Langner was EVP of mid-market solutions and gone by April. The story line when it can to channel programs: "Joe dismantled a lot of it and that the combo of Joe and Pascal [recently departed Americas CEO Pascal Houillon] were channel unfriendly." The business partner advisory council will be reconstructed and there will be a renewed emphasis on the President's Circle, reduced from a trip to a resort years ago to a dinner at the Sage Summit conference. Spring left the impression there would be more than a dinner. There will be a Partner Success Day at Summit in New Orleans and a channel sales contest ending with Sage's fiscal year September 30. The source continue the consensus: "Very impressive speaker - wait and see how the strategy rolls out. I'd say more positive vibes than negative after the call (which was 30 minutes)." Maybe this can extend to press. Last year's Summit and this year's lead up leave the impression that no one is interested in telling the press about the channel or the business or promoting anything other than big-name speakers.
SAGE CRO: WE CAN DO BETTER Featured
Sage's chief revenue officer Rich Spring spent time in a channel briefing call this week apologizing. According to participants, he promised an open-door policy. As reported by an attendee, Spring said, "There is not a version of a successful future that does not include Sage working with partners/VARs in a positive way." There are a lot of things that need to be recovered from. Some of these steps, one source said, were a change in channel policies and was "almost certainly a big clue why Joe Langner isn't here any longer."
