and Paul Muller in 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne to develop estimating and accounting software for small businesses. While a student at Newcastle University Graham took a summer job with an accountancy firm funded by a government small business grant to write software to help their record keeping. This became the basis for Sage Line 50. Next, hired by David Goldman to write some estimating software for his printing company, Campbell Graphics, Graham used the same accounting software to produce the first version of Sage Accounts. David was so impressed he joined with Graham and academic Paul Muller to form Sage, selling to first to printing companies but then to the wider market. Growing weary endlessly driving a Chrysler Alpine up and down the A1 they decided to establish a network of resellers who they could support by telephone. In 1984 the Company launched Sage software, a product for the Amstrad PCW word processor, which used the CP/M operating system. Sage software sales escalated in that year from 30 copies a month to over 300. The Company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. In 1994 Paul Walker was appointed Chief Executive. In 1998 Sage's Professional Accountants Division was established. In 1999 Sage entered FTSE 100 and launched a dedicated Irish division, based in Dublin as well as its e-business strategy. In that same year the UK acquisition of Tetra saw Sage enter the mid-range business software market. In 2000 Sage shares were named 'best performing share of the 90s' in the UK business press. In 2001 Sage acquired Interact Commerce Inc and entered the CRM/contact management market and in 2002 Sage won 'Business of The Year' in National Business Awards. Also that year Sage sponsorsed the new Music Centre in Gateshead for £6m - now known as The Sage Gateshead - the largest ever UK arts/business sponsorship. By 2003 Sage was the only remaining technology stock in the FTSE 100 Index. In 2003 at age 43 Graham Wylie retired with 108.5 million shares in Sage worth £146m. he was rated Britain's 109th richest person in the 2002 Sunday Times' rich list. Major acquisitionsThe following are the major acquisitions the Company has undertaken:
OperationsFounded and headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, the company initially grew organically, but more recently has grown primarily through acquisitions. It now operates worldwide. The company's US headquarters are in Irvine, California, the Canadian headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and the French and Continental European headquarters are in Paris, France. StrategyFollowing the formula that worked for them in the UK, Sage's pattern is to acquire one or more of the leading entry-level accounting packages in a country then adds to its portfolio products from the next few tiers upwards until it achieves a dominant market position. As well as the benefits of high market share, this purports to provide an upgrade path for customers that outgrow their systems (or have their system 'killed off') thus retaing them over time. While Sage gives the impression through their marketing of a carefully-positioned 'family' of products within each market this is often not the case with either overlap or gaps frequently occurring. There is rarely any attempt beyond the occasional token utility to provide compatibility between different products so users hoping to move from one product to another are faced with a completely new implementation rather than an upgrade in the true sense of the word. Aside from the Sage brand itself and the use of numeric names there is often little in common between products. They will face a different code base, data architecture, user interface, and often reseller to support them. Sage is content to have massive duplication of accounting products across its range from country to country without being tempted to rationalise. According to Sage's website the only global accounting/ERP products in their stable are the Adonix ERP X3 product originating from France and Accpac which was already widely used outside its home market of the USA, although it is not offered in the UK or Europe with the exception of its CRM which is bundled with Line 500 to form Sage 1000. Sage is slow to kill off products but once new sales for a product begin to slow down development is slowed down. Products with an old architecture and dwindling user base will have support withdrawn. This is in keeping with Sage's very conservative financial policy which keeps a tight rein on development costs of even its current line up. For example flagship products like Line 500 have gone for substantial periods with only token improvements in some areas of the product. Sage has bought a number of companies that offer horizontal solutions - CRM, Business Intelligence, Payroll/HRM, Retail/POS etc. and these have been interfaced or integrated with a number of products across geographies to add value and to round out their solutions. The company in recent times claims to be focusing on vertical market software. The clearest evidence of this is the purchase of several software companies focusing on construction, accounting practice management, not-for-profit and retail. In most cases, though, these products seem to be quarantined to their existing geographic markets even when in the case of construction they make acquisitions in both the USA and the UK. Within these markets there can often confusing overlap between separately acquired products. It is however clear that with such a broad base of products and users that overall Sage is far from a vertical specialist. TriviaThe name Sage was chosen when at lunch in a pub, Graham Wylie was taken with a poster showing a botanical drawing and description of the uses for the common herb of the same name. The numbers that appear in product names reflect a notional maximum size of company, measured by number of employees, whose needs may be met by the software. This is sometimes wildly optimistic. ProductsSage's products include:
SponsorshipThe Sage Group is a patron of The Sage Gateshead, a new Tyneside music venue designed by Sir Norman Foster. 
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