Sage ACT! 2012 Software - A First Evaluation

There are few issues that may be relied on with any diploma of certainty in this world, but the month of September is when you'll notice the days getting shorter, the leaves beginning to turn golden and fall from the bushes, and Sage will launch a new version of ACT! software. And this year isn't any exception as Sage ACT! 2012 hits the streets.

Early indications were that this 12 months the main emphasis on this new launch would concentrate on consolidating the fundamental code and making the whole package deal solid and sturdy, and it is troublesome to argue with this philosophy.

Evidently, the advertising department then determined that software program that simply works wasn't going to be sufficient to justify the improve fee for present customers, so a few new bells and whistles were dreamed up for the new release.

Before stepping into the small print, it's essential to grasp that ACT!, sorry, that's "Sage ACT!", exists in three distinct flavours.

The "standard" version is called ACT! Professional, the fully featured model is called ACT! Premium. Now I do not know whether the nuances of this terminology are totally different in the USA but to my British ears the time period "Professional" says "Skilled" and doesn't distinguish itself from the term "Premium" which sounds to me about the same. Just to confuse the problem further, a few years ago both the usual and premium versions have been both known as "ACT! Skilled" in the UK.

So, what are the variations between Pro and Premium? Nicely, not a fantastic deal to be frank. Pro has 90% of the features of Premium, and some of the other options are restricted in Pro. There is a most of 10 customers in Professional, no limited access facility, no area degree access control, no resource scheduling and no network synchronisation functionality, though you may nonetheless synchronise a distant database offering the programme is definitely running on your server. There are other differences, some of which seem inconsistent. For instance, both Professional and Premium provide Dashboard reporting, however in ACT! Pro the studies are restricted to the person logged in; you'll be able to't get company-broad reviews on Professional Dashboards. Nevertheless you may get company-vast info from the standard text reports.

I discussed there have been three flavours of ACT!, properly the third is ACT! for Web. In the UK this is at present bundled in the field freed from cost if you purchase ACT! Premium. Primarily it is ACT! Premium with the extra bits needed to publish the database to an IIS internet server which it's essential to host yourself (or use one of many paid-for ACT! hosting services). The great factor is that, within the UK at the very least, the licenses are combine-and-match so you'll be able to log in through both the desk-prime utility and through an internet browser utilizing the same credentials. Sage ACT! 2012 sees the introduction of assist for browser access utilizing Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4.

Having set the scene, let's get down to the main event.

One of the a lot trumpeted new options is Google integration. For this you'll need a Gmail account, and it would not work with Google Enterprise accounts. The thinking behind that is that plenty of the young individuals coming into business already use Google for e mail, contacts and calendar and this enables them to continue utilizing the instruments they are acquainted with. I've to say that personally I've by no means been requested by any business for this facility, however others might get the request all the time, so let's accept it's a good thing to have.

Like the prevailing Outlook integration you set up Google integration in three distinct elements, e-mail, calendar and contacts (you can have one two or all three). Mainly, it works. The main limitations are that it is advisable to be linked to the internet (doh), and more critically, as with the Outlook integration, the contacts synchronisation into ACT! is all or nothing. While I can see the potential benefit of this function, my primary concern is (as with Outlook) if the function is turned on you danger importing everyone's Google Contact "friends" into what you are promoting-critical gross sales database.

The second new toy is known as "Common Search" which supplies a extra "Google-like" search functionality (anybody detecting a theme right here?). The primary difference between Universal Search and the existing Key phrase search is that the brand new search engine can look inside hooked up information in addition to in the traditional fields, notes and history. The order in which the outcomes are displayed will make you scratch you head, but there is a logic to it if you understand what it is. The main limitation of Common Search is that you could only choose one merchandise from the search outcomes; you'll be able to't choose three or 4 and do a lookup. In actuality it does what it does extraordinarily well. Simply keep in mind this is a way of discovering a single item you have mislaid someplace in your database. For everything else use the standard Lookup/Advanced Query options.

The subsequent item to maintain you amused is named ScratchPad. No that is not one thing you employ for cleaning the oven, and it's not a method of getting into the nationwide lottery. It is a notepad. When you remember "SideACT!" in ACT! model 6 you get the picture. So it is a little bit utility software that can run independently of ACT! where you may scribble your to-do list. You may later sync your ScratchPad with ACT!, however only if ACT! is running.

Other modifications include a Providers Discoverability button which opens a display like the Welcome Web page which describes and has hyperlinks to the Sage ACT! Linked subscription companies such as the Email Advertising and marketing and Enterprise Information Services. The concept that there are hundreds of thousands of ACT! users out there who merely didn't know they might link to these external providers seems a bit unlikely, however as more Related Providers are introduced this does at least present a tidy means of presenting them.

One of the new Related Companies is Sage ACT! Connect. This has developed from the ACT! Mobile Reside subscription service which allows customers to synchronise a few of their ACT! knowledge to their cellular phones. You possibly can still do this, however the distinction is that the info goes by way of a Sage-hosted web site the place the identical data might be viewed via a browser. Now the data that may be accessed in this means is limited to the usual Contact deal with fields and the last 5 notes/historical past items. You can't view Opporunities via this method. There's additionally no support for worldwide phone numbers. Nonetheless, if the restricted quantity of knowledge that's obtainable is all you require then this service could also be for you. It offers you one other method to entry your database information while on the move. In case your phone/gadget is a kind of that may't sync to the information (e.g. iPhone/iPad) you would possibly nonetheless be able to access it on the Sage ACT! Connect portal by way of an internet browser. The costs for this service differ from nation to country.

One slightly scary function of the ACT! Connect portal, designed to appeal but once more to the Twitterati, is the power to import yet more "associates" from their Fb Google and Yahoo accounts. Once once more, why anybody would want their sales and advertising and marketing database corrupted by importing twaddle in this way is past me. In case you are using ACT! to run the local flower-arranging society it possible has a price but for enterprise to enterprise relationships I miss out on the point.

There have also been some improvements to existing functionality.

Firstly, the installation process has been streamlined and made faster. There's also a database discovery facility which makes it simpler to find ACT! databases in your computer when you have multiple and you have misplaced it (and it's on your laptop). Smart-Tasks have seen modest improvements and the Outlook integration has been tweaked to allow for bigger time frames when syncing calendars.

One final flourish is that in the event you import knowledge from spread-sheets you now get a report when it is completed to tell you all went properly or what went wrong, if indeed it did. While I'd have most well-liked a report firstly of the process to inform me what will go improper before I do the import, it's a welcome addition.

So there now we have it.

To be sure, the foremost additions in functionality can be helpful to those who use them, and the minor tweaks and below the bonnet improvements in speed and reliability might be welcomed by everyone else.

I just fear barely that ACT! is shedding its manner in the rush to embrace social networking in an attempt to attract the trendy younger managers and sales people while on the same time attempting to keep current customers on board. There are some things in enterprise that have to be pretty routine and we must always make these as straightforward to do as possible, but I sense the advertising forces within Sage are dropping sight of the requirement for continuing growth of the core system and are as an alternative making an attempt to attraction to the social networking generation. My biggest concern is that in doing this the potential for erroneously importing unwanted info into our gross sales and advertising databases has increased enormously.

All in all, even if we ignore the new headline features that you may or could not use, the modest improvements to hurry, reliability and performance are welcome, and anyone with a model of ACT! more than a yr outdated will profit from an upgrade to the newest offering.           

MF