Since its inception in 1976, Sage 300 has been a foundational product in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical spaces, with deep lot traceability, BOM, cost accounting, and multi-segment inventory capabilities across its line of enterprise management and accounting applications. As time went on, the product gained notoriety, amassing a significant base of users globally.
Now, speculation surrounds the product’s future. Recent technical announcements and releases have left businesses desperate for answers that ERP Advisors Group is happy to provide.
A Brief History of Sage 300:
In 1976, a group of developers came together to create EasyBusiness Systems meant to meet the needs of customers needing strong accounting functionality. The system saw rapid growth in the 1980s, adding payroll processing and a multi-window interface. Eventually, the product was acquired by Computer Associates in 1985 and renamed to AccPac Plus in 1987. It’s original title, “A Complete and Comprehensive Program for Accounting Control,” and was kept until the release of Version 5. Major Canadian public accounting firms began selling and supporting the product which brought the product into the mainstream.
Growth continued with the first Windows version of “AccPac for Windows” release in October 1994. Over time, the product’s expansion garnered market attention, and in 2004, Sage acquired AccPac from Computer Associates. AccPac went through a number of iterations and is recognized by a number of names, including Sage AccPac ERP 2006, Sage ERP AccPac in 2009, and the final change in 2012 to Sage 300 ERP to fit better within the Sage numerical portfolio. Eventually, AccPac was rebuilt into Sage 300 to provide greater customer support and to continue its web-based momentum. The product was further strengthened with a move to the cloud in 2016, known as Sage 300c (300cloud) and eventually received a major revamp so Sage 300 could be hosted in Microsoft Azure (https://www.afon.com.sg/blog/history-of-accpac-sage-300-erp).
Sage's Path for Sage 300
Under Sage, Sage 300 flourished as an “all-in-one business management” solution. Companies looking to enhance their accounting, operations, and distribution processes under a single system turned to Sage 300.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding the Sage 300 branding considering multiple solutions hold the name: Sage 300 ERP, Sage 300cloud, and Sage 300 CRE. Additionally, each of these solutions represent different points in the product lifecycle. For the purpose of this article, Sage 300 ERP (AccPac) is still actively supported. This product is not coming to end-of-life. However, certain parts or versions have hit the end of their support cycle.
Legacy software applications like Sage 300 rely heavily on the infrastructure they are built upon. Sage understood the cybersecurity risks associated with ignoring this key technological piece. As a result, effective back in 2023, “Sage servers will stop accepting communication from Sage 300 product versions using Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and 1.1…TLS is a security protocol that creates encryption paths over computer networks to help ensure that online communications and information cannot be intercepted” (rklesolutions.com).
This change meant that customers on versions of Sage 300 that rely on TLS 1.0 or 1.1 needed to upgrade to a version utilizing a new TLS version (TLS 1.2 or newer). Plainly, at the time of the announcement, only versions 2021, 2022, and 2023 were being supported by Sage. Like other Sage products, Sage supports three versions of Sage 300 at any given time. Here is the current breakdown of product support:
Products No Longer Supported:
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2018 and earlier.
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2019 reached end of support with the release of version 2022.
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2020 reached end of support with the release of version 2023.
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2021 reached end of support with the release of version 2024.
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2022 reached end of support with the release of version 2025.
Products Currently Being Actively Supported:
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2023
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2024
- Sage 300 ERP Version 2025
It is important to understand that end of support does not equate to end of life. Many of these versions are still hosted and maintained by partners in the ecosystem and Sage themselves. However, your business could suffer from outdated compliance and other vulnerabilities in the application if you are on an unsupported version.
Do I Need to Migrate from Sage 300 ERP?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as definitive as one would hope. Businesses have options when considering if it is time to upgrade from Sage 300 (How to Know Download Link). Upgrading and migrating to a new ERP is an extremely difficult process. Our trusted advisors would say, never upgrade unless you absolutely have to. If you have reached a point where your business is inhibited by the shaky future of your ERP or is barred from an easy upgrade to the latest release of Sage 300 ERP, it may be time to move on.
The best thing you can do for your business is talk to an expert, whether that is your implementation partner, vendor, or an independent ERP consultant. Experts will lay out your unique options and help pave the path forward. If you are unsure what to do with your instance of Sage 300, schedule a free consultation with the world’s most trusted ERP advisors, today.
