RKL has put out some information on the future of Sage 500 here:

www.rklesolutions.com/.../sage-500-review-2014

Thanks for this.  Another question.  If we are looking for a Sage product with open architecture, Sql, could we stick with Sage 100 and get a version with Sql?

Sage 100 Premium ERP uses Microsoft SQL. You can read about the different versions of Sage 100 here, but I don't believe it has the full manufacturing suite: www.rklesolutions.com/sage-100-erp

Thank you for your question. Before making a determination about your next move, please consider the following:

Sage 100 ERP announced their 2015 release just yesterday which includes over 80 usability enhancements. You may want to review the details of that release prior to making any other determination.

Sage 500 ERP is still considered an active product in the portfolio.  There is no determined or announced date at which we would discontinue support for this product and it is still available for new license sales or migrations.  This product like many others over the last several years has seen a slow down in new feature development as it is currently a stable and highly valuable solution.  Incremental improvements based on customer requests are still included in ongoing releases as well as technology updates and the introduction of related connected services designed to help customers expand or improve their business.  This product too is anticipating a 2015 release by the end of the year.

We are investing heavily in some select products for the future such as Sage ERP X3 that may warrant your consideration depending on your requirements and desires for the future.

In any case, we want to make certain we are delivering the solution that best meets your current and future needs.  Should you have any questions or concerns regarding any of our solutions, please feel free to reach out to a Sage representative and we will be happy to discuss your requirements in detail to help you make your determination.

[email protected]  is a good resource for your Sage 100 MFG questions - he works almost exclusively with MFG in the Sage 100 world and is a "go to" resource for many with MFG questions. He has created an add-on or two that work with Job Ops which is a beefy integration meant to extend Sage 100 MFG. He is not 100% impartial due to this but is a great resource if staying Sage 100 ERP is in the cards.

What are you looking to do that you are being blocked from doing by Sage's providex database?

For Sage 500 Doug Hart/RKL are likely your best resource as they've doubled down on that product line in terms of acquisitions/support/etc.

Paula

Sorry for my very 'succinct' replies yesterday; I was in the middle of a project but wanted to provide you with some quick information.

Linda and Wayne both make valid points. Migrating from one ERP system to another always comes with some functional trade-offs. The users will always find some features that they 'loved' in the old system which are not available in the new system. And there is always a significant time commitment on both the internal project manager and the users to ensure that the proper data is migrated, that the new system addresses the perceived weaknesses from the old, that users are well trained before 'go-live', etc. So migrating to a new system is something that requires you to go in with reasonable expectations.

To provide some perspective -- I cut my teeth on Sage 100 (back when it was called MAS90/MAS200) as an end user for a few years before starting my consulting career with it in 2000. Around 2005 I started transitioning to MAS 500 (now Sage 500) and have worked almost exclusively with 500 for nearly a decade.

Many clients frowned upon the proprietary PVX database offered with Sage 100, but most of the time I found those people were in IT roles and the thought of maintaining a foreign database was a little intimidating. I'm not saying you fit that mold, I'm simply sharing what my experience has been. Having said that, I think there have been somewhere north of 80,000 installs of MAS90-Sage 100 over the years, so there is a fairly significant user base out there today. The benefit of PVX is that it does not typically require a dedicated database administrator, which is more prevalent in shops running SQL-based applications.

I think the more crucial issues at hand, rather than the underlying DB platform, are which system provides the best match to your business needs and who can you rely on to guide you through the implementation and provide reliable support down the road. At the end of the day you want to find a competent VAR who will be a true business partner, not just another vendor, who takes the time to learn your business needs first, and can then recommend the best system for your  specific long-term needs, and commit an internal resource to be the project manager (during implementation) and then Subject Matter Expert (for in-house on-going support after implementation).

Wayne:

Thanks for the kind words re: RKL!

Paula,

We are also a Sage 100 ERP Partner and represent an add-on for this product JobOps as well. We could talk about both Sage 100 and Sage 500. http://www.jobops.com/

We are still actively selling and support Sage 500. It is still a viable solution. We just want to make sure we get all of our disclaimers on the table about where the product is currently positioned in the Sage portfolio. The blog post that Doug provided you and the great response from Linda above should give you that story.  

Lots of great information here to mull over.   I am beginning to wonder what the advantage of having sql database is.  If someone has developed a providex based custom module for us, would there had been any advantage id our database was sql insofar as the portability of moving the maintenance and enhancement of the code to another programmmer?  I have always felt a bit like a prisoner to a single/sole Providex programmer and feel stuck.  Is this myth or fact that having a sql product would give us more flexibility in finding programmers for add on modules.

To have a true add-on, the underlying database upon which it resides is less significant than having access to the application layer's source code itself. There are plenty of reputable Master Developers for both Sage 100 and Sage 500 who have access to the respective program's source code.

Can you cite specific functional shortcomings of Sage 100 for which your company needs to solve? I think that's the real crux of the matter that has not yet been addressed in this thread.

The real cruz is that the head of the company wants "modern software" that will take us into a growth cycle and that would have many years of stability.  He is under the impression that MAS200, Sage 100, is old school with it's Providex database and we would have more flexibility with possible inhouse manipulation of data for analysis or development of software with a open database, sql.   Since I am a licensed trained MAS200 support person i use Visual Integrator, Custom Office, etc.  But I am not a sql programmer.  The other major issue, is that MAS200 (Sage 100) does not have an emphasis in manufacturing.