Likelihood to Recommend ABAS by far offers the most bang for the buck. We are able to handle all of our business functions through ABAS and also have additional features like Business Apps, Business Intelligence, Vendor and Customer portals, as well as many other features that many other ERP packages didn't have. It has allowed us to consolidate our software packages and also provide visibility since everything is now connected.
Read full review Sage 500 ERP is great for companies with core accounting needs, distributors, and discrete manufacturers. Some areas, such as process manufacturing, would require a companion product from an ISV for the software to be truly functional. Some areas, such as construction or retail apparel, may simply not be well-served.
Read full review Pros Ability to drill down information from one screen to another Allows creation of various custom fields screens and reports Availability of "demo" system where one can test new functionality without affecting "Live Abas ERP" Read full review Sage is the one-stop-shop for all of our needs. We're able to control contracts, subcontracts, and field reports from the program. Another strength is the ability to database all the information and export it to excel. This makes data-based investigations a breeze. The ability for Timberscan to be imported to Sage is a huge help with invoice management. Prior to this it all had to be done manually and slowed the process to an essential halt as there are thousands of invoices per month. Read full review Cons ABAS is headquartered in Germany with a US based headquarters in Virginia. Some of the programming structures were based on European methods that differed somewhat from the way business is done in the US. ABAS-USA has worked to modify the system so that it is in tune with US business practices and has made great strides in this effort. For the average user, the structures may go unnoticed, but for the more advanced user, some of the field names that are used for advanced reporting might be in German. However, ABAS-USA has recently been updating the programming language to be fully in English. Because ABAS is growing rapidly, more complex customizations might take longer to complete than normal. ABAS appears to be bringing on even more technicians to handle the increased workload so the concern is waning. Read full review The biggest concern/complaint of Sage 500 users is speed. Some of the screen take a while to load. The user interface needs some refreshing. Screens need to be updated to take advantage of shortcuts and to be more intuitive. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It's too pricey for our size of company.
Read full review Online Training The online training courses are not up to date. We experienced technical issues with two of the classes.
Read full review Implementation Rating Keep your database and application in different servers. Install Microsoft Office on your application server so you can use some of the data analysis tools in Sage.
Read full review Alternatives Considered These other software packages all have strengths but for what we were looking for in one system, to handle most of our business processes, but also allow the flexibility to be customized (without the need to be placed on a "like to have" waiting list), ABAS gave us that ability, hands down.
Read full review 500 seems much smoother at handling some of the basic accounting tasks, for example both issuing and later reconciling checks in Dynamics AX seems a little tedious.
Read full review Return on Investment Abas ERP has had positive impact on our overall business objectives. Read full review Positive: The program allows for a lot of data entry and splitting of information. It has the capability of replacing multiple programs and therefore saving cost. Negative: The modules are cumbersome and not user friendly at all. As a result not many user are comfortable using it. This means that the program is not being used to its capacity. Negative: Although the program has the capacity to be great, the user interface destroys that potential. Sage needs to seriously work on their program to simplify it. It's as if it still uses Command-line entries from 1995. Needs to be updated ASAP. Read full review ScreenShots