Sage moves to rebrand software packages

Sage resellers have commended the accountancy software developer's decision to re-brand its products, Sterling and Sovereign, but do not believe the changes go far enough.

By January 1998, Sage Sterling will become Sage Line 50 and Sage Sovereign will become Sage Line 100. The products will feature new packaging and literature, but functionality and pricing will not change. The move is designed to shift focus away from product brands and place more importance on the overall Sage brand.

Mark Searles, Sage UK marketing director, admitted that customers had become confused over product lines. He also said the move would give resellers more potential to add value to customers: 'Because we work on a channel model, we want to make sure our resellers are empowered to give customers the best possible systems.' Searles said the product names would be standardised across Europe for consistency.

But channel observers want greater compatibility between products in the run-up to EMU. Sage produces different software packages for different local markets.

John Tate, managing director of accountancy software reseller Tate Bramald, said Sage's strategy of having different products for different European markets would prove increasingly complex for re-sellers using a single currency.

'Sage's customers are big, international companies with offices all over Europe. Having different products in different countries complicates the issue. This is a step in the right direction, but it sounds rather superficial,' said Tate.

Searles said Sage was looking at the issue of standardisation, but there were no immediate plans to do so across Europe. He said there were still 'significant differences' between local markets.