By now, you may have heard the recent announcement by Sage that many of the most popular Sage
MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Solutions will be included in future product releases, while others
will be phased out. If you currently own an Extended Solution(s) or are planning an upgrade to take
advantage of the new features, then read on to learn about the future of Extended Solutions.

First, A Little Background

Extended Solutions were originally developed by a top Sage Development Partner to meet very specialized needs of the Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 customer base. Sage acquired this library of functional enhancements, which includes over 1,000 titles, back in January 2004. Since then, Sage customers have had the opportunity of purchasing individual Extended Solutions titles to enhance their core system based on individual need.

Because there are over 1,000 titles and many are highly specialized, most of the individual Extended Solutions titles are owned by only 1 or 2 customers. On the other hand, more popular titles with broad appeal (like Paperless Office) were evaluated and Sage began incorporating some of them into Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 4.3. The recent announcement continues that trend.

The Announcement

In order to continue building value into Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200, simplify the product, and maximize support and development resources, Sage announced that they will begin phasing out many of the least popular Extended Solutions. At the same time, the features and functionality of the most popular Extended Solutions will be incorporated into the core system. That means all customers (on a current support and maintenance plan) will benefit from the new features over the next several products releases and updates … all without the additional expense of purchasing separate Extended Solutions titles! For a list of the most popular Extended Solutions that are scheduled to be included in future releases, visit: www.sagemas.com/products/sagemas90_mas200/extended_solutions. What About the Phased-Out Titles? Extended Solutions that are no longer listed on the SageMAS.com website (link above) have been retired. If you currently own a retired Extended Solution, you will continue to receive Compatibility and Product updates for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 4.3 and Extended Enterprise Suite versions 1.0 thru 1.3 until 11/1/2010. Customers on a current support and maintenance plan will continue to receive support for retired titles until 11/1/2010. Contact us to discuss your options and we’ll develop a plan that’s best for you. As your technology partner, we may be able to provide technical support so you continue to benefit from your retired Extended Solution or help you find an alternative solution that provides the same functionality.

As with any new release, there are always a collection of new features called “Usability Enhancements.” These aren’t typically the big-hitting new features that everyone eagerly anticipates. But depending on your workflow and how you use the system, they can be extremely important and go a long way in helping to improve your experience. That said, let’s take a look at some of the Usability Enhancements anticipated with Version 4.4 scheduled for release during the first calendar quarter of 2010. Persistent Report Preview Setting Report Preview will now allow you to set your own (by user) default magnification level. After you set your preference, you can preview all reports at that setting without having to reselect all preferences every time you run a report. This customer-requested feature is seemingly minor but can really save a lot of mouse clicks and time for heavy report users.

Alias Item Inquiry

Alias Item Inquiry is a fantastic feature that allows you create
an alias for items in your system that match the items in your
customer and/or vendors systems. In other words, Item A in
your MAS 90 system might be Item B in your customer’s
accounting system. Once you create an alias, you can now
search based on your customer’s item code (Item B) during
sales order entry for example, then enter the order using
YOUR Item code so it’s tracked properly in inventory.
Alias Item Inquiry will be more available in Version 4.4.
Previously only available in Sales Order and Purchase Order
entry, Alias Item Inquiry will now be available in Inventory
Inquiry and Maintenance.

Concept Menu Right Click

Concept menus will be accessible by right-click from within data entry grids in Sales Order, Purchase Order and Bill of Materials. For example when you right-click in the data entry grid of Sales Order, a concept menu will allow you to easily jump to Item Maintenance, Item Quantity Inquiry, and Item Memo without additional keystrokes and clicks. Business Framework Expanding By now, you’re probably familiar with the Business Framework originally introduced in the core modules (GL, AP). These customer-requested options (like dual-grid entry, dragand- drop personalization, and Electronic Memo Manager) came as a result of extensive usability studies and enhancement requests. With Version 4.4, the Business Framework functionality will be available in Purchase Order, Bill of Materials, Inventory Management, and Bar Code. Contact us to learn more about Version 4.4 or to request a copy of the detail Pre-Release Guide. Tip: Creating an Alias Item Code 1. Launch Inventory Maintenance and click the Main tab. Pull up an inventory item. 2. Click the Alias button on the Top/Right side. 3. Enter an Alias Item Number and Type. Note: Depending on the Type you select, additional fields may pop up allowing you to specify a customer or vendor. 4. Click Accept. Now when you’re entering sales or purchase order line items, you can look up items using your newly-created alias! (Tip valid for v4.3)