A few years ago, Sage introduced the concept of Sage Business Cloud, and it has been at the forefront of their marketing efforts ever since. But there’s been a bit of a learning curve in the market trying to understand just what that means.

Sage Business Cloud - What Is It?

First, let's discuss what Sage Business Cloud is not.

It is not a single suite of integrated products. Most of the products listed as part of Sage Business Cloud include accounting and therefore would not be used simultaneously, rather a business would use only one of these options. The exceptions are the HR and Fixed Assets solutions, which could be run alongside any of the accounting and finance products.

It is not totally cloud-based. Many of the Sage products included in the group are not cloud-based at all, rather they require a local server or a 3rd party hosted environment. Examples include Sage 50cloud, Sage 100cloud, and Sage 300cloud.

It is also not inclusive of some of the - dare we say “legacy”? - Sage North America products such as Sage 500, Sage CRM, and Sage 100 Contractor, to name a few.

Why Do These Products Have the Word “Cloud” in Their Names?

Sage has described these products as being “cloud connected”. Meaning that while they are not cloud-based, they can be used in conjunction with many enhancement or add-on products that are. Typically written by third party publishers, extended functionality such as Business Intelligence (BI), Warehouse Management (WMS), eCommerce, and Field Service that are cloud-based can integrate with the on-premise (locally installed) or cloud-hosted ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

In an interview with the Sage Advice Podcast, Product Marketing Manager for Sage 100 Timothy Harfield discusses the concept of “hybrid cloud”, which is pretty much the same thing as “cloud connected”. 

He explains that full cloud adoption isn’t necessarily the right move for many small and mid-sized businesses, particularly if they already have an on-premise solution that is working well for them. In these cases, extending the functionality of the ERP by adding cloud-based enhancements can lead to big gains in efficiency without the pain of completely replacing the ERP for the sake of being all-in in the cloud.

These “incremental” improvements, according to Harfield, can have a good ROI with minimal disruption to the organization.

What Products Are Available in Sage Business Cloud?

Based on the latest information on Sage’s website, here are the products that are included in Sage Business Cloud:

• Sage 50cloud*
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting (formerly Sage One)
• Sage Intacct
• Sage X3*
• Sage 100cloud*
• Sage 300cloud*
• Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate*
• Sage People
• Sage HRMS*
• Sage Fixed Assets*

*products we offer private cloud hosting for

What if My Sage Product Isn’t Part of Sage Business Cloud?

Whether your product is listed above as part of Sage Business Cloud or not, you can still enjoy the benefits of the cloud without upending your business to convert to a fully cloud-based ERP. (Read more: Should I Switch to a New Cloud ERP?) We offer cloud hosting for almost any product Sage offers, as well as all the major third party add-on solutions.

Learn more about the benefits of Sage private cloud hosting here or contact our expert hosting specialists to discover how our cloud hosting solutions can help your business: 1-888-244-6559.