Reports are popping up about Sage undercutting VARs via direct sales and that many channel benefits are gone. Howlett's analysis was Sage has lost a lot of customers. And that means that maintenance income will inevitably shrink if they aren't replaced. Meanwhile, every vendor signing new resellers is having success at Sage's expense, including AccountMate, whose channel's reliance on extensive modifications is a much different than the Sage model. That's on top of high-profile channel wins by NetSuite and SugarCRM and the reports that Sage VARs were numerous at the recent Infor and Epicor conferences. (Although with Epicor buying its largest VAR, I think I'd be very cautious there).  Resellers complain they don't know anyone at Sage anymore and cannot get information. Add that on to product line that lacks integration and a clear path and an invisible top management focused on increasing maintenance revenue But ultimately the big problem is the reliance on maintenance. NetSuite says the cloud model will kill the maintenance model as a reliable revenue stream. I think it's correct.