A recent move by technology consultant Accession Technology to offer a zero-percent financing option and free consultation services to all companies interested in upgrading or converting to Sage Software’s MAS 500 ERP 7.3 is part of a much larger effort by the software maker to help customers reduce implementation costs.

“With more than two-thirds of what a customer pays for an ERP implementation going to other than software, it is really important that Sage and our business partners collaborate on creative ways to help with lowering the overall total cost of ownership formula,” said Sage’s general manager of mid-market ERP solutions Laurie Schultz. “Sage plans to announce a business model that will help flatten the cost of entry for new customers. We are delighted that partners such as Accession Technology are also looking at ways to lower the service fee side of ERP implementations.”

Sage claims that its latest version of MAS 500 introduces numerous usability enhancements that improve productivity and ease of use, and technology updates that deliver support for the latest operating systems, database software and virtualization. 

Accession Technology has offered accounting and customer relationship management software and consulting services to small- and mid-sized businesses for over 15 years.

“We are really excited to offer this software option to our clients,” said Accession Technology marketing director Richard Sloezen. “In today’s challenging economy, businesses are looking for ways to achieve a higher return on their investment with less capital than they had before. We are trying to help our clients make their businesses more successful by providing them with more options.”