Microsoft Dynamics SL vs. Sage 300

For a small to mid-size business, MS Dynamics SL is effective. We are capable of managing our finances with a very low risk of error. We have worked with MS Dynamics for almost 15 years and have more than doubled the size of our business in that time with very few issues from the program. We have exponentially increased our revenue and reporting demands and have found SL to be very dependable and stable. The program does have the occasional glitch and those are sometimes outside of the realm of expertise of our IT department. SL support is excellent, but their timeliness is not as urgent as ours.

Incentivized

Sage 300cloud is a great option when it comes to cloud accounting/tracking software. In comparison to Sage's other products, Sage 300cloud is the only cloud/web based option with modern UI's and more intuitive interfaces. Additionally, Sage 300cloud offers an entire system of customer integrations that become available dependent on subscription level. Sage 300cloud also offers integrations between other Sage products (AP, CRM, etc) that allows for better automation and efficiency

Incentivized

• Provides flexibility for complex project based cost accounting
• Strong and flexible allocation processer for cost allocations, markups, and pricing
• A "Flexible Billing" module under the project controller series that allows for multiple billing formats ranging from fixed price schedule of values, T&M or Cost Plus, and scheduled billing.
• Flexible reporting with options using Crystal Reports, SSRS, a Quick Query tool, and ability to tie into MS Office tools such as MS Access and MS Excel
• Tight integration with Financials, but also the ability to integrate with modules such as Sales Order, Inventory, and Field Service
• Customization abilities ranging from a VBA (visual basic for application) foundation to allow customizing existing forms to the ability to use the SDK (Software Development Kit) to build more complex customizations that integrate with Dynamics SL.

Incentivized

• Overall ease of use and intuitive navigation - minimal training has been required to use the system efficiently and effectively
• Customer Inquiry - quickly see outstanding documents and drill down on any item (open or paid) to find the information you need
• Most reports are easy to export into a workable Excel format using the Excel - data only or csv file format.

• Reporting in the Project module is lacking functionality. I understand that most companies have specific needs when it comes to tracking project information but the standard reports are not good.
• I would recommend a product like Management Reporter that is for Projects only. Project Reporter should allow users to pull in all Project related data into reports.
• Fixing suspended batches. Obviously all of us users have experienced this mess. SL knows what needs to be corrected and there could be some step by step fixes in a separate repair module to do the steps we do in Query Analyzer.

Incentivized

• Little things, like changing the company name - are more difficult than we would like (We used to be MSDSSAB but legally shortened it to MSDSB).
• A management financial reporting tool with live access - to premade reports - without paying an arm and a leg would be appreciated.
• More training opportunities in local areas - or nearby - would be appreciated...

Incentivized

Unfortunately, Dynamics' lack of ability to smoothly integrate with our CRM system is causing us to look at other solutions. The efficiencies that we gain by using Dynamics for our day to day accounting are lost in the constant headaches of getting sales quotes to import properly into the system for invoicing. Another major issue for us has been budgeting and reporting. We currently do all of our budgeting and board reporting in Excel, which is too time consuming and inefficient, especially when a system as robust as Dynamics should easily be able to handle this relatively simple task.

Incentivized

It is a solid stable product with a large user community and large ISV community. Support and Training are easy to access and obtain and there is larger reseller channel to ensure the firm you work with is honest. It is scalable and there are multiple deployment and payment options.

I rate it a 10 because we have removed the fields we don't need so users can really crank the data into the system. The software was designed for the professional services firm in mind but does a tremendous job for construction firms and "blended" companies that are both distribution firms but project centric as well. Perhaps they drop ship inventory to a project where their employees or subs need to work on a project for example.

Incentivized

Sage 300cloud is intuitive and user friendly after some training. It does require implementation and training but once that's done, this software is easy to use and navigate. Support for Sage 300cloud is spot on and offers assistance over the simplest to [the] most complex of tasks. Finding information or learning new tasks within Sage 300cloud is relatively easy and educational.

Incentivized

We have had only one unplanned outage for 2 hours in the last 30 months. We shut down for 30 min to 1 hour once a month, but that is for Microsoft OS updates to the servers. Being a 24/7 world wide operation, the reliability is really important. We do get an 8 hour window on the weekend that we can be down for a short period to install Microsoft Dynamics SL updates, but we do not have many of those. On our last version upgrade, we shut the users out at 9:30 am and were fully operational in less than 6 hours. The upgrade was New SQL server, New SL server and 2 new Citrix servers.

Incentivized

Support is only used when needed, so unfortunately ,they get all the odd issues. It's a difficult business, but Microsoft and our firm do a great job of meeting customer needs. We get routine feedback that our support services are very good.

Incentivized

Turnover is high in the Sage Support department so sometimes it is difficult to get a rep who knows the issue well. Reps are good and getting assistance when they need it. Sometimes support is more interested in closing issue than actually solving problem. It can be difficult at times to have issues escalated but overall the support is good.

Just to let it take its course. The implementation for me once I became a part of my former organization was pretty seamless. Just get to know the basics and call the support team to ask questions if you need help on an issue, should they arise. They are ready, willing, and able to help!

Incentivized

Of the comparable mid-range ERP systems, Dynamics SL competes at the lower end based on price, but also above the high-end based on flexibility, data, and reporting. Being able to stay with the same core accounting from a $100 million dollar company to a $3 billion dollar company shows the range of capabilities.

Incentivized

Sage 300 cloud is much more detailed than the other. About the same in being user friendly A better layout Saves time for doing the schedules for Audits Mobile Access Sage 300cloud can manage all different industries

Incentivized

Since the backbone of the database is MS SQLServer, the database can be easily scaled.

Incentivized

• More time is spent on manipulating reports which can and should be automated.
• Lack of electronic invoicing process and other green technology features creates more cost on printing and storage costs.
• The lack of a user friendly interface requires more training and a bigger learning curve for staff.

Incentivized

• It allows our company to efficiently and effectively maintain and track our job cost.
• Its reliable performance allows us to function continually.
• It also provides our division managers with reports that they can use to determine where we are experiencing problems.

Incentivized