Mobile
Sage Helps Bring The Power Of Windows 8 To Small To Medium Sized Businesses
Press Release
Launch of Sage 50 Accounts Pulse creates a new era of Connected Computing for SMBs.
9th November 2012 – Business software and services provider, Sage Ireland, today unveiled one of the Ireland’s first business apps to be made available on Windows 8 – Sage 50 Accounts Pulse.
Sage’s pioneering app has been designed to deliver top-line financial information to Owner Managers and company Directors, who don’t necessarily have accounts software expertise but who need to monitor cash flow, profit and loss, customers, and suppliers.
With its friendly and intuitive interface, Sage 50 Accounts Pulse gives users greater financial control and effortless business insight on demand.
“At Sage, we are focused on giving our customers the freedom, confidence and control they need to achieve their business ambitions,” explained Lee Perkins, Managing Director of Sage UK’s Small Business Division. “Our technology agenda has always been driven by innovation that responds to customer needs and we believe Windows 8 has the potential to transform how businesses can search and share data and enjoy unprecedented value from Connected Computing. This app not only allows existing customers, but also new users in a wider variety of roles, to access the data they need in an easy, meaningful way, whenever and wherever they choose, enabling them to do their job even better and to efficiently manage their business.”
Jay Paulus, director of product marketing, SMB, Windows, Microsoft Corp. added, “We are confident that Sage’s business software and services will help extend next-generation mobility to small and midsize businesses across the world. Sage’s innovative and intuitive apps are a great example for how businesses can benefit from Windows 8.”
Posted under: Sage 50 Mobile – For All You Android Fans Out There
By Paul Thompson, Sage 50 Support Team Manager
I was always a fan of the iPhone (and still am I suppose) but I have to say, there was something about Android devices that really interested me. Apart from the freedom, flexibility and choice that Android devices offer, I really liked the fact that the screen size on most Android devices tends to be bigger than that of the iPhone. It’s funny that the trend has gone from having the biggest mobile device possible to the smallest and now back towards the biggest devices again. Where will it all end? But to be honest, when I bought my first Android smartphone I think I just wanted something different from the norm. Clearly I wasn’t alone. Over the last year or so my team have been inundated with requests from customers asking ‘When will Sage 50 Accounts be available on Google Play?’.
Sage Shortlisted In Two Categories In The Dot Net Visionary Awards 2012
Sage Ireland is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted as a finalist in two categories at this year’s Dot.ie Net Visionary Awards. The awards, organised by the Irish Internet Association and now in their 14th year, will take place at the National Gallery of Ireland on Friday, 28th September. Over the years, winners recognised for their vision include Jerry Kennelly, Dylan Collins, Pat Phelan, Ray Nolan and many more.
Sage has been nominated in two categories at this year’s awards: ‘The Most Indispensable Cloud Service for SMEs’ for Sage One, and ‘Best Mobile Service or App for Fast Moving People’ for Sage 50 Mobile.
CEO of Sage Ireland, Liam Mullaney said: ‘We are delighted to receive two nominations for this year’s Dot.ie Net Visionary Awards. Both Sage One and our Sage 50 Mobile App demonstrate the investment that Sage has put into meeting the needs of our customers who want to access their accounts information online or on their mobile. Our Sage 50 Mobile app has had over 4,500 downloads across Ireland and the UK which is indicative of the positive response of our Sage 50 customers to the app. Our Sage One product is a simple online accounts and payroll solution which is perfect for start-ups and small businesses so we are extremely flattered that it is considered as an indispensable cloud solution because this was exactly our objective when we developed this cloud offering just over a year ago’
CEO of the Irish Internet Association, Joan Mulvihill, commenting on the record number of entries for the 2012 Dot ie Net Visionary Awards said: “2012 is shaping up to be a truly stand-out year for the Dot ie Net Visionary Awards. Each year we review the categories to make sure that they are reflective of the pace of change within our industry. The purpose of the awards is to encourage innovation, recognize excellence and reflect the scale and scope of the industry within twelve carefully crafted award categories. By keeping the number of categories to just twelve, the Dot.ie Net Visionary Awards are most difficult to win and so all the more coveted as a result. The judges have done a fantastic job in selecting the shortlist and I sense already that Friday the 28th is going to be a really exciting night”.
Five Steps To Appyness
By Simon Bell, Product Manager at Sage
With a background in mobile I am often asked about Apps, what the opportunity is around them and how a business can best profit from the investment that they make in their development? While the app concept is relatively simple and certainly not a new one by any means it is difficult for businesses to sometimes understand how they can best design these and get those high download volumes they so desire. So in an effort to create a sensible approach to the question of apps I have come up with five things to consider when delving into this area;
1. Apps Should Add Value
Potential end users will only pick up something and use it if it adds value for them in their day to day lives. The greater the value added the longer and more often that the app will be used. This might seem completely obvious to many but sadly there has been a temptation succumbed to by many app developers to go for the simple quick win option and develop throw away apps that get a flash of attention and then disappear into the ether.
Mobile Marketing – Seven Tips To Get You Started From The Mobile Marketing Conference
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media and Content Specialist at Sage
Photo taken from Michelle O'Keeffe presentation at the Mobile Marketing Conference
I attended the Mobile Marketing Conference held by the Digital Marketing Institute on 16th August and the quality of the speakers was excellent. I really enjoyed the conference and my two personal favourites were Michelle O’Keeffe from Yappy Mobile Advertising and Julian Douglas of entertainment.ie. Here are some tips and ideas for mobile marketing which I picked up at the conference.
1. Make Mobile Part Of Your Digital Strategy
Mobile penetration in Ireland is at 107%. Yes, there are more SIM cards in Ireland than people. We Irish love our mobile phones. Some people have two phones, one for work and one for personal use. In any case, given this rate of penetration it seems obvious that mobile should be part of every business’s digital marketing strategy.
2. SMS Is A Good Option
As Eric Daly from Plus Mobile pointed out, Smartphone penetration in Ireland is at 43% but you can still market to people that don’t have a smartphone by using SMS marketing. 97% of recipients will read an SMS ad within 15 minutes of receiving it and those that are going to respond will do so within 60 minutes. The average response rate is 10%-15% which is very good when compared to email and direct marketing response rates.
3. Collect Mobile Data
If you want to target customers using SMS then you need to ensure that you collect their mobile number and keep them in some type of spread-sheet or customer database and if possible segment your database by age, sex, location, type of phone etc., for potential future campaigns you may want to carry out. Update your customer data collection forms (online and offline) to include a mobile number field. Also ensure that you ask for permission to contact them electronically and an opt out must be included in every SMS message you send. Don’t send more than two texts per week during peak season and four per month off peak or you will just annoy your customers.
Sage Sponsors Building Brics: The IIA Annual Conference 2012
Sage will be exhibiting at the Irish Internet Association Annual Conference which will be held Thursday May 10, 2012 at the Aviva Stadium.
The conference includes 8 interactive workshops running throughout the day with lots expert speakers and case studies at each. This year the theme of the conference is “Enabling Business Expansion” and will focus on social media, localisation and mobile.
The conference is aimed at;
- Tech Business Owners strategizing for international growth in BRIC countries
- Business Owners localising their business proposition for international markets
- Business owners selling via mobile and taking advantage of mobile enabled technologies
- Marketing Professionals using Social Media in International markets or for Online PR and Brand Management or to optimise Search
The conference will equip Irish firms waking up to the online opportunity with the know how to target opportunities in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, IIA chief executive Joan Mulvihill explained recently on SiliconRepublic.com.
There’s An App For That – Sage 50 Mobile App
By Simon Bell, Product Manager at Sage
There is no doubt about it wherever you look these days the Smartphone is everywhere – slowly but surely becoming the ubiquitous mobile device type across most sectors of society. Webpages are generally designed for consumption on a larger screen, with the best will in the world, mobile web browsing can be a tedious job of pinching and scrolling etc and this is where apps come to the fore.
Apps are designed to enable simple user interfaces to access data or information, many standard apps simply add a presentation layer to a website interface. This is not coincidence, have a look at the heritage of most app design firms and you will quickly discover that many are web developers that have found new life in the app space. The really great apps do more than provide a website repurposed however, they add real value, by leveraging device capabilities to provide a mobile intuitive user experience and more importantly they add value for the user.
At Sage we have a dedicated mobile team that understand this idea who have worked to produce great applications on different platforms to give our customers a means to harness the mobile opportunity to add flexibility to their working experience. The latest addition to our mobile app family is Sage 50 Mobile for iPad offering a tablet specific user interface that is simple and intuitive and complements perfectly our desktop software.
BYOD – Bring Your Own Device and Sage 50 Accounts
By Simon Bell, Product Manager at Sage
We recently featured a blog post on how to make the best use of your iPad by using this to access your business applications. The iPad provides you with the ability to not only get out of the office but also gives you greater flexibility within the office to access your data and business critical information (or show your colleagues your pictures of your kids!) without having to run back to your desk or carry around your laptop. It helps you to get access to the information that you need immediately and as a result improves your productivity by giving you great immediacy.
All that said, if you are in a medium sized business or have complex business accounting needs it is simply not practical to do very complex business activities from your tablet either as advanced accounting processes require a qualified individual to spend time on a computer with sufficient processing power and access to a variety of files in various formats to put together the business critical financial data that helps your business move along. You still however need to be able to process some simple accounting procedures on the go and also get a reliable picture of your position.
How To Run Your Business From An iPad
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media and Content Specialist at Sage Ireland
Now here’s a big statement: you can run your entire business from your iPad. It’s true! And I don’t just mean a light and nimble small business with streamlined operations. Thanks to the wonders of cloud software, and some clever thinking from Sage, you can run ventures of all shapes and sizes – even big business – from the comfort of your own iPad.
It’s all possible because cloud technology literally lightens your load. The action happens in the cloud, not on your overworked server. Your information gets stored in a safe place where space never runs out, hardware never becomes dated or erodes and there are no breakdowns or viruses. The only capability you need is good cloud based software with a simple user interface.
That’s all very well, you’re probably thinking, but real business can be real complex. It’s not just wheeling and dealing – or even good old-fashioned production. It practically takes a business to run a business. There’s communications, accounts, project management, staff issues, CRM and so much more. Would you be surprised to know that it’s all in the cloud and all accessible from the iPad?
Information overload?
Work life is creeping into home life more and more. As smartphones get smarter and laptops get lighter, it’s all too easy to take the office back home with you and keep on working
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but there sometimes comes a point when the deluge of information coming your way can start to look overwhelming.
So what do you do? Adopt the foetal position and wish it all away? Throw your phone out of the train window? Jack it all in and join a circus?
Don’t panic!
Thankfully, there are some simple and sensible strategies to help you take control of this information before it takes control of you.
- Step back. When you start to feel overloaded, the best thing you can do is get some perspective. Step back and invest some time in working out what needs to be done so you can actually get on and do it.
- Avoid delay. Avoiding the issue can make information overload worse. Get cracking! Determine exactly what each task entails, and work out a realistic timescale.
- De-clutter. Take a few minutes each day to keep on top of your admin and filing: both electronic and paper. Aim to leave each day with a clear desk, and an up-to-date inbox.
- Delegate. Is it your job to do all of these tasks? Is there someone in a better position to get them done more efficiently? It’s not about passing the buck, it’s about finding the right person for the job.
- Don’t overload other people. If you’re getting too many emails, then are other people? Aim to send out fewer emails by concentrating on quality, not quantity. Consider the rest of your colleague’s workload rather than passing on unnecessary information.
- Make prioritising a daily practice. When information arrives, put it into groups, for instance, Urgent, Important, Useful, Nice to know and Bin. Then go through each category and put it into priority order.
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