SAGE NABS ODD INSIGHTS SPONSOR
Sage North America paid homage to co-opetition this year with its ability to snag a very interesting Platinum Sponsor for May’s Insights reseller conference. Top dog on the sponsor list is Microsoft SQL Server. Since SQL Server is a dominant package, the move hardly gives Microsoft an entree into the Sage channel it didn't already have. And I think that enterprising VARs could refute those who attack Sage for aging technology. "If Microsoft thought it was important to sponsor the conference, the company can't that badly of Sage's products." I'm sure something slicker could be put together with more time.
The list does tail off to the usual suspects in the second- and third-tier sponsorships. I counted 92 on the exhibitors' list (which includes the sponsors, but doesn't include Sage booths) and my memory is that's at least as good as last year, if not a bit better. By comparison, the list for Microsoft's Convergence, which will be held at the end of April, has 133 (excluding at least two repeated names.) And that's actually a pretty good ratio. While Convergence is a user conference, since most Dynamics VARs of note go to Convergence, it's somewhat equivalent. Microsoft got Hewlett-Packard as its Platinum Sponsor.
