Sage Abra SQL HRMS

Partner WebcastNovember 18, 2008

Welcome…Live from Sage Summit 2008!

Karl Grass, Sr. VP Employer SolutionsJeffrey Williams, VP SalesJohnny Laurent, VP Support

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Meeting Agenda

• The Focus is on Sage Abra SQL• Why Abra SQL?• Making Abra SQL the Lead Offering• What This Means to You, the Business Partner• Ensuring Business Partner Success• New Support Tools and Programs• Support Resources• What’s Next?• Live Q&A

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The Focus is on Sage Abra SQL

• We are making it our lead offering in FY’09 for NEW customers

• What this means for Sage Abra partners

• What we are doing to ensure your success (and ours) with Abra SQL

• New resources, tools and programs available now

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Why Sage Abra SQL?

• Abra SQL sales opportunity = the >300ee battleground– Technology tends to be more important in decision– Overwhelming IT preference for SQL Server– Competitors have it

• Path of future with Sage Abra– Overcome technical barriers (including SQL) to beat

competition– Next generation Sage Abra will use the Abra SQL payroll

processing engine

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Making Sage Abra SQL the Lead Offering

• All leads are assumed to be Abra SQL opportunities• Lead qualification criteria now includes company

size and SQL requirement• Primary marketing and sales activities for NEW

customers will be based on Abra SQL 8.x (not Sage Abra Suite 7.x)

• The Abra SQL product is “ready for prime time”• Partner readiness to handle Abra SQL• Sage readiness to support partners with Abra SQL

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What This Means to You, the Business Partner

• Invest with confidence in Abra SQL–3 levels1. Marketing and selling

2. Installation

3. Implementation

• Choose the level that makes sense to you, we will support you

• With this commitment– New Abra SQL opportunities will be directed to you – You will gain new license and consulting opportunities– Participants will receive higher level of resources

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Partner Participation Opportunities

1. Marketing and Selling– Product, positioning, demo, sales process and tools training– Sales assistance from Sage– Receive Abra SQL leads from Sage– Full margin on license sales– Resell implementation and installation services

2. Installation– Technical certification to configure customer environment and

install Abra SQL

3. Implementation– Technical certification to set-up and configure Abra SQL– Standard implementation methodology– Implementation assistance from Sage– Resell implementation services

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Ensuring Business Partner Success

The Next 6 Months:• Dedicated team of Abra SQL experts will support the

entire process – from pre-sale through implementation

• Series of detailed launch activities building on v8.4 started in July ‘08– Sales, product and certification education and information

opportunities– Today is the first in a series of Webcasts through May 09,

the next will focus on v8.5 in December 2008

• Sales resources available now– Dedicated solution experts and new demo facilities

• Services and Support resources available now– Dedicated technical resources, in-depth training – Installation and Implementation resources

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Sales Resources

• Dedicated Pre-Sale Solution Experts– Reinaldo Camera – RSM/Partner Abra SQL deals– Kate Vaughan, Melanie Knox – RAM/Partner Abra SQL deals

• These experts can quickly leverage subject matter expertise as needed on each deal:

– Product Management– Services and Support– Payroll and HR expertise

– Top priority is Abra SQL

• New Abra SQL Demo Facility– Always available over Internet– Fully configured v8.4– New demo data with Auto-refresh– Available to partners who are certified on v8.4

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Services and Support Resources

• Dedicated Abra SQL Team

– Who are they?• Joe, Clay, Lynn, Patrick, Will, Jim, Russ, Chris, Eric, and Brian• Represent Professional Services, Training, Technical Services,

and Support– Supported by Product Management, Curriculum Development,

Engineering, Documentation and Quality Assurance subject matter experts

– What’s their experience?• Active part of the Abra SQL Payroll product since its inception• Senior members of the Support and Technical Services staff• 1000+ hours of Abra SQL and Abra SQL Payroll training • Sage Accpac ERP payroll certified

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Resources

• Dedicated Team (continued)

– How will they support you?• Collaborate with Sales and Presales to provide support for each

proposal

• Provide direct line for Abra SQL support

• Create collateral to support the process

• Accpac and Code Partners alliance

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Tools

• Virtual PC DVD (VPC)

– Provide an installed VPC image containing standardized demo data

• Install on any computer and explore anywhere, any time

• 2003 and 2008 versions available

– Shipping November 24th to certified partners– Includes directions on acquiring TechNet Direct ® license

• Incremental cost of $349 to Microsoft® and includes:– 2008 and 2003 Windows Server Standard Edition license– Windows® Vista– Windows® XP– And more

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Tools

• Training Sandbox– A 15 user Applianz box– Partitioned for individual BP access– Fully loaded with demo data– Static data until manually refreshed

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Tools

• Community Site– A forums based site

• Share best practices

• Pose community questions

• Brainstorm ideas

– Supporting collateral

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Tools

• Documents and Training Tools– Implementation guides– Data structure documents– Process how-to documents– Getting started guides– Project planning guide– Anytime learning– Recorded Web Ex– Many others …

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Programs

• Certification Programs– Marketing and Sales (I.e., Conducting a demo, pre-qualifying

a prospect)– Installation (I.e., Hardware and software requirements)– Implementation (I.e., Configuration, methodology and tips)

• Education Opportunities– Instructor led classroom certification courses– Regularly scheduled Web-based training exercises to help

increase product expertise– Pre-determined and ad-hoc training topics– Anytime learning courses– Community site

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How to Get Involved?

• Abra SQL Payroll certified partners– An email is being sent at the end of this Webcast giving you

full instructions on how to get engaged– Dedicated support line direct to this team– Forums will be available in new online community– VPC DVDs are shipping November 24th

• Non-certified partners– Your RAM or RSM will contact you with information on next

certification class– Attend a certification class

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What’s Next? Sage Abra SQL v8.5 Launch in December!

• Launch Webcast – December 18, 2008– Watch for an email invite

• Launch Highlights– V8.5 product

• New features (pay history in ESS anyone?)• Ability for Abra v8.3 customers to add SQL Payroll module• Performance improvements

– Product plans for the next 6 months– All new Abra SQL sales tools– Training and education schedule– Partner incentives!

Questions & Answers