Monthly Archives: September 2009

Sage goes free with BillingBoss

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It is not often I get to know a new product before Dennis Howlett, especially in the accountancy software market. But it seems Dennis as well as most people at the HQ of Sage in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne may not have been aware of BillingBoss released by Canadian subsidiary of Sage. I was contacted on 21st September, but only had time to visit the site today.

Billing Boss by Sage Logo

This is a remarkable step forward for Sage, having ignored the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for many years. Sage was not unique in this position. And their foray into SaaS later misfired with poor execution of SageLive. It looks like finally Sage can save face through their Canadian friends.

As I commented on Dennis’ blog, I have been exploring the possibility of adding an accountancy software package to member benefits of Northern StartUp 2.0 community. Looks like now I have another vendor to consider.

However, the problem arise as it is unclear at this moment where Sage might take BillingBoss. If it eventually develops into an accountancy software package, then it makes sense. Otherwise, you are likely to end up using number of disparate SaaS products for accountancy, which at the end could become a messy and a costly exercise.

A bug I noticed when login was dully communicated with the BillingBoss team. They certainly surprised me by fixing the problem within hours. If this level of attention can be guaranteed, BillingBoss will go a long way! And I hope it would!

I am on Posterous – so what?

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Once in a while I come across an application which is so simplistic, you almost get the value proposition immediately. Posterous is such an application. The other application is of course Twitter.

Most of us who operate closer to leading edge and open in terms of sharing knowledge tends to sign up to most of the new services that become popular. Then we move on unless they are applications worth sticking with.

If I explore my social map (excluding edocr.com for this discussion), in order of usage right now:

1. Twitter with multiple clients, so they are worth noting:

a. TweetDeck – multiple distribution and competitor analysis – I am less of a fan of the latest release, which seem to loose panels/columns upon reboot
b. Tweetie – managing channels
c. Power Twitter – see pics and videos, etc
d. Co-Tweet – see who follows which of my accounts, and all tweets in one place

2. Posterous – it’s easy to dump anything that comes across my way
3. Facebook – because people comments on my tweets distributed through FB
4. Linkedin – because people wants to connect with me – it used to be the other way round few years back
5. YouTube – embedding videos against company profiles on edocr

So, if I use posterous, what’s the purpose of this blog? If I discipline myself, posterous will be a dumping ground and this blog would capture my thoughts in detail. Twitter is used entirely different way to any other application I have come across, and therefore worth covering in detail some other time.

In terms of finding a purpose for this blog, should I speak about building edocr.com; or startup 2.0, the ecosystem for tech startups or something else? I wish I know the answer. The answer will become evident, if I, once again start blogging.