Kelly's departure and SaaS pricing
Donald Brydon, Sage Chairman intimated that a lack of progress towards SaaS pricing was a reason for Stephen Kelly's departure. One wonders whether Sage will now be more assertive?
Whilst Sage's new customers have little alternative to SaaS pricing (X3 apart) they have stated previously that existing customers will not be forced to change to SaaS. Whereas, Sage customers switching to a competitor will only have the option of a SaaS deal. So in practice small and SME businesses have no alternative to SaaS contracts unless they stay 'off-plan' with Sage.
However, in the UK with HMRC's 'Making Tax Digital' initiative making mandatory digital submission of tax returns the impetus to switch to a fully featured, on-plan supported SaaS contracts will be compelling.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
