9 Reasons to Migrate from Sage 500 to Sage X3

If you’re a current Sage 500 user, you might be wondering “When should we replace Sage 500?”, “Should I consider migrating to Sage X3?” or “How do I know when to migrate from Sage 500 to Sage X3?”

If any of those questions sound familiar, you’re in the right place. Below we’ll outline nine reasons why you might want to migrate from Sage mas 500 to Sage X3, or nine ways to know if you’ve outgrown your current ERP platform.

First, it’s important to note that Sage 500 is a powerful ERP platform. It delivers robust accounting and finance tools, distribution and supply chain management tools, scalable manufacturing capabilities, and more. If Sage 500 is meeting the needs of your business, your customers, and your employees, there’s no need to switch. It’s also possible that additional work with an ERP consultant could provide the customization you need to make Sage 500 the perfect business management solution for your business.

Even though Sage 500 is a wonderful ERP, the reality is that it won’t meet the needs of every business. Other companies may have grown beyond what Sage 500 has to offer and need an ERP with enterprise management capabilities. Read on to learn the ten signs that you’ve outgrown Sage 500 ERP.

9 Ways to Know if You’ve Outgrown Sage 500

1. Your IT Department Needs More Flexibility – Even with a Sage implementation partner at your side to configure and support your Sage 500 ERP, your IT department likely handles day-to-day ERP support as well. As your business’s needs became more complex, so did your ERP software. Migrating to Sage X3 can give your IT department more flexibility and reduce operating costs. Sage X3 is available as a SaaS cloud, on-premise, or hosted solution. This makes it easy to configure your new Sage X3 installation to fit your business needs.

2. Your Organizational Hierarchy Has Become More Complex – Sage X3 offers easy multi-entity consolidations. Your business will benefit from organizational structure setups that replace manual entry, integrations, and financial reporting adjustments between entities with automated solutions.

3. You’ve Gone Global – Sage X3 is a global enterprise management solution. It offers legislative and multilingual support in more than 30 countries. In Sage X3, it’s easy to configure localized regulations, reporting, and accounting principles. Even better, once configured, they update automatically.

4. More Sophisticated Licensing Options – As your business grows, your licensing needs may become more complex as well. Why be stuck with a one-size-fits all license when your users have different needs? With Sage X3, you only buy the licenses you need. Different licenses offer different functionality so that you’re not stuck buying full licenses for employees who don’t need them. As an example, some Sage X3 users can be defined as Operational. This gives them access to distribution capabilities only, and costs less than a full license.

5. Your Employees Spend Too Much Time on Data Entry – Automation reduces data entry, saves time, and reduces errors. Sage X3 provides full intercompany transaction support, as well as vessel and container tracking for better product visibility. Sage X3’s increased automation will help your company streamline operations.

6. You Need an ERP with Enhanced Production Functionality – Sage X3 builds on the manufacturing capabilities provided by Sage 500 and offers enhanced production processes, including Change Control Management (CCM), product of configuration, MRP and MPS scheduling and optimization, and Work Order management.

7. Difficulty Integrating or Maintaining Add-Ons – If your business is spending more and more time or money extending Sage 500’s functionality, it might be time to consider upgrading to Sage X3. Sage X3 offers additional functionality for process manufacturing, costing fixes, MRP enhancements, and more.

8. Employees Need New Tools – If your employees are increasingly using workarounds or relying on manual reporting to meet your company’s needs, it might be time to investigate migrating to Sage X3. Sage X3 leverages real-time analytics and offers intuitive dashboards to empower you and your employees to make the best decisions for your business.

9. You Need Better Process Management Capabilities – Sage X3 offers more powerful Inventory Management, Purchasing Management, Quality Management, and Sales Management capabilities than Sage 500. If your business is struggling to manage inventory or purchasing, or if you need better quality controls, Sage X3 might be a fit for you.

Sage 500 to Sage X3 Migration FAQ

Is Sage X3 an upgraded version of Sage 500?

Sage X3 and Sage 500 are different ERP platforms. They have different capabilities, user interfaces, technology, and workflows.

Will my current Sage add-ons work with Sage X3?

Many Sage applications such as Sage Fixed Assets, Sage CRM, Sage Intelligence, and Sage Enterprise Intelligence offer connectors for both Sage 500 and Sage X3. These connectors are included in the base product. Third-party add-ons like Avalara, SmartLinc, and TrueCommerce EDI include connectors for Sage X3, although there may be additional fees. Current third-party add-ons for Sage 500 may not be compatible with Sage X3, or you may need to use a different edition of the product. The CertiPro team will work with you to determine the compatibility of third-party solutions and what changes may be needed.

What browsers does Sage X3 support? Sage X3 supports all major browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Sage X3’s flexible browser support means it can be deployed on any mobile device.

What will happen with my historical data?

Migrating data from one ERP platform to another can be a complicated and expensive process. Fortunately, Sage’s new Sage Data Migration Tool (DMT) streamless the process of making the Master Data Transfer from Sage 500 to Sage X3. DMT delivers a 50%-60% improvement over standard data import methods. It significantly reduces the expense and time involved in migrating data to Sage X3 while improving the accuracy of your historical data. The data conversion process starts with uploading customer data into DMT. Then DMT automatically maps the data to conform to the Sage templates. DMT also includes auditing and error reporting functionality to identify and correct data errors. After fixing these errors, DMT creates an import file for upload into Sage X3.

We just renewed our Sage 500 support plan. Will that payment go toward our new Sage X3 contract?

Customers that are current on their Sage Business Care Plan will receive discounts and incentives for migrating to Sage X3. Even customers who are off plan may be eligible for some discounts for being in the Sage family. Contact us to learn more about what financial incentives you might receive for migrating from Sage 500 to Sage X3.

Contact Us

At CertiPro, we’re experts in all things Sage 500 and Sage X3, including migrations from Sage 500 to Sage X3. We make the ERP migration process easy. Contact us today to learn how migrating to Sage X3 can help your business thrive.