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Sage CRM vs Salesforce.com

We have recently been awarded a couple of projects from clients who were also considering Salesforce.com. Salesforce dominates the CRM industry, so why did they decide to use Sage instead? When Sage CRM wins out, it is because of Sage’s key differentiators. Let’s breakdown the differences between Sage CRM vs Salesforce.com.

Message to reader: I am not a Salesforce.com subject matter expert to any degree and I’m sure it is awesome. My points are based on the feedback I hear from clients that have used both, and Salesforce.com service providers I know. – Dan

Sage CRM vs Salesforce.com
Salesforce
Sage CRM
Deployment

Salesforce: Web-application hosted by Salesforce.com.

Sage: Web-application that resides on servers the client controls. Sometimes that server lives at the client’s facility but typically the server hosted by a provider (AWS, Azure, or private).

Flexibility

Salesforce: Creating new fields is somewhat easier, but the overall system is comparatively more rigid.

Knowledge of Apex programming is a must if you need to implement complex business use cases/scenarios like business data input to execute business logic, etc. Knowledge of LWC for UI customization is needed and Apex as well if required to do any complex calculations on screens on a real-time basis. With Salesforce.com, it can be difficult to implement complex integrations with other systems.

Sage: Configuring Sage CRM to meet the unique requirements of a company happens with every Sage CRM project. With Sage, you can make the solution your own, either through deep configuration options or through customizations. You will find examples of customizing Sage CRM throughout this website as well as integrations with third-party systems. Customizations are done through Active Server Pages (ASP), .NET, ASP.NET, and Javascript.

Integration with Accounting

Salesforce: Sage 100 and Intacct.

Greytrix’s Salesforce.com to Sage 100 integration is a strong option and turning into the market leader, but it is not nearly as deep as the Sage CRM to Sage 100 integration.

Intacct is a more recent add-on to the Sage portfolio and a pre-existing relationship with Salesforce.com.  Greytrix publishes the default integration between Intacct and Salesforce.com.

Sage: Sage has built-in integrations with the various Sage accounting solutions including Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300, X3, and Intacct.

Typical size

Salesforce: Salesforce can be used by just 1 user, but tends to be more popular with larger companies (50+ up to 1,000s of users).

Sage: Sage CRM is applicable for systems used by somewhere between 6 and 150 users. The sweet spot seems to be between 10 and 50 users, though there are exceptions with over 1,000 users.

Pricing

Salesforce: Has a variety of editions, ranging from the cost of a cup of coffee per month per user to “OMG, didn’t any of you look at alternatives to Salesforce.com [aka Sage CRM] before committing us to this super expensive contract”.

Sage: Licensing is approximately $33 to $39/user/month. With Sage, there is no concept of tiered pricing. Even a single license gives you access to everything in the Sage CRM toolbox. 

Companies that have Sage 100 or Sage 300 are entitled to their first user license at no charge.

Check out our pricing calculator.

When you want to break up

Salesforce: It seems hard to break up, for 2 reasons I have observed.

Problem #1, Salesforce.com has your data. And while exporting data is an option, if you wanted to export ‘all your data’ including communications and documents, then there are significant challenges. 

Problem #2: The strict contract renewal process results in companies needing to time their exit from Salesforce.com very well.

Sage: Sage CRM sits on a server you control and uses an MS SQL database. You have complete control of that database. If your organization decides to move on, that is totally up to you.

As for the Sage contract, generally, it is month-to-month and you can opt-out at any time or scale back on the number of users in your subscription. 

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