With the latest release of Sage 300 ERP 2019 and Sage CRM 2019, the new web screens offered in Sage 300 ERP 2019 are really offering some solid functionality and stability. Here are a few highlights from the Sage Summit session, “Sage 300 ERP 2019 & Sage CRM : The Road Ahead”.

Sage CRM Integration Enhancements

The predominant area of enhancements are housed within the new web screens that deliver Sage 300 data to Sage CRM users. The web screens were released as part of the Sage 300 cloud offering, and those screens must be configured as part of the Sage 300 cloud installation in order for the Sage CRM integration to work, starting with version 2019. Here are a few examples:

• The ‘inquiry’ screens that present Sage 300 data to CRM users have been enhanced. For example, users now have the ability to open an O/E (Order Entry) Inquiry screen, view a list of results, and then sort and filter results based on the grid headers. This makes it easy to sort by order date date or one of the header fields- helpful.
• The Quote>Order>Invoice process has been built up to more closely match the Sage 300 experience. Users can now create, review, and edit quotes and orders in CRM. Additionally, users can now also ship AND invoice an order in Sage CRM, and can see more order information that was previously exposed using the old web deployment technology. Additionally, users now have the ability to print and email an invoice from within CRM now.
• Security: user-level security setup exists for the combination of user and Sage 300c database. If your Sage 300 installation is multi-company, this is especially critical. Additionally, there is now the ability for your IT team to take advantage of the fact that Sage is using “O Auth” authentication. One single credential can be set for multiple applications, offering a single-sign-on experience.
• Any web screens that exist in Sage 300c can be delivered in CRM with a bit of customization.
• However, with the web screens come some limitations as well. The formerly used ASP pages have been deprecated. With the CRM .NET API used in the latest version, the code used to generate the screens is not at all exposed. Therefore, the screens cannot be customized. So if you had any customizations in your ASP pages, they will not be upgraded or incorporated into the web screens.

Sage 300 ERP 2019 enhancements (for Sage 300 cloud deployments):

• Adhoc inquiry: Sage 300 web screens now have the ability to save queries as report templates. That means you can query the Sage 300 data, and share those results as query templates with other colleagues.
• Global search: global search allows you to search across all records and all transactions. While there have been some reported issues here with performance, it could be related to database size.
• End of Life: The Sage 300 portal, Sage 300  web deployment screens, and Sage EFT Direct AR/AP modules are being retired. Most DataQuest customers typically use the EFT module provided by Orchid systems, so this should not be a concern.

Sage 300 ERP 2019 road ahead

There are some compelling features on the horizon for our Sage 300 ERP customers.

• An integration with Outlook: Sage is now offering an Office 365 “Sage Contacts” panel that is displayed as an Outlook side panel. The tool shows customer data from Sage 300 ERP. The tool works based on finding a match between the email address in your inbox and the email address for the contact record on the A/R customer screen. While the tool is slick, there are a few gotchas:
  • The data shown in the “Sage Contacts” panel cannot be customized at this time.
  • The company must have an O365 business premium account, Enterprise 1,3, or 5.
  • Azure Active Directory must be used to control the security based on user.
• Scheduled for 4/2019: Web SDK grid simplification
• Scheduled for 12/2019: enhancement to online help to be indexed and discoverable with a web search.

Thank you to Sage for investing in the integration and sharing the latest news with us.