Belfast, Northern Ireland: +44 (0) 2890 668585 Dublin, Ireland: +353 (0) 1 465 9690 info@sherwoodsys.com
Sage 200 Ireland Certified Reseller including HR, Payroll, CRM & Construction – Sherwood Systems Sage 200 Ireland Certified Reseller including HR, Payroll, CRM & Construction – Sherwood Systems
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Company Overview
    • Our Partners
  • Sage
    • Sage 50
      • Moving from Sage 50 to 200
    • Sage 200
    • HR
    • CRM
    • Payroll
      • Sage 50 Payroll
      • Sage Micropay
  • Industry Solutions
    • Construction
    • Manufacturing
    • Not-For-Profit
    • Government
  • IT Services
    • Cyber Security
    • Disaster Recovery
    • Cloud
    • Infrastructure
    • Implementation
    • Support
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Contact

Sage

  • Home > Blog > Sage
  • Top reasons to move to the cloud

    Moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud is gaining popularity, but some companies remain on the fence whether to make the switch or continue with an on-premise system. There are many benefits to consider that may tip the scales in favour of migrating to the cloud, especially now that the power of Sage 200 Professional is available on the industry-leading Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure.

    How cloud computing will improve your business

    According to the Cloud Industry Forum research, customers sited the following benefits:

    1. Invest in your business, not hardware. 72% of UK companies surveyed saw decreases in operational costs*. When you have a traditional, in-house data centre, you become beholden to maintaining hardware. While updates will help keep everything current for a short time, eventually the hardware will become too aged to continue. Replacing hardware gets expensive, and there will be a need to budget for new equipment on a regular basis. The result is, you must balance investing in hardware versus other areas that could grow your business.
    2. Focus on growing your business. Managing existing IT infrastructure is time-consuming, at times unpredictable, and requires specialised personnel to manage it. With cloud computing, you enable a trusted cloud service provider to manage the complexities of security, upgrades, and maintenance for your business critical applications, such as Sage 200, freeing your team up to run and grow the business.
    3. Respond for business continuity. 65% of businesses surveyed believe cloud working offers them the agility to seize opportunities, and respond to risks*. For a business to grow it must be flexible, agile and have the ability to respond and react to market opportunities, as well as threats. With cloud computing, business leaders can access vital business intelligence in real-time. Data-driven decisions from anywhere, at anytime is a distinct business advantage, as managers can explore new opportunities and/or mitigate risks.
    4. Leverage the latest technology. 70% of UK companies surveyed believe by accessing critical business applications in the cloud, anytime, anywhere offered them financial stability* – which in turn, offered a greater competitive advantage. As the company grows, a traditional system can be difficult to expand as needed. You may not have the storage capacity, available users, or even new functionality and compliance that the latest release offers you. Moving to the cloud better enables the scalability that you will need to keep up with the network growth demands. A cloud-based system eliminates that problem by offering scalability in a flash.

    Now is the time for a cloud-based solution.

    Making a move like this is a lot to think about for your business and your customers, but we’re here to help. We can answer any questions you and your team may have about the transition.

    Speak with one of our experts today

    *Research from the Cloud Industry Forum (https://www.cloudindustryforum.org/content/uk-cloud-adoption-rate-reaches-88-finds-newresearch-cloud-industry-forum)

    Sage 200 Professional 2022 R1 – What’s new?

    Sage 200 Professional 2022 R1, released in February 2022, ensure customers benefit from new web screen functionality and new features to support customers’ sales processes.

    Web screens

    New web screens offer an enhanced user experience and greater flexibility. You can now manage your sales orders, quotes and finances on a browser, – giving you that true cloud experience.

    New features

    Sales orders

    Review more information on your sales orders, see your order line item discount values. Improving efficiency and account management View previously applied discounts direct from the order to better support your customer conversations, and to demonstrate you know your customers’ business for true relationship management.

    Quotes

    Introduction of cross sell, suggested items and alternative items for quotes, direct from the new web screens. Personalise the customer experience and boost every sale. Show you know your customers business and increase your opportunity with personalised quotes

    Print sales orders and quotes

    Create an attachment to send via email and/or print your newly created sales orders and quotes, from web screens, direct to your customers. Improve your sales & quote process and never miss and opportunity. Wherever you are, you can simply raise a quote/order and print/email to necessary parties. No waiting to get back in the office, no risk of forgetting to ‘send’. Access your sales order and quotes, anywhere at any time and email and/or print to communicate better with your customers.

    Web screen preferences

    Ability to remove, re-order columns and remember selection – works on a per user and per company basis. Enhance your productivity with customised view of day-to-day data aligned to your processes. Now you can customize web forms to see the data and information relevant to your role, while saving your ‘view’ to ensure day-to-day you can access Sage 200, set up to optimise your working day.

    Expanded API fields

    Building out the ability to connect your product with a wide range of additional solutions available from our ISV Marketplace. Updates to the API include functionality for Sales Orders and Quotations. Automation and simplicity – giving you more choice. The new API extensions open the door to a wider ecosystem of ISV solutions to connect your business and enable you to build a truly bespoke solution to suit your businesses specific needs. Share data seamlessly between systems, removing the need for manual intervention

    Supported environments

    It is vital Sage adapt and update Sage 200 to maintain the latest security protocols and user experience. In response to Microsoft’s announcements on changes to their supported platforms, Sage will be retiring the following supported platforms; Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 11 from this release onwards. With this release, Sage 200 will be adding Windows 11 to our supported platforms and removing the reliance on Internet Explorer.

    Flexible cloud deployment option for new and existing customers: The Sage Partner Cloud program offers partners a flexible path to migrate Sage 200 Professional customers and offer new customers a quick and secure method to deploy Sage 200 Professional into a partner owned Microsoft Azure environment.

    Download the full Sage 200 Professional 2022 R1 datasheet

    Sage 200cloud Summer Enhancements 2019

    Sage have announced the latest enhancements to Sage 200cloud in their Summer 2019 release, focusing on Microsoft Office 365 integrations, VAT Compliance and improved bank reconciliation:

    VAT Reverse Charge Compliance
    Sage 200cloud now ensures you’re up to date with the new VAT Reverse Charge legislation commencing 1st October 2019. For more information on the VAT Reverse Charge and what it means for you, you can read our explainer here. Sage 200cloud will now offer MTD currency alerts for customers who are not operating in GBP or EUR and is compliant with MTD (Making Tax Digital) as well as permitting tax code abilities and text on invoices.

    Microsoft 365 Flow
    Microsoft Flow is a cloud-based software which enables building out of the box flows simply and effectively to automate your business processes, saving time and money. Microsoft Flow can be used to allow automatic emails requesting purchase requisition authorisation as well as notifications. Audit logs showing when a colleague has made changes to supplier bank details are also available as well as email notification to users with access to the Audit Log.

    Bank Reconciliation Improvements
    The latest release will reintroduce the ability to part reconcile a bank transaction. They’ll also be adding the URN on the bank reconciliation screen.

    Document Attachments
    Sage are continuing to improve document attachments. You can now attach documents when viewing sales invoices, credit notes, GRN etc.

    More enhancements
    Contact Details on Supplier/Customer Listing
    Sales, marketing and service migration to Sage 200 CRM
    API Extension and new onboarding

    For any further information or to upgrade to Sage 200cloud, get in touch today on +44 (0) 2890 668585 for NI or +353 (0) 1 465 9690 for ROI.

    Written by Sam McDonald

    3 Ways Construction Job Costing Software Can Improve Your Profits & Increase Growth

    Many construction firms today contend with increasingly narrow margins and many more difficulties associated with boosting productivity. In a heavily saturated market, estimated to be worth 12.7 Trillion US Dollars globally by 2022, construction software is fast becoming vital to achieving a competitive advantage.

    McKinsey Global’s 2017 study estimates that the implementation of digital technologies across the construction sector would result in a 14-15% improvement to the industry’s productivity.

    This article will detail our top three ways that job costing software can improve your profits and increase growth, allowing your business to stay competitive.

    Improved Estimating Accuracy

    Probably the most obvious of ways job costing software can increase profits, being able to breakdown all costs associated with a project, enabling you to more accurately estimate. New projects happen in various phases, meaning each phase may have several associated costs such as labour, materials, equipment etc. By using job costing software, you gain the ability to truly understand these costs on a project basis and ensure you never take on a project which results in you losing money.

    Increase Growth & Reduce Risk

    Construction firms today operate in a risky landscape with extremely tight profit margins. As a result, many firms keep their bids moderate. The concept being that a £10,000 loss is better than a £100,000 loss. Modern construction software enables you to ensure that every new project increases profits. You may not win as many contracts, but accurate quotes, with a time-saving bid process, allows you to bid for more jobs with the peace of mind that your numbers are correct.

    Business Intelligence & More Accurate Future Quoting

    Business Intelligence is becoming increasingly more important in many B2B software packages today and construction software is no different. Over time, as you accurately cost projects with the software, you can gain major insights into both profits and overheads, even at the task level. This information not only allows you to improve the accuracy of your quoting in the future, by comparing estimates with actual figures, but also allows you to see which areas are the most profitable. For example, you may find your firm isn’t particularly competitive on groundwork but IS for electrical labour.

    Conclusion

    Construction job costing software is fast becoming a necessary investment for competitive construction firms trying to increase profits and operate effectively in a tight industry. As previously discussed, construction software grants you a wide-range of benefits including accurate job costing, correctly allocated costs, business intelligence etc. All these factors contribute greatly to reducing risk throughout the business, allowing you to focus on the bottom line; improving profits.

    Written by Sam McDonald

    Blogs By Category

    • Client Feedback
    • Construction
    • News
    • Other
    • Sage
    • Sicon
    • Technology
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap

    GET IN TOUCH

    Belfast: +44 (0) 2890 668585 Dublin: +353 (0) 1 465 9690
    info@sherwoodsys.com