There is a range of Sage Cloud products available on the market, better known as belonging to the Sage Business Cloud family. In this blog, we will be going through the different Sage Cloud products available, the differences between these products, and how you can make an informed decision on which product you should be investigating further. All of the products we will be talking about have their own individual benefits that will suit some businesses more than others. But first, let's talk about the Cloud.
Why Cloud?
There are a number of benefits to using a Cloud-based solution over an on-premise solution, one of the major ones being a much higher ROI. Regardless of whether you go for an on-premise solution or Cloud computing; implementation, training, and customisation costs are standard throughout. Typically, it can seem that the upfront purchase costs of an on-premise solution compared to the ongoing subscription cost of a Cloud-based solution is a smaller investment, however, you must take into account the 'hidden costs' that come with an on-premise system. These hidden costs include hardware, IT personnel, and ongoing maintenance all of which are not necessary for a Cloud-hosted platform. You also get free upgrades with Cloud solutions, this can save businesses a lot of money per year, on-premise solutions can rack up some serious costs for upgrades, which are necessary to keep being able to use the platform efficiently.
The Cloud allows flexibility for businesses, something which businesses are currently realising is incredibly important given the current climate. A Cloud solution allows businesses to access the system from anywhere, at any time, ideal for scenarios where your staff need to work from home.
Cloud Connected VS True Cloud
I will be talking about four products in this blog, two of them are 'Cloud Connected' and two of them are 'True Cloud'.
True Cloud in relation to finance software is a solution that is native to the Cloud, aka, built entirely on the Cloud. Everything within that solution is accessible by Cloud and stored on the Cloud, thus making it 'True Cloud'. Cloud Connected on the other hand means that the solution has Cloud functionality or Cloud elements. For example, Sage Business Cloud solutions such as Sage 50cloud and Sage 200cloud Professional have the word 'Cloud' in their name, however, they are Cloud Connected products, because, despite their Cloud integration with Office 365 they are ultimately on-premise solutions. A good example to explain the difference is data; data on a true Cloud solution is stored in the Cloud, data on a Cloud-Connected solution is stored locally.
Sage Business Cloud Solutions
Sage 50cloud
The first Sage Business Cloud product we will be talking about is Sage 50cloud. With three different versions available, Essentials, Standard and Professional, Sage 50cloud is ideal for small businesses and can be used by all industries. Now, Sage 50cloud is actually installed on a desktop and is an on-premise solution but it is a 'Cloud Connected' solution due to its integration with Office 365.
Some features of the Sage 50cloud and Office 365 integration include:
- Remote access to Sage 50cloud data
- Automatic data backups to OneDrive
- Contact integration
- An app which lets you take pictures of your receipts with your phone and import
Sage 50cloud is a great basic business management solution with features such as a Sales/Purchase Ledger, Nominal Ledger, Stock, Purchase Order Management, Sales Order Management and projects. You can read more about Sage 50cloud, here.
Sage 200cloud
There are two versions of Sage 200cloud, one is entirely Cloud-based, Sage 200cloud Standard, and the other is similar to Sage 50cloud where it is 'Cloud Connected', with data being hosted in the Cloud, Sage 200cloud Professional.
Sage 200cloud Standard
Sage 200cloud Standard is a purely app-based deployment, fully on the Cloud, aka, a 'True Cloud' solution. It is ideal for growing businesses, with the added benefit of being able to access your company data from anywhere at any time. One of the benefits of Sage 200cloud Standard is that it is a scalable solution, allowing you to choose which features and functionalities you need, you can add or remove just about anything to suit your businesses needs. Sage 200cloud Standard is more of an entry-level into Sage 200, with limited functionality; you can only get under half of the modules in Sage 200cloud Standard than you can in Sage 200cloud Professional, however for some businesses this is perfect.
The features available to Sage 200cloud Standard users include Financials, Payments, Business Intelligence, Connected Users, powerful dashboards and reporting from Power BI, Excel Reporting, Contact integration with Outlook (see your customer and supplier info within Outlook) and Commercials.
To read more about the differences between Sage 200cloud Standard and Sage 200cloud Professional, click here. To learn more about Sage 200cloud Standard, or to request a demo, click here.
Sage 200cloud Professional
Sage 200cloud Professional is aimed at small to medium-sized businesses and is a powerful business management solution. Like Sage 50cloud, Sage 200cloud Professional is desktop hosted with Cloud-Connected features such as its integration with Office 365. We spoke about the Office 365 integration in the Sage 50cloud section and the same applies here.
Sage 200cloud Professional includes all the features in Sage 200cloud Standard. On top of those features, there are a few big extras, such as Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing and Services, Bill of Materials, Project Accounting, and Excel Reporting on the go.
Sage 200cloud helps businesses improve efficiency and cut costs, it allows you to make much smarter business decisions. To learn more about Sage 200cloud Professional, click here. We also offer a free Sage 200 Product Tour, which can be accessed here, and completed in your own time.
Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct is Sage's flagship Cloud product. Entirely Cloud-based with a powerful API and out of the box integration with Salesforce, Sage Intacct is the best of breed accounting solution with no compromising on capability. Sage Intacct helps you gain visibility over your entire business, real-time reporting, industry role-based functionality, and the flexibility to allow businesses to scale and adapt as it grows. The reporting capabilities in Sage Intacct is one of the features we were most excited about. Within Sage Intacct, you have the ability to analyse across dimensions and time periods, build your own custom financial statements easily and drill down to see the details behind the numbers.
To learn more about Sage Intacct, click here. We also offer a Sage Intacct product tour, where you can see an overview demo of the product, here.
Conclusion
To conclude, we understand that it can be a bit daunting to look at what your next business management solution should be. We have a range of resources that you may find useful such as our blogs or on-demand webinars. We have on-demand video demos on all of the products we've mentioned above, which you can find on our webinar and events page, here.
We also have an on-demand webinar called 'Sage in the Cloud' which is an in-depth look into Sage 50cloud, Sage 200cloud, and Sage Intacct, lead by our MD, Hannah Munro. This on-demand webinar covers everything we've talked about in this blog in much more detail and may be a great way for you to decide which product is right for your business.
If you would like to speak to a Sage Specialist about your current situation and what your options are please feel free to get in touch with us.
We are a multi-award-winning, platinum Sage Partner, specialising in Sage 200 Professional, Sage 200 Standard, Sage Intacct and Sage 50 accounting solutions.
At itas, we believe in working in partnership with you to deliver the perfect solution that you want and need. We will design a tailor-made business management solution specifically for you and your business, giving you the freedom to focus on what you do best.
