User manual ACCPAC ERP ARCHITECTURE BROCHURE

[. . . ] Sage Accpac ERP Technology Understanding the Benefits of the Sage Accpac Architecture www. SageNorthAmerica. com Table of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Sage Accpac ERP Technology What an Architecture Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Stands the Test of Time Embraces Industry-Standard Technology Customizes Easily and Safely Deploys Flexibly to New Paradigms Scales Up as Your Business Grows Allows Greater Independence What an Architecture Is Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Claim: Using Microsoft Visual Basic® Claim: Using C or C++ Claim: Using Microsoft® SQL Server® Claim: Developing Exclusively for Microsoft Platforms Claim: The Product is Written in . Net so it has a Strong Architecture The Sage Accpac ERP Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] By using a common database interface, all database-specific functionality is managed by a database driver, a single point of contact in the code. This does nothing to impede performance, as the common interface can take advantage of any feature of a specific database. This kind of design also tends to improve reliability, as the same core business logic gets tested in a variety of environments. Sage Accpac ERP Technology Claim: Developing exclusively for Microsoft Platforms means a product has an architecture. Developing for Microsoft's platforms has some advantages. Often the tools work well together and marketing support from Microsoft is strong. As strong as Microsoft is, there are products like Oracle's database and the Linux operating system that are in demand by customers for very good reasons. The truth is that either a "Microsoft only" or a "best of breed" strategy may be a good approach to take. But let's be clear--this has nothing to do with having or not having an architecture. Claim: The product is written in . Net so it has a strong architecture. Microsoft® . NetTM is the basis for the current family of programming languages supported by Visual Studio®. These are an updated set of programming languages with a common runtime and a common programming framework. There is certainly a lot of good technology in the set of . Net libraries. However just being written for . Net doesn't mean you have a good architecture; it is just an implementation decision. You can just as easily implement a poorly architected system in . Net as you can in any other programming environment. In . Net you have the additional challenge of providing choices; the easiest way to do things in . Net is usually to use all Microsoft application servers providing single-vendor lock-in of the whole system. Also currently . Net only runs on Windows since . Net support in Linux is not complete and faces several legal hurdles. Understanding the Benefits of the Sage Accpac ERP Architecture 7 The Sage Accpac ERP Architecture Sage Accpac has a superior architecture based on separation of core business logic from user interface and database services. The truth is that no other player in the midmarket has anything approaching the strength of this architecture. Sage Accpac ERP Technology Figure 1--The Sage Accpac ERP architecture separates user interface services, core business logic, and database services, and is implemented in a completely object-oriented fashion. The architecture allows for easy adaptation of new user interfaces and databases, while maintaining a single common code base for business logic. Separation of Core Business Logic The Sage Accpac ERP architecture, as depicted in Figure 1, is designed to stand the test of time by isolating and minimizing dependencies on workstation and network operating systems, databases and user interface environments. The architecture features a strict separation of interface services, business logic services, and database access services, with interfaces that provide consistent layer-tolayer communication. If a new user interface has to be added, this can be done without affecting any of the core business logic. Exactly the same core logic runs with Windows GUI, an Internet browser or a wireless device. Other kinds of interfaces to the business logic, such as macros and import/export, communicate with the business logic through a Common Business Logic Interface (CBLI), which has various components (API, XAPI, COM, . Net). This wealth of interfaces allows programs written in most programming languages to interface to Sage Accpac, such as Visual Basic, DelphiTM, Java®, JavaScriptTM, Perl, C#, C/C++, and J#. This wealth of interface services allows integration with an expanded family of end-to-end enterprise products, allowing Sage Accpac to expand beyond the usual roles of accounting modules. All these other applications are tightly integrated with the core accounting modules by interacting with the CBLI. Understanding the Benefits of the Sage Accpac ERP Architecture 8 Sage Accpac ERP Technology Sage Accpac Business Intelligence SageCRM Sage Accpac WMS/Manufacturing Sage Abra HMRS Sage FAS Fixed Assets Endorsed Solutions Vertical Solutions Figure 2--Sage Accpac Accounting is at the core of a whole family of end-to-end enterprise applications. A well-implemented product often shows its virtuosity in ways beyond what you would ordinarily expect. [. . . ] It is desirable that the same data be accessed by users using different languages at the same time. Sage Accpac users within the same company may be set up to use different languages by the administrator, as shown in Figure 9. Figure 9--Each user may be assigned a separate language within the same company. Understanding the Benefits of the Sage Accpac ERP Architecture 14 Once users sign in, they each operate the product in a different language, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. Sage Accpac ERP Technology Figure 10--The Sage Accpac Invoice Entry screen in Simplified Chinese. Figure 11--The Sage Accpac Invoice Entry screen in English. Understanding the Benefits of the Sage Accpac ERP Architecture 15 Browser-Based User Interfaces. It is impossible to talk about the promise of hosting without discussing whether an application can be "run from a browser. " It seems as though the entire software world wants to run its applications from a browser, without going through a terminal services interface: Everyone has announced an intention to do so. The answer is that the task of rewriting hundreds of user interface screens with complex user interactions takes a lot of effort. [. . . ]