Sage is the market leader in cloud business management solutions with three million global customers. Our solutions enable clients to re-imagine their business and stay ahead of their competition. Our integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems combine social, mobile and real-time technology to put live information at clients’ fingertips, so they can make fast, informed decisions.
Our Sage Business Cloud offering is designed to be the only cloud platform that businesses will ever need. Sage Business Cloud offers a powerful set of products for small business accounting and advanced financial management, including industry-specific enterprise management software. Customers can join the platform at any stage of their business journey and continue to grow as their needs evolve.
Another way we are differentiating ourselves is through the extensive investment we are making in our channel, localisation of our software and on-the-ground infrastructure. We have offices in several key markets in the Middle East and Africa, and a well-developed partner network. We have also localised our software for the tax and regulatory landscape in all our core markets.
Software business solutions on offer
Sage Business Cloud Accounting
One solution that brings all aspects of mid-sized business’s operating environment together, providing full control over its financial situation as well as its relationships with customers, suppliers and employees.
Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management
Enterprise Management delivers faster, simpler and flexible business management, at a fraction of the cost and complexity of typical enterprise ERP systems. From procurement to warehousing, production, sales, customer service and financial management, it introduces a better way to manage the entire business, on a global scale.
Sage 100 Evolution and Sage 200 Evolution
One solution brings together all aspects of mid-sized business’s operating environment, providing full control over its financial situation as well as its relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. Sage 300cloud
With Sage 300cloud, business owners are connected to their entire operation by a single, integrated solution. Our technology and processes form a streamlined and efficient solution for small to mid-market companies with up to several hundred users.
Cloud space
Today, we have a cloud-ready suite of products following the journey of a business all the way from start-up, to scale-up, through to enterprise, across the golden triangle of accounting, payments and payroll. All these cloud solutions can now be accessed through Sage Business Cloud.
The benefits for clients are significant – faster deployment, flexibility, lower infrastructure costs, less reliance on in-house IT skills, the ability to turn IT from capital expenditure into operational expenditure, and access to world-class technology for businesses of all sizes.
That said, everything we do starts and finishes with building customers for life by offering them choice, support, expertise and innovation. That means championing their causes, offering them options rather than forcing change upon them, and letting them know we’ll be ready to support them when they are ready to move to the cloud.
Emerging trends
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is not only increasing the pace of automation, it’s also helping businesses find patterns in complex data, enabling faster information discovery and empowering decision-makers to generate smart forecasts. In one of our global surveys, 66% of accountant respondents said they would invest in AI to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Chatbots, like Sage’s Pegg, are becoming popular in accounting as consumers become more comfortable asking computers questions. By simply asking Pegg who still owes them money, for example, businesses will have an instant overview about where they stand with debtors.
Big data and IoT (Internet of Things)
Big data and data analytics have allowed us to interact with data in new ways, while IoT allows us to instantly and automatically capture information, like business kilometers and expense receipts. This information can be presented visually, to provide new insights into the business and help you make better decisions. Our solutions are ready to help customers manage these opportunities.
Road ahead
When we speak to business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives, they all tell us their biggest challenge is to find the time they need to focus on the things that really matter to them – innovation, customer service and growth. I often hear them say they wish they could spend fewer hours balancing books, preparing reports and recording transactions.
Our vision is to be an enabler for them – to provide them with the tools they need to respond rapidly to a changing market, reduce their admin headaches, enhance productivity, and ultimately, become more profitable and efficient. This message is resonating with customers is our market. We will be focusing on building on our momentum in the region, with a view to outpacing the competition to gain market share.
Providing the very best cloud technology will unlock huge opportunities for growth and help our customers be more successful through a deeper, enduring relationship with Sage. East Africa is a key market for us, and we will keep focusing on growing our business here through a combination of innovative technology and local, on the-ground skills and support.
Nikki at a glace
Nikki Summers leads the Sage business in East Africa. She is responsible for the growth and positioning of Sage in East Africa, a fast-growing territory that the company has targeted for strategic investment in the years to come.
Before assuming this role, Nikki was responsible for growing Sage One into the leading cloud-based accounting brand for Small & Medium Businesses across East and West Africa.
Nikki joined Sage in January 2008 as a marketing executive who drove marketing for Sage Pastel International across 52 countries. Just over a year later, she established a local office to manage the East Africa region from a Support, Sales and Marketing point of view.
Nikki Summers is the Regional Director for Sage in East Africa
