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Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 25 Apr 07 9:33 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d Hello,
I have a request from the Saleslogix, CRM community as a whole. We support and develop are a large Saleslogix deployment, with over 100 named users, and many concurrent users.
We have a support contract with Sage, and don't receive regular support through our business partner. Is that a normal approach? Do people find that for larger installations that Sage support is required?
This open sound-off is an invitation for your opinion. Who supports YOUR Saleslogix install?
Thanks,
bln |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 25 Apr 07 3:18 PM
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fiogf49gjkf0d I do not know if that is a normal approach.
We have ~500 named users. Our support issues are first routed through our BP. If our BP can not figure it out they escalate the issue to Sage. RARELY do issues get escalated to Sage. |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 25 Apr 07 4:31 PM
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fiogf49gjkf0d Originally posted by blnSupportContract
.......
We have a support contract with Sage, and don't receive regular support through our business partner. .......
Thanks,
bln |
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It varies .. there are someplaces where the partner does it all and others where the partner has little involvement.
What is important is for the partner to keep their clients informed on what is going on. This means bug info, what's new and great, etc. The advantage that a partner has over any end client is tha the partner has access to technical resources that clients cannot get. Specifically, the Partner News Group and other (partner) experts.
With that said, there are a lot of partners that really only "sell" but do very little implementation/services.
One of the largest (in number of seats/Slxdb's and countries) SalesLogix clients (for NDA reasons I cannot tell you who it is) has 99% of everything outsourced to the BP. This includes development/support/training/installation. We are talking of a few thousand seats 
Why do they do it?.. because they feel they get a better bang for the dollar that way.
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rjl |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 26 Apr 07 3:24 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d In the UK it's differernt - you cannot purchase support directly so customer has no choice but to use BP (and we generally do a good job !!). However, customer is at liberty to move BP's as and when they like - and they will move if they don't get good service. |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 26 Apr 07 8:05 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d We have a support contract with Sage. When we first started we would go through our BP and they were not very responsive, plus they charged us for every little thing!!!!
At some point we figured out that we had the direct support contract with Sage and started using that (since we paid a yearly maint and support fee)
I have found SLX support to be excellent and they are much better (and very responsive) than the support the BP was attempting to give us.
John G. |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 26 Apr 07 8:51 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d First, some BPs want to just sell and don't have the skill sets to do heavy customization.
Likewise, some customers want to call for everything and never want to pay. Sage is the recommended solution in both cases.
As a bp, we try to establish long term relationships and offer several support senerios.
Sage is far better at resolving Office or Outlook issues quickly and its not cost effective for me to deal with individual pc issues. Some customers only need this.
Likewise several of my customers are 75% custom, and they feel Sage support doesn't buy them anything so we do everything.
In a few cases a we offered a mixed support plan, they go to Sage initially and come to us if response is unsatisfactory.
If we need to call support, or poll the community, we do that.
Keep in mind that the problem to be solved very ofter is based on a faulty premise, sometimes its purely technical, but more often its based on the client environment or the chosen approach created the problem. The BP will always have the advantage in these cases since we are familiar with the environment typically and have the freedom to introduce other technologies into the solution. And very often the solution is a rubber stamp of another proven project.
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 27 Apr 07 4:03 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d In the UK we do not have a choice, Sage will not provide direct support so we rely on a BP. The support we get from our BP has in the past been very poor. This was due to the fact that our internal Sales Logix support is very good (I have been working with the product since version 3), so we only pass the dificult problems up to the BP. In most cases these problems then need to be escalated to Sage, as they relate to bugs in the core code. The escalation process with our BP has been very poor, and commuication has not been as good as it could be. In these circumstances, the BP seems like an impediment to getting the support we need from Sage. |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 28 Apr 07 6:44 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d Mike has a good point there.
There is no "right" answer here, and as you have discovered there are a number of BP's who participate on this group. I am sorry that you did not get good support from your BP, but if you did not do your homework before hand to discover that you were buying from a "lightweight"... what can anybody say?
(Actually there IS one thing I will say and that is don't be bashing all of the BP's because you picked a dud)
Having worked with the product over the last 10 years, I have found Sage support (like most software companies) to be spotty. Sometimes it is great, often not. It's luck of the draw on who answers the phone. If you have a difficult question to ask and you get a newbie, you are toast.
As Lane said - if you are running vanilla product, or have issues with core features - Sage is your best bet.
If you have a complex environment or are heavily customized then they have limited ability to help you.
The deeper you have implemented CRM within your company (and the more value you are getting out of it), then the more likely you will want to have a Business PARTNER help you.
It really is not an either / or situation. Each type has its uses and advantages. The customers that I have enjoyed working with the most have had both types of support - this way when they have routine and or product bug type issues, they call support. When they got into more elusive issues they would come to us.
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 28 Apr 07 7:27 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d Good points Walt!
Like in everything.. there are good.. bad.. ugly... This applies to Partners as well.
I've posted this same recommendation in many forums (public and private):
Try to work it out with your BP.. have a frank discussion of your needs and requirements. If you are not satisfied then it's time to "fire" your BP. Contact Sage SalesLogix Customer Support (in North America - I do not know where you go in the UK, etc.)) and ask them to get you a list of recommended BP "replacements" in your area.
There are a lot of us (partners) out there going the extra mile. This site is a good example of that "extra mile" that Ryan takes. How many other places do you see where "competitors" post to an openly and provide free advice?
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rjl |
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Re: Sage Support or BP Support for Saleslogix?
Posted: 29 Apr 07 6:18 AM
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fiogf49gjkf0d Same in UK - customer is at liberty to change partners at any time (not just at renewal). They can either approach Sage direct or the Business Partner direct - they then write a simple letter to Sage and the transfer is done ! |
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