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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Distribution Special Interest Group (DSIG) - Our breakout session was well attended with support from Sage being supplied by Joseph Hari. A variety of issues were discussed. A lot of time was given to the Packaging Waste Module, we would like to hear from any other users, especially anyone who is using it successfully. Other issues discussed were the Warehouse Management and Returns Modules - Sage were tasked with a number of issues relating to these, and we look forward to their response.

A discussion followed around the subject of direct access to Sage for "Level3" issue resolution. Various points were made including the possibility of provision of access to a Sage knowledge base, Sage support desk, direct access to Sage expertise and the reseller when issues are escalated.

Finance Special Interest Group (FSIG) - has its main meetings away from the Main Meetings see the Calendar of Events, it still likes to bring some issues to Main Meetings based upon prior discussion of subjects it would like to see addressed, and take up with Sage representatives present. Members can keep up with FSIG through its web page in the Members Club.

Manufacturing Special Interest Group (MSIG) - watch out for a sharp increase in interest in the activities of MSIG Members as Sage start to look at the issues relating to manufacturing, and try to identify best of breed products in this sector. MSIG will be taking a keen interest in these activities, and will want to contribute.

Reporting Special Interest Group (RSIG) Well attended meeting by ISTUG members - Joely Wakefield – Sales Operations Manager in attendance

Update on Business Objects from last RSIG Meeting - Meeting opened with progress on Business Objects. Consensus of the group was that overall, take up of the product was restricted by;

  • Cost
  • Potential heavy reseller involvement
  • Steep learning curve

Reporting Tools in Use - update - Some users in the group using ODBC into Excel.

COGNOS also used in the group, un-defined problems being experienced by one new user. The main drawback of COGNOS being the labour intensive data dictionary or "catalogs" preparation.

Some users using Informix reports.

Crystal Reports being used by some members. Problems with new licensing restrictions from free runtimes to a mandatory client licence on the latest version. Email received from QAF Meats ( Australia ). Online viewers will be able to see the full text supplied.

David Patterson suggested the reason for Sage moving towards Analyst Financials rather than other well known reporting tools was perhaps more of a commercial decision and not solely based on end user requirements. Whilst Report Writer is a supported module, Sage are evaluating Analyst Financials but are open to looking at the market place. A Reporting Awareness Day was proposed and this is to be arranged by Sage. This will be open to the ISTUG members and will be an additional event to those already planned by ITSUG. It was thought that by combining all potential report writing tools in a one day presentation would provide an instant comparison between them. It was suggested an end user experience / implementation presentation would be useful, using the DbArchive model used by Johnston Press.

All Points of Contact for the SIGs can be found on the ISTUG web site at www.istug.com

ASCENT WORKFLOW - was demonstrated by Stuart Welsh of Ascent Technology, this was very much a live demonstration of the product, linking to Sage data, and reporting actions taken interactively within the Sage system. Online readers can view the presentation notes, and a .pdf file about the product. We have also included information about this product in our Technology Blocks section in the Members Club knowledge base.

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