Sage has announced an expanded partnership with Microsoft, with plans to integrate Microsoft Business Products, including Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, as embedded services in Sage products and the Sage Digital Network.
“Increasingly, SMBs are digital businesses – but connecting the tools they use can be a barrier to their success,” says Steve Hare, CEO of Sage. “Microsoft products have long been the tool of choice for collaboration, with Sage powering the back office. Through our expanded partnership, we will simplify life for millions of SMBs, removing friction and helping them to achieve real productivity gains.”
As SMBs navigate a digital world, businesses increasingly rely on the flexibility and productivity gains that the cloud provides. The partnership supports Sage in giving customers a choice of cloud platform, as well as the ability to collaborate and communicate where work happens – helping business to flow while making it simpler for them to do business.
In July, Sage published its first early release of Sage Active with select customers. Sage Active is a new, easy-to-configure, integrated Business Management Solution built on Microsoft Azure. Available first to customers in France, with Spain and Germany to follow, this new native cloud solution is purpose-built to support SMBs to manage compliance and operations – as well as offering the benefits Azure brings.
“SMBs play a vital role in our global economy,” says Scott Guthrie, executive vice-president: cloud + AI at Microsoft. “Bringing together Sage’s financial expertise, with the power of the Microsoft Cloud, our partnership will deliver reliable, secure, and scalable solutions that will empower millions of SMBs around the world to be more productive, reduce costs, and grow their businesses.”
The expanded partnership will provide:
- Simplification – With Sage as a system of records for everything from financials, people, and payroll, and Microsoft 365 as the de-facto choice for millions of businesses around the world, integration between the two platforms is critical for SMBs today. Linking the communication and collaboration tools available in Microsoft 365 to back-office functions, such as accounting, will simplify workflows and reduce manual processes, saving businesses time.
- Improved Reliability – Benefiting from Sage Products on Azure, the partnership will provide customers with improved reliability, security, performance, and scalability, enabling end-users to access virtual apps and desktops, Microsoft OneDrive, and SaaS apps on their devices with a single sign-on (SSO), all as part of their Sage membership.
- Productivity – Together, Sage and Microsoft will deliver streamlined digital work experiences, with outstanding performance and reliability, to help SMBs be more productive and businesses more agile. As data becomes a more strategic asset for organisations, being able to upload and download between Microsoft Excel and Sage will improve workflows, governance, and security.