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Service Management for MAS 90 and MAS 200 -Brutally Honest VAR Survey Results
Posted By:
Wayne Schulz
-Contact the author If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to myFREE MAS 90 newsletterwhich I send twice monthly to over 2,000 users just like yourself. Thanks forvisiting!In November 2006 I had a prospective client (actuallyit was an existing end user who knew me from aprior job and had called for my advice) seekingoptions for Service Management for MAS 90. Theywere already using one package and though itappeared to work they’d been through quite a bit ofback and forthwith a local Sage Business Partnerwho sold the Service Management and then had noclue how to make itwork. So they came to us asking if we could “
fix it
”
.
 Since we hadn’t worked with this particular software package before (and our rule isthat we don’t bill clients for our learning time) - I advised her that I’d take a poll of otherresellers of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 to see what they were using for Service  Management.Boy did I get an earful.The question just came up again. Someone asked for some feedback on differentservice management packages. Since the analysis was written almost three yearsago - I have to caution that some responses to it may have changed. Packages couldhave improved (or gotten worse). Take this information as a general overviewofcandid responses from experienced Sage consultants who have worked with theseproducts and are providing the feedback to me.I know each of these consultants personally - however to protect their companies andinsure totally candid replies I’ve stripped out the firm name and identifying information.These experiences are often the result of only one or two implementations. You mayfind that other consultants who have done dozens of impelementations of ServiceManagement software have a totally different reply. The trouble is that I never can findthese consultants. Service Management seems to be an area where consultants selland run.Here are my informal survey results. I do not claim they are scientific, authoritative orhave any other special insight that you couldn’t get from asking around yourself.Simply take this information as one component of your own due dilligence as youreseach Service Management for MAS 90.
Full Disclaimer:
These results are from 2006 - the products mentioned may have been improvedsinceI took this informal pollApril
30
 
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http://www.s-consult.com/2009/04/30/service-management-for-mas-90-and-mas-200-brutally-honest-var-survey-results/ 
 
While I know every person who submitted information - I cannot know what their levelof competence with the product was. It’s very possible that some of the people whoreplied and whose opinions are included here were never properly trained and thattaints their feedback. For this reason I strongly recommend using this information onlyas one portion of your own due dilligence when researching Service ManagementSoftware.
Service Management Options for Sage MAS 90 andMAS 200 - Survey Results
From: Wayne SchulzSent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 4:34 PMTo: [prospect name]Subject: RE: MAS90Hi [prospect name],As discussed today -
I
have put together some of the comments and feedback aboutthe various Service Management packages for MAS90.As I thought, none appear to standout. I’m continuing to look for a reseller with morethan one or two clients using any one of these.I think this is a fairly complete list of the Service Management available for MAS 90. Icompiled the feedback from various emails that I have received over the last 6 months.These emails are internal communications between resellers as we are looking tofind software or solve problems for our users.The only solution that I have not seen anyone using but have repeatedly heardrecommended is Job Ops. This is a more expensive solution from a company calledSynergistic. The address ishttp://www.jobops.com I hope this information is helpful. It appears to me from the comments below thatyou’re probably on the most widely used Service Management solution. I will follow-upwith some additional information as I continue to query the resellers who work withthese products to see if anyone has done more than three (so far what I’m seeing isresellers who’ve done one or two of these types of implementations).-Wayne
IIG - Service Maestro
http://www.iigservicemaestro.com/ -mixed feeback from resellers.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Service Maestro from IIG is not that bad, but it isn’t that great either. The productissolid. Support is very slow. It is difficult in an implementation to teach. There is alotof functionality, and sometimes it gets confusing because there is so muchfunctionality.It is not made for a particular industry, so lots of terminology is verygeneric and vague.I like Wayne’s idea. Tell them that you will charge them for time and disclaim at theonset.I have also heard great things about JobOps, but cannot get a client to take the largedollarinvestment. Probably worth it in the long run.
FEEBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
IIG doesn’t return phone call’s or e-mails inquiries for Service Maestro. I now believethat ifyou can’t basic sales questions answered, then watch out once they get theclient’s money.
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Ascent - Automated Service
http://www.ascent-sys.com/ - wmixed feedback (see below)
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have several clients in the service management industry.Three are on AutomatedService from Ascent, and three are on Service Maestro from IIG.First the really bad: I spent 3 days last summer in Houston with their top (only)trainer.It was a painful three days to say the least. Obviously training, plane tickets,hotel,partner fee, and lost billable time were very expensive. By the end of the secondday,I was on the web getting my airline reservations changed to that night. It was onlythesecond day, and it was clear that this was an absolutely terrible program. Basedonwhat I heard, they really have it installed at one big company that is satisfied. I knowthatnone of my clients are satisfied. There is absolutely no dispatchingfunctionality.They have three “dispatch” functions, but they are all just terrible. Also, no job cost functionality.We also choose this path because we also do Peachtree and BusinessVision. I wasveryexcited about the prospect of learning only one service management solution forthethree products that we carry. These were also jokes. The software just doesn’
t
work.One of the students in our class had the BV version for 6 months and still no golive.He spent the entire three days with the head programmer working on bugs.
FEEDBACK FROM AN END USER:
Yes, my current maintenance/support for MAS90 is through Ascent, since I alsohaveAutomated Servic (Ascent) support, this way all our issues are handled throughonecompany. They have a very slow response time, although once they get involved,theyare proficient at resolving issues.They are located in Texas, so there isn’t any local support, they handleeverythingthrough PC Connect or VNC.If you would like, you can call me with anyquestions.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Ascent Business Systems has a very robust and well-integrated Field Service MAS90Add-on. Tell Shelley Roth I sent you. She’s been great to work with and is extremelyhelpful.Here’s her contact information if you want to talk with her, the package iscalled Automated Service.Shelley RothDirector of Channel DevelopmentAscent Business Systems, Inc.1880 S. Dairy Ashford Suite 535Houston, TX 77077281-497-8882 x209800-256-6853sroth@ascent-sys.com
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have a couple of clients on Automated Service. The product is good for FieldServiceand not so good for Depot or In-House service. Ascent is just about the onlyplayer thatis still standing. Their service is ????, their customer centric focus is ????and theirwillingness to listen to resellers is ?????IIG I would not touch, Cognitive is not even a player sooooooo your choices are limited.Watch out when applying updates and third party stuff. Acent will try to burn you. Oneofour clients they wanted 3-4K to integrate Paperless Office. The client told them tobuzz offand they finally did it for $00.00.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Either of you ever deal with Ascent Systems (Automated Service)? The are the leastserviceoriented group I have ever dealt with and I swear if they go home and have a
of 00

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