Product training will include sessions on:

Scripting for Sage 100 ERP (Formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200)
Sage MAS Intelligence
BizNet Software
Altec doc-link™ integrated document management system
DSD Business Systems Extended Solutions
Sage CRM
Value Pricing and ROWE (Results Only Work Environment)

The 90 Minds Consulting Group was formed in December 2005 as an independent avenue for consulting firms to share technical resources, product support and serve as a sounding board for sales issues.

The group collaborates online by using the popular Socialcast secure microblogging platform to connect members from across the country and easily share knowledge in a real-time 24 x 7 environment.

Among the membership are multiple award winning partners including those honored by Sage for customer service, spirit and sales achievements.

90 Minds members provide coverage to virtually the entire United States and collectively employ well in excess of 415 consultants.

Group members provide support and consulting services for the following products:

Sage 100 ERP (Formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200)
Sage CRM
Sage 300 ERP (Formerly Sage ERP Accpac)
Sage HRMS and Sage HRMS Payroll (Formerly Sage Abra HRMS)
Epicor
SAP Business One
Microsoft Dynamics and Navision SAP
Open Systems
Traverse
Advanced Crystal Report Writing
Custom programming and scripting
Advanced Access database solutions
Resource sharing for technical and consulting support projects

The steering committee for the first annual Meeting Of The Minds includes:

Aries Technology Group
Azamba Consulting Group
Bottomline Software, Inc.
Clients First Business Solutions
Schulz Consulting
DSD Business Systems – San Diego
DDF Consulting

For additional information contact:

Wayne Schulz
wayne@90minds.com
860-516-8990

The 90 Minds Consulting Group is a private collaboration of approximately 100 Sage Software Business Partners who share knowledge around product technical information as well as business best practices. A list of founding members can be found at: http://www.90minds.com/find-a-member/by-state/.

The 90 Minds Consulting Group is not affiliated with or endorsed by any software publisher. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to are the property of their respective trademark holders. These trademark holders are not affiliated with 90 Minds Consulting group, our conference, or our website. They do not sponsor or endorse 90 Minds Consulting Group or the Meeting of the Minds Conference.

© 2012, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

If you prefer not to transmit this information (which Sage say’s may happen as often as once per day and include software serial numbers, usage of key features, etc) then you can turn it off in three easy steps.

Step One

Login as the administrator to Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200. This happens directly from the initial login. Instead of using your user login code – use the login Administrator.

Enter in the administrator password.

If you do not have the administrator password – locate the person in your company who does or contact your Sage business partner – or Sage.

Step Two

Once logged into the administrative control panel – select the very last option at the bottom of the screen:

Sage Product Enhancement Program

Change your participation in the program

Step Three

Remove the check mark from the following screen where it indicates “Participate in Program”.

If you change your mind in the future you can always reverse these changes by following the above steps and checking the “Participate in Program”.

More screenshots/instructions on opting-out of MAS90 PEP

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

Are you interested in joining a section of the 90 Minds Group for the purpose of collaborating around technical issues concerning MAS90 and MAS200?

Introducing OASIS = Open Access Support is Swell

A collaborative way for Sage partners and consultants to help each other deliver exceptional customer support.

The concept is simple – and it’s one we’ve been using since 2005.

Connect a group of top notch Sage consultants together online.

When individual members have technical questions that have them stumped – or they just need a second opinion – give them an area to post a message to the group.

When members find a technical solution that might be helpful to others – provide a way to quickly share that information in real time.

The benefit? Consultants find faster solutions to issues. Feel more confident when they install upgrades. Deliver a greatly improved customer experience.

Here’s an example of the type of technical information about MAS90 and MAS200 that participants share.

The concept is not difficult to imagine. The execution is where we’ve found it to be tricky. Without a critical mass of active online users – these types of groups tend to wither.

In fact our experience – and expectation – is that the 90/10 rule of online contribution will come into play with most groups – including this one.

The 90/10 rule (at least our interpretation and experience) says that for every 100 people who volunteer to join a group such as this  - only 10 will be active contributors. The other 90 stand around lurking, wondering what’s going on or complaining that they lost their login (seven months after it was provided to them).

We think the ratio is even worse if group membership is free – which is why we’ve decided to charge (plus it costs us to use the online service for collaboration).

Here’s the deal.

For a limited time the 90 Minds group has agreed to open several of their internal technical groups for discussions with other Sage partners and certified consultants.

Upon acceptance you’ll join an existing group with 40+ active members sharing technical information about Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200.

Our group is already quite active. Here’s a screen grab of the first nine months of 2011. On average we’re sharing over 1,000 comments per month.

We are opening the group with one purpose in mind. To increase the amount of Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 knowledge that is shared between active Sage partners and consultants resulting in exceptional customer experiences for end users of the software.

Who Is This Group For?

• Active Sage partners and certified consultants (you are required to be in good standing with Sage)
• MAS 90 and MAS 200 focus
• 2 to 5 years (or more) recent experience
• In GOOD standing with Sage and the Sage community
• Willing to answer other member questions

Who Should NOT Join:

• If you are looking to eliminate your need for a Sage support plan you will be disappointed.
• If you are not active in MAS 90 and MAS 200 support and think that this group will “carry you” technically
• If you are looking for a guaranteed response time to support questions (please use Sage support for that)
• If you are looking for another member to answer all your questions for free (no guarantees)
• If you are looking for a place to buy discounted software
• If you are looking to give other members a constant sales pitch about your services
• If you are looking to sign up and then give your login to a client (strictly prohibited).

Other Things You Should Know:

• This is a collaborative effort which is NOT affiliated, sponsored, endorsed or recommended by Sage
• There is a fee to join (mostly so that those who join are motivated to participate) which starts at $250 per year
• Active participation is a requirement of remaining a member
• At this time only Sage partners and consultants (no vendors, publishers, analysts, end users, onlookers)
• There is NO guarantee of support response or response time – you are only joining for access to the group and not for any guaranteed support response time (or any guaranteed response at all)
• You will not be joining 90 Minds – rather this is a subsection that, for now,  we’re titling “Support Collaborative”  - this primarily means your access will be limited online to technical areas. You also won’t be listed on the 90 Minds web site.

 Are you still interested?

Apply for membership here 

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

Sales Order was fine with PU5. Upon installing PU6, the Ship To code lookups are blank.

Different people seem to be having differing experiences.

At least one or two have found:

They (lookups) will come back if you run the update customizer to current level in custom office and if they have custom lookups run the lookup update utility in library master.

Just a heads up if anyone is installing PU6 with a large site making active use of ship to addresses. Double check the lookup functionality before you are done.

Our group is still trying to see if the customizer utility/rebuild of lookups is a universal cure with various user sites.

© 2011, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

Courtesy of Jeff Schwenk of Bottomline Software, here is a nice detailed overview document (with screen-shots, graphics, etc.) that explains what’s included in the latest Product Update 5 (PU5) for Sage MAS 90/200.  Enjoy!

         What’s New in PU 4.40.0.5?

© 2011, Brett Zimmerman. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

This is due to the job validations existing in the prior version  containing obsolete file references that no longer exist in the data dictionary in v4.4.

Here is the best way to prepare your import for Payroll.

Prior to importing/migrating the job to version 4.40.x:

1. Log into an earlier version of Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 (for example, version 4.30).
2. Select Visual Integrator, Main, and Import Job Maintenance.
3. Select the PR.DATAENT import job.
4. Click Validation. Click OK at the warning message.
5. Select the Check_Bank_Code field. Click Del to remove it.
6. Export and migrate the job to version 4.40.
7. Start version 4.40. Import the job.
8. Add the Check_Bank_Code column on the Validation tab, as shown below. Choose the file name GL_Bank and Key Expression PR6$(20,1). Alternately, select the Reset button to reset all Validation.

SAGE Resolution ID  525271

Jim Woodhead
DSD Business Systems
www.dsdinc.com

© 2010, Jim Woodhead. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

Sometimes it’s a request for something that we’re not able to do – like discount their software maintenance or undercut a bid from a local consultant. While technically I guess we probably could do those things – as a matter of practice those of us in 90 Minds tend to stay away from competing based on price and leave the discounting to the desperate consultants buying ads on Google.

Someone just sent in a request for free training. Again, we’re not able to provide services for free (just as I’m sure their company doesn’t ship out their inventory for free). However I did have a good idea.

There are many free resources that people can access to get additional help on their MAS 90 or MAS 200.

These often don’t require a maintenance plan or even a login to a special area of the web. Here are my top tips – how to access FREE MAS 90 Support Resources: 1. Sage Community – Did you know that Sage has a free community where you can visit to obtain answers to questions about MAS 90 or MAS 200 (as well as almost every add-on available). Many of the smartest consultants on the planet hang out there. Total cost?

Free. Link: http://community.sagemas.com/sagemas/?category.id=SageMAS90-200

2. Sage University – These classes aren’t free but they’re far cheaper than paying a consultant. The manuals that accompany them are top notch – and since Sage no longer provides any paper manuals with MAS 90 or MAS 200 they’re also your best bet for obtaining a little printed documentation about your system. For those who’ve just upgraded to MAS 90 or MAS 200 v4.4 there’s even a “What’s New” anytime learning class available – at no cost. Link: Sage Software University – MAS 90 & MAS 200 Division

3. Search the Sage MAS 90 Knowledge base Without Logging In - From time to time Sage has made their knowledge base searchable – to those who know the link – without requiring any login whatsoever.

If you do a quick Google Search you should be rewarded with a link. This is the officially MAS 90 and MAS 200 database. Have at it. While you’re in there you can research issues with FRX, F9, Extended Enterprise, MAS 500, PFW, etc, etc.

There you have some of my top free resources for MAS 90 and MAS 200 support. If your issue becomes more than what you want to tackle yourself — AND you’re open to hiring a consultant for assistance (or 90 MInds members are the best of the best) – head on over to our 90 Minds Member Directory of Sage MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500, Epicor, Accpac, Microsoft, Open Systems, Traverse and SageCRM Consultants

Image via Flickr

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

If you spend more time on Facebook than Google then this is a great way to learn about new product updates, version releases, technical tips and more.

Joining is free — just “like” 90 Minds Consulting Group on Facebook and you’ll receive updates in Facebook whenever we have important news.

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.

All users on the system were receiving a message:

“The directory in P/L Journal and Register Maintenance is invalid”

The solution?

Usually this is simply an indication that a user does not have sufficient rights to a folder. In this case it was a little more complex. Users could clearly see and write to the paperless storage folder. What they could not do is write to it through MAS 200.

It turns out the cause was the service account that MAS 200 (a new setup on a new server) had been configured to use.

As Alnoor wisely explains:

Try running MAS in MAS90 style then use SERVER1 for the path in PL Jrnl and Reg Maint. If it works, it may be MAS 200 is executing the path to SERVER1 from the server’s perspective. IOW, the Windows account running the MAS Application Server cannot see SERVER1 for whatever reason such as:

* Service is running using LocalSystem account which doesn’t work with UNCs and mapped drives
* A domain acct isn’t being used for the App Server.

Problem solved. Posted in case anyone else is running into the same issue.

via Alnoor Cassim

© 2010, Wayne Schulz. All rights reserved. Formed in 2005. the 90 Minds Consulting Group is a collaboration of 100 Sage partners who independently join together online in a 24 x 7 private communication network to solve difficult issues for their customers. The group is not affiliated with Sage and our collaboration provides for unparalleled member access to early warnings of bugs and other issues which members in turn are encouraged to use to provide an exceptional customer experience.