Ooh, I want that! (Or do I?)

In setting up this site, it’s amazing how many bells and whistles one can install to improve a blog. Some widgets (like Jetpack) are completely utilitarian and improve the behind-the-scenes functionality. Some of them (like Google Map or WP Weather Hack), give added information to the visitors. Other widgets are off the wall, like the one that displays statistics for Chelsea of the English Premiere League or one that posts your character’s achievements in the computer game World of Warcraft.

As we set up the blog, I could have gone through the 221 pages of free widgets and installed all of them. They’re free, right? And all of them are meant to improve your blog, right?

Sometimes, you have to stand back and look at the bigger picture. Of those 221 pages of widgets, many of them are redundant, providing different ways of producing the same end result. Some are more highly rated than others. Some are free to download, only to find that there’s a subscription fee to run them. And others are completely extraneous, fun items that would just clutter the main focus of the blog.

You could go through the same thought process for your business software system. There are tons of third-party add-ons to the various Sage software titles we support. One of the highlights of Sage Summit is the trade show, where Sage customers can see these third-party titles in action and speak to their representatives. All of them are great products, but you can get a “wow” factor when they’re displayed at a trade show.

Even if a customer had the budget to be able to open up the “menu” of Sage third-party products, and say, “I’ll have one of everything,” it’s not the best way to go about selecting additions to a software system.

Greg Lafferty, our Senior Account Manager, said he likes to set time aside at Sage Summit for customers who want to walk the trade show floor to look at these products. This way, he can act as a tour guide, giving advice on products he’s familiar with, comparing them with similar products, and double-checking to make sure the solution is specifically designed for their Sage product. In a nutshell, a customer walking the floor with Greg has a chance to go from “Ooh, I want that!” to “Is this the right product for me?”

So whether you’re choosing a third-party product for your Sage ERP system, your Sage CRE system, or your Sage HRMS system, make sure you do your research and select a product that’s right for you. If you don’t, you may end up with all the latest bells and whistles, but left in a lurch with a cluttered system filled with products you never use.