Summary of Change |
Detail |
New 10 digit partner ID |
Partners will receive a new 10 digit partner ID and can login to the new
Partner Portal using the logon and temporary password that will be
provided. |
Phase out of legacy partner sites |
The legacy sites will remain in place with static content from February 28,
2011 through March 18, 2011. On March 18, 2011, old URLs will re-direct to the
new portal and the old partner sites will no longer be maintained. Relevant
existing content will be available on the new portals and new information will
be posted as it becomes available. |
Browser support for new Partner and Customer Portals |
Browser support for the new Partner and Customer Portals is restricted
to Internet Explorer (with support of IE 6,7, and 8) as some of the
portal functionality will not be available through other browsers. |
New security for Sage Partner Portal |
There are three levels of security within the Sage Partner Portal:
- Manager
- Employee with Buy/Sell
- Employee
The primary contact for each partner will be assigned as
the Manager
which is the highest security level. The Manager has
administrative
rights to make changes and set security levels for other contacts. All
other contacts will be added to the new Partner Portal with the role
of Employee. The Employee role can view individual customer
information
if a reseller of record relationship is established between the partner
organization and customer, but does not have access to any range of
customers and cannot access
customer lists. This will be covered in detail during the Partner
Portal training in February and March. |
| Scope of customer conversion |
Sage will be converting customers that have been active during the previous two
years for Sage Peachtree, Sage DacEasy, and Sage Timeslips and the previous
18 months for Sage ACT! Active is defined as having a transaction with
Sage during that time period.
|
| Account information |
Basic
account information is available to partners, including address and
contact information, partner contacts, products owned, service
contracts, support tickets, and transactions.
|
| Lead and opportunity management |
Leads and opportunities can be managed on the Partner Portal to help manage your prospects and pipeline.
|
| Online quotes and orders |
Online
quote and order functionality is not enabled with this rollout
and is being considered for a future release. All channel partners
orders should continue
to be placed at sbdcc.sagesoftware.com. Beginning in March, your Sage
representative will reach out to you to obtain a standard credit card
to be used for all order submissions moving forward.
|
| Quote, order, and shipping confirmations |
Automated
email confirmations will be sent to the “Bill To” contact
each time a quote or order is processed. A shipping confirmation will
also be emailed at the time the order is shipped. Activation codes will
be included and can also be accessed via the customer account on the
Partner Portal provided that a reseller of record relationship has been
established, if applicable. Due to the fact that these customer
communications are sent via email, it is imperative that customers have
accurate email addresses on file with Sage. We would appreciate your
help in ensuring that Sage systems are maintained with customer email
addresses.
|
| Payment options |
eCheck and ACH payment functionality will be available for both partners and customers.
|
| Lapsed Partner Care Agreements |
Partners
with lapsed Partner Care and Certified Consultant Agreements
will not have entitlement to place orders or receive support. It is
important to renew all agreements on or prior to the renewal date. With
the new business management system, partner renewal reminders will be
sent in the form of a reminder. In order to renew you must contact Sage
upon receipt of the renewal reminder to renew your plan by credit card
or terms if terms are established on your account.
|
| Customer online renewal |
Customers will be able to renew their annual plans
through an on-line Autogen eStore.
|
General requests and support requests |
Partners will now be able to use the new Partner Portal to log general
requests and support requests. A general request is a non-technical
request and a support request is technical product inquiry. General
requests are automatically routed to the appropriate department and
function within Sage based on the type of request. |
| Enhancement requests |
Product Enhancement Requests can be entered in a general request on the Partner and Customer Portals.
|
Visibility into support tickets
|
Partners
will have the ability to view their support tickets on the Partner
Portal whether submitted directly on the Partner Portal or through
Technical Support.
|
Additional partner forums |
Effective February 28, 2011, partners can access additional forums on
the Partner Portal. Access will vary by product line and partner type. |
| Central knowledgebase |
Knowledgebase articles for all Sage products will be accessible in one
location as each business unit goes live on our new system. Access to
the knowledgebase articles and content will not require an additional
logon process.
|
Advanced Partner Portal search capability and automatic email updates |
Partners can search the Partner Portal knowledgebase and access to
content will be made available based upon their product authorizations.
Advanced search capability includes documentation, downloads, price
lists, marketing materials, competitive information, sales collateral,
etc. Automatic updates are emailed to partners who subscribe to content
when that content changes. |
Payroll tax table updates |
Payroll tax
table updates can be downloaded from the knowledgebase. Due to the fact
that this is a common download, a quick link will be provided on the
home page of the Partner Portal. Payroll tax table updates for Sage Peachtree can be done through the product itself. |
Product information downloads |
Current
version logos, box shots, and prior version information can be
downloaded from the documents section of the knowledgebase.
|
| Marketing information and Sales tools |
Marketing information and Sales tools can be downloaded from the documents section of the knowledgebase.
|
| Reporting capabilities |
Multiple
reporting capabilities exist in the Reporting Center, including account
activity details, account activity summaries, and more. Only those
individuals with the CP Manager role assigned will have access to the
Reporting Center. We encourage you to attend one of the training
courses offered for the Reporting Center to learn how to take full
advantage of these reports.
|
| If I have questions who can I contact? |
We
encourage you to continue working with your respective Sage partner
representative. Additionally, you can utilize our Partner Portal email
(partner.portal@sage.com) for any questions, comments, and/or concerns. |
