Sage PFW ERP Set to Retire March 2014
It’s been on the horizon for years, but Sage has officially announced that Sage PFW ERP will officially retire March 31, 2014. The end-of-life process to discontinue the solution has already begun and left many users wondering about what’s next.
It’s important to know that software is discontinued for a variety of reasons, such as aging technology and lack of support by third party providers. In Sage PFW ERP’s case, Sage has stated that the level of functionality provided by Sage PFW is the cause for its retirement. After witnessing many customers migrating to systems with more functionality and benefits than Sage PFW, Sage decided that now is the time to retire Sage PFW after a successful run.
Why? For starters, many customers are now turning to better enterprise resource planning solutions, such as Sage 100cloud ERP, Sage 300 ERP and Sage ERP X3. These solutions have deep functionality built into their core and are able to interface with both Sage Connected Services (Sage’s cloud add-ons) and Sage Common Solutions. These solutions are also supported by a large number of vendors, guaranteeing less disruption and better service for users. Sage believes that these products will better meet the needs of its customers, particularly in the services, manufacturing and wholesale distribution industries. Sage PFW was also written on a platform that is no longer being supported by Microsoft, which means further development for either program will become increasingly difficult, and inevitably impossible.
So what does this mean for companies using Sage PFW?
It means that at some point your software will become obsolete – but how quickly that will happen depends on many factors – too many to detail here.
You’ve probably already received a call from announcing the retirement of Sage PFW ERP. If you have not, expect to receive a call shortly. Sage will be running bi-weekly seminar for concerned Sage PFW users to introduce customers to other Sage solutions, offer migration plans, and provide users with resources to help them through this transition. Regular updates for Sage PFW are still slated to happen throughout 2013, as you can see below:
Sage PFW ERP Updates (2013)
February 2013: PU2 Program Fixes Only v.5.9.2
September 2013: FINAL PU3 Program Fixes Only v.5.9.3
December 2013: 1099 Updates for 2013
March 31, 2013: End of all products updates for Sage PFW ERP
Our immediate recommendation is that on plan customers stay on plan to ensure continuing support for their business-critical Sage PFW system as they consider migration options. In addition to continuing to receive program updates and migration options, customers will also continue to receive a higher trade-in value through the Sage Investment Protection Program and dual-system support during the migration process.
We also strongly encourage companies using Sage PFW to contact us as soon as possible to discuss your needs, options, and to develop a game plan. Although Sage will discontinue support for these products, we can continue to support you and possibly even help extend the life of your systems. However, that will take some advance planning, and we strongly suggest that planning process start now. It also makes sense to know what all of your options are. With the advance of newer ERP systems, many companies have taken advantage of Sage’s migration offer, and already moved to more powerful solutions to help their businesses stay ahead of the curve.
Contact us so we can discuss your options, and develop a plan that will work for your companies needs.
Designed for the small to midsized company transacting business throughout the global marketplace, Sage PFW ERP is an award-winning financial and process manufacturing solution that meets the complex challenges presented by transcontinental accounting and manufacturing. It offers a full suite of built-in process manufacturing applications ideally suited for process manufacturers specializing in paints and coatings, specialty chemical, consumer packaged goods, foods, and nutraceuticals. Improve efficiency and unify processes even in the most complex manufacturing environments.
For live and pre-recorded webcasts and demos on Sage PFW ERP click here.
Serving municipal areas in the Southeastern United States including: Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; and others.
| Having the right partner made a world of difference when it came to implementation. Emerald was only out here three times during the entire set-up process. Even more remarkable was the fact that Emerald didn’t have to be on site the day we went live. That’s just unheard of when you’re installing an enterprise-wide business system the size of Sage 500 ERP.Jim Gilbride, Vice President, Buckeye Distributing, Inc. |