Some 240 Sage Pastel Accounting business partners from around the world gathered at the African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa in Cape Town from 19 to 22 October for the 2014 Sage Evolution Business Partner Conference.
This annual event represents an opportunity for Sage Pastel Accounting to update business partners about the latest developments in the Sage Evolution software solution as well as to recognise the channel’s achievements through an awards ceremony.
The first annual International Business Partner Conference was held more than 10 years ago. The number of business partners represented at the event has grown from 138 in 2011 to 240 this year, highlighting Sage Evolution’s strong growth in South Africa and the rest of the world.
Sage offered business partners a glimpse into the Sage Evolution product roadmap for the future, particularly new research and development around cloud computing, mobile technology platforms and wearable - devices for the Enterprise.
Says Steve Cohen, Managing Director at Sage Pastel Accounting: “With the growth in our Evolution global business partner network around the globe, Sage Pastel makes a point each year of gathering our channel partners together for product updates, training, and a bit of fun.
“We are delighted by our performance during the course of 2014 and we had much to celebrate. Congratulations to our award winners for their achievements during the year.”
In addition, more than 20 strategic ISVs showcased vertical solutions for Sage Evolution, highlighting the strength of the Evolution ecosystem and the diversity of the Sage offering for a range of vertical markets.
Microsoft SA was also in attendance presenting on their innovation roadmap and its strategic relationship with Sage Pastel on leveraging leading technology platforms. The Core Group who represents Apple was also attendance show casing Sage Pastel products on their devices.
The award winners were as follows:
Top 3 Gauteng
Top 3 Western Cape
Top 3 KwaZulu Natal
International
Delegates report that they got a great deal of value from the event. “The Sage Evolution BP Conference, is essential for planning and understanding which markets you can target for the future. It’s unthinkable not to attend,” says Debbie Payne, owner of Debbie Payne Systems Analyst.
“As a first time attendee of the Sage Evolution BP Conference, I was blown away by how well this event was planned and organised,” says Rudi Visser of AccTech Systems. “It was not only insightful, well presented and very informative, but also loads of fun.”
“The conference is a great platform to get more exposure to what’s really happening at Sage. It’s impossible not to enjoy it,” adds Janine Papenhuijzen of HH Advanced Solutions.