Sage 300 People, Human Resource and Payroll Software

If I can offer valuable advice - if you are looking for Payroll and HRM software, with reliable after sales service, do not choose Sage 300 People/ Sage Software.

To those of you who are not fami**** with sage 300 People, specifically the “HR and Payroll Program” set-up - the system must get configured according to your Company needs. This configuration is contracted to “Sage Business Partners.” Sage allows a Three-month period for system set-up, prior to active billing - i.e. you cannot use the function/ module(s) until such stage when set-up has been completed(Your system must go “live” before you can use any part of it). Such a set-up requires a lot of dedication from the project Team (Sage and Client). It is also a costly Program to purchase, have set-up, and maintain.

The cost and time are something the Client signs up for. However, what you will not know, until after you have entered contractual agreement and made payment, is that you will not get any assistance from Sage in a after sales capacity, and the set-up will only be as good, as the support that you get throughout the project.

From a Client perspective we are currently in a situation where a three-month timeline (contracted time for set-up) has passed, and we have entered active billing - in other words you pay monthly, to use Sage software, in accordance with modules which Client had set-up. Sage has been kept updated by me, throughout the project, on the concerns, which included that we did not know the status of out project, as the business partner, responsible for the system configuration kept on cancelling scheduled project updates and did not respond to queries raised. Another Programmer took over, when we had about a month left of our set-up time. Aforesaid replacement also occurring at random, without acknowledging or providing any plausible explanation for project delay(s). Even though the query, as to why we have not met project configuration time(s), was raised. When it became clear that we will not meet the Three-month project set-up timeline, I notified Sage, send them the initial project plan that we received from the Business Partner. Later I also send them the updated Project Plan, given to us by the newest assigned Programmer, who took over, which clearly shows that our System has not gone “live” yet, and that certain modules, purchased, did not have any configuration planned, yet.

It has been a month since I have escalated the evidence that we will not meet with project set-up time frame, and we will be entering into our second month of active billing. We still cannot use our System, and do not know at what stage it will be fully set-up.

This review comes after I have tried the entire month, to get Sage to assist/ resolve the matter. I have made Weekly follow-ups, via email and telephone calls, on which I have had a total of Two responses, basically relaying that it has been escalated. The other times my follow-up emails/ calls went unanswered.

Do some research before you consider Sage software (check all the reporting sites, not just the Sage Profile), there is a reason why Sage South-Africa has an unhealthy number of negative reviews. You do not want to be stuck in a project, which takes very long to set-up, without plausible excuse, and you especially do not want to have to beg Sage for something that you paid for. There is more cost-effective software available, and even if it does not have all the capabilities that Sage has, I can promise you if they have after sales customer service, you still be better off.