The problem with that is the fracturing of R&D spending across all those software lines and the lack of a single platform as a development path that can be shown to Sage's customers. "There is no platform they can point their customers to as a next-generation system," he said. Nelson said customers in the British Isles have been loyal but "even that loyalty is wearing out." Nelson also pointed to NetSuite's growth in the channel. In the last two years, the company derived 40-percent of new bookings from the channel. When it comes to companies that start out direct "Usually the channel never gets bigger than 20 percent," he said. Nelson hopes NetSuite can get to a 50-50 split with direct and direct. "No direct company has ever made it to 50-50. We are darn close."
NELSON: 2014 YEAR TO KILL SAGE IN U.K. Featured
NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson said this week that 2014 "the year we kill Sage in the U.K." That was a remark delivered at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference 2014 conference. And he immediately conditioned his statement with "It's hard to kill them." But he clearly thinks it's time his cloud-based company can do damage in Sage's home turf. Nelson's reason goes back to Sage's growth by acquisition of other companies and characterized Sage as not a software company, but a roll up.
