Meeting Of The Minds 2019 Wrapup

March 7, 2019 by Darcy Boerio

Who Are The 90 Minds?

The 90 Minds Group is a non-profit trade association of over 200 North American Sage 100 consultants and independent software vendors ( ISVs ).

The group, formed in 2005, strives to provide mutual support to their Sage 100 consultant members.

Annually the group has a two-day meeting where they trade best-practices and share knowledge used for supporting their Sage 100 customers.

Meeting Of The Minds 2019

8th Annual Meeting of the Minds – San Diego, February 2019

The 2019 Meeting of the Minds was held February 28, 2019 to March 2, 2019 in San Diego, California.

Approximately 150 consultants and ISVs attended the 2.5 day conference. The majority of the conference content was focused on providing an update about the next release of Sage 100cloud.

Additional updates were provided by various ISVs who delivered updates about their integrations and any new features.

A Full Two-Day Sage 100 Conference Agenda

What’s Coming In Sage 100cloud 2019?

The main topic of conversation for this conference was the upcoming release of Sage 100cloud version 2019.

First up was Sage North American. Timothy Harfield, VP of Marketing and Linda Cade, Product Manager for Sage 100 delivered a look ahead to the expected features in the next few releases of Sage 100cloud.

Sage North America Executives Provided An Update on Sage 100

Sage 100cloud version 2019 is expected April 2, 2019. The major new feature for this release will be the upgrading of Work Order and MRP modules to the latest programming framework.

These are the last two modules which Sage had been working to bring up to their latest programming standards. This new programming standard allows for certain types of user defined fields, scripting and data import to be more easily implemented.

Having these the last two modules at framework also means that all users of Sage 100cloud now have the ability to move to Sage 100cloud Premium aka SQL.

Sage 100 Production Management – Coming in 2019

This new module, available for both Sage 100 and Sage 100cloud, will replace the Work Order and MRP module which will stop being sold as of March 2019 with support ceasing in 2022.

Some of the expected features include:

On framework ( SQL / Sage 100cloud Premium compatible )
Extended field lengths for work order numbers & steps
Work order templates and revisions
One-click purchase order for outside processing
Import materials from bill of material or flat file
Simplified transaction workflow

Three New Manufacturing Extensions for Sage 100 & Sage 100cloud

In addition to Sage 100cloud Production Management, there are expected to be three additional manufacturing extensions.

Make to Order – formerly Sage 100cloud Manufacturing
Enhanced Scheduling
Product Configurator

Less Costly Manufacturing Licenses

New to Sage 100cloud 2019 is the availability of two types of licensing for Production Management

Standard Users – Access to all tasks
Shop floor users – Transactional tasks only

Rather than purchase expensive full Sage 100cloud licenses you will now have the ability to purchase limited licenses which are less costly and provide access to only the manufacturing functionality required.

Additional New Sage 100cloud Features

The following enhancements were also discussed. Some of these features may appear in a product update issued after the April release of Sage 100cloud 2019.

Paperless Office

Electronic delivery messages – additional merge fields
HTML email
File attachments
cc and bcc email addresses
Email copies to salesperson

Grad Caps

In the lower left corner of several modules, you will now find an image similar to a graduation cap. Clicking that image will take you to additional training resources relevant to the particular task.

Payroll Enhancements

Default bank code
Payroll advance checks
Reprint employer’s expense report
Tax payment checks
Tax rate inquiry
Expand department number
Include employer contribution on check / DD stub
Check reversal outside current quarter (security option)

General Enhancements

Improved System Activity Log
Data File Display and Maintenance for Sage 100 Premium ( SQL )
Paya click to pay functionality ( 2019.x )
Payroll reports enhanced for portrait layout ( Data Entry Report, Employers Expense Report and Check Register)

Sage 100cloud ISV Updates

During this meeting several ISVs provided updates on their product lines. Listed below are three enhancements and a list of what’s new and available for these solutions.

Warehouse Management for Sage 100cloud: Scanforce

In their session, ScanForce reviewed case studies of several large manufacturing and distribution companies using their mobile data capture technology to streamline warehouse operations. They also cited examples of some pretty big names using their technology, MTV and Whirlpool, to name a few.

In addition, they announced enhanced capabilities for pallets:

Pick to Pallet – Group items together at SO Picking/Staging and printing of Pallet tag from within mobile program. User is able to scan/select the Pallet ID at SF Pallet Shipping rather than each item/qty/lot/serial.
Pallet Tracking/License Plating (avail. Q2) – Detailed grouping of items and item info tied back to an ID Tag/Pallet Tag. Allows easy data capture/entry by scan/entry of an ID or Pallet Tag (sometimes referred to as a License Plate).

The attendees got a kick out of their Million Record Challenge, which compared the speed to retrieve one million item records from Sage 100 using various technologies.

Cloud Hosting for Sage 100cloud: Summit Hosting

Putting the ‘cloud’ in Sage 100cloud by putting Sage 100cloud in the cloud.”

Summit Hosting offers private cloud hosting for Sage 100 / Sage 100cloud. Each hosting customer has a dedicated server – no shared environments.

They offer 2-Factor Authentication (aka Secure Sign-On), an added layer of security that is no longer a “nice to have”, but a “must” for any cloud environment.

In addition to the free admin login every partner receives when their customers host with Summit, Summit Hosting also announced some partner program benefits exclusively for 90 Minds members.

Integrated Credit Card and ACH for Sage 100cloud: APS

APS Payments displayed their new ClickToPay for Sage 100cloud, a secure way for Sage 100cloud users to use eInvoicing and have invoices paid by their customers with one easy click.

They also highlighted the workflow efficiencies that can be achieved by using DSD Business Systems’ InstaDocs, an embedded document management solution, in conjunction with ClickToPay. Using these solutions together lets Sage 100 users automatically eInvoice their customer a copy of the invoice, plus all related documents stored in . The customer receives the email with all the attachments and a link to quickly and easily make a payment, which then flows into Sage 100.

APS Payments also announced support for DSD’s multi-currency and master invoice, further illustrating their connection to so many of the tools Sage 100 users need.

Sage Summit Atlanta – May 13-15, 2019

The next event on Sage’s calendar is their Sage Summit conference in Atlanta May 13-15, 2019.

Summit Atlanta will be a good opportunity for an update on the new Sage 100 release which will have been released by that time.

Hurricane Sandy Update: CT Roads Closed – Sage 100 Support Continues to Be Available

October 29, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

The Governor of the State of CT has ordered all roads in Connecticut to be closed at 1pm today (Monday October 29, 2012).

The offices of Schulz Consulting will remain open for as long as the power stays on in our area.

Customers of Schulz Consulting can contact us at:

Office – 860-657-8544 or via email – support@s-consult.com

In the event of a total power outage – our backup support services include the 90 Minds Consulting Group who with over 100 members have offices all across the United States and provide backup technical support for members in situations such as this. If you are a Schulz Consulting support customer and you are unable to reach our offices due to power or phone issues in our area – you may submit a support ticket directly to our 90 Minds Group and it will generally be responded to within the hour — Submit 90 Minds Sage 100 ERP Support Ticket

Schulz Consulting Participates in Two Day 90 Minds Collaborative Meeting

February 15, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

During February 10 and 12, 2012 Schulz Consulting was represented by Wayne Schulz during a two day collaborative session held by the 90 Minds Consulting Group in San Diego California.

The 90 Minds Consulting Group is a private independent collaboration of approximately 100 Sage Software Business Partners, members share knowledge around technical product information, as well as best business practices. Members are connected from across the country and share knowledge in real time 24 x 7 environments. 90 Mind members provide coverage to virtually the entire United States and collectively employ well in excess of 415 consultants.

Wayne Schulz is one of the members of 90 Minds and participates regularly in sharing technical information concerning Sage 100 ERP (Forerly Sage MAS 90 ERP and MAS 200).

The 90 Minds Group has a wide variety of like-minded Sage Business Partner who independently collaborate to share knowledge which in turn helps their respective customers make smarter decisions about software technology, software implementations and improving their ERP and CRM systems.

Schulz Consulting Attending Inaugural Meeting Of The Minds Conference in San Diego

February 7, 2012 by Wayne Schulz

From February 9, 2012 to February 13, 2012 I will be attending a private meeting with other Sage Business Partners in San Diego California.

This conference, termed “Meeting of the Minds” , is sponsored by The 90 Minds Consulting Group – a 100+ member organization which I helped found back in 2005.

The 90 Minds Consulting Group is an independent collaborative organization where consultants from across the country share knowledge around topics that in turn help their customers derive greater value from their ERP software.

Some examples of the knowledge sharing:

At least half a dozen members are experts on scripting within Sage 100 ERP (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200)
The group regularly polls all members on when the latest release of Sage product is relatively bug free and safe to install
At least half a dozen members are experts on the popular Job Ops third party manufacturing solution
Joined by a common online social platform , group members exchange inquiries about technical support issues which allow them to bypass the official support avenues of the software publisher – and ensure a higher level of support.
Feedback on experiences with third party solutions – including which ones to embrace and which to avoid.

The group was formed (and continues to thrive) based on an awareness that simply providing a help desk level of support is no longer acceptable to most customers. Customers were asking for opinions on various solutions to software issues that could not be answered simply by browsing a relatively static knowledgebase.

90 Minds Consulting Group Announces Inaugural Meeting Of The Minds

90 Minds Members

How We Solve MAS90 Problems By Collaborating With Other Sage Partners

September 27, 2011 by Wayne Schulz

Yesterday we ran across a unique problem while designing a Crystal Report for a customer.

The issues was that the traditional linking of two tables:

IM_13 and SO_ShipToAddress

Ordinarily this is a pretty easy link to make. We could have done it in three (left outer joins) and been done. Except there’s apparently an issue with one field — the most important one to our customer — not linking easily between the two files.

After spending two hours looking at the issue we decided to post this to our 90 Minds consulting group.

Many of you have heard me talk about the 90 Minds Group.

We are a simple group of vars (most with companies under 5 people in size) who met at Sage’s partner conference over the years. We’ve kept in touch and have formalized our group around providing each other with support. As of last month we were sharing over 1,000 messages.

On daily basis members login and share information online. This is pretty evenly broken down into:

Second opinions (such as our problem with Crystal0

Urgent calls for technical assistance from group members who are on site with a customer
Chit-chat about the industry
Marketing initiatives (we’re presently focused on delivering reporting and scripting classes to our members).

We have 27 members (and growing) across North America. Our members include experts in Crystal Reports, Pivot Tables, Scripting (we have four experts), SageCRM, and Sage support (we were lucky to convince the smartest former Sage support tech to join our group).

I am a big believer that increasingly no single business partner of any size can know every aspect of their product.

What is of most value in today’s marketplace is:

Being as much of an expert in your product as possible
Knowing when to ask an expert if an issue is not in your field of expertise
Having a well defined field of experts who you regularly share this type of information (this is where 90% of the consultants fail – because they wait until the last minute to cultivate these relationships and then wonder why nobody helps them to solve difficult problems).

Here’s an example below of the power of 90 Minds and how it helps us to deliver better support.

Notice the time that the question was posed. This happened at 3:08pm. The issue was largely resolved by 3:18 and specific code provided at 3:40.

The power of collaboration.