Smith Cooper attend Sage Summit 2016

Last week we attended Sage Summit 2016 in Chicago. This was the first time we have attended such an event and we were really honoured that our company was one of the few UK Sage partners in attendance. The events and sessions provided were a nice combination of Worldwide, European and UK based, so it was great to not only be representing Smith Cooper but also to be representing the UK region at various points.

One of the main criticisms often levelled at Sage by competitors is that it is “old hat”, surviving purely on the strength of its brand and customer base.  The sheer scale and ambition demonstrated by Sage at this event absolutely blew that theory right out of the water. All in attendance could not help but feel energised by the strong positive messaging and strategy presented. The talk was very much not of “catching up” but more of leapfrogging competitors and driving ahead of them which was great to hear.

You will no doubt be aware of the A-list speakers (Richard Branson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher etc, – for the record Gwyneth was the best) all of which were engaging, entertaining and inspiring, but there were also some great technical innovations announced and presented including Sage 50 office 365 integration, Sage Live (awesome product – watch this space in the coming months as it hits the UK properly), the new X3 People Payroll and HR system and Pegg Sages new “bot” (“Hey Pegg, can you run my aged debt report”)

Aside from the main event, there were some lively breakout sessions and the exhibition hall (Sage Village!) was really something to behold. Sage Summit was genuinely a really fantastic event.

There is no question in our mind that Sage, as we know it, is changing at a rapid pace. To us, this is a positive change and absolutely in line with what we see in the market day today.  Smith Cooper are happy to be in the vanguard of this transition.