Pros
90% of the staff on the ground are hard working, personable and professional. With a clear strategy and effective senior management this could be a great company.
Cons
Strategy - company portrays itself as a leading SaaS cloud business, and management forces this message down the throat of investors and colleagues. Unfortunately Sage has neither the products, back office systems or expertise to actually deliver this strategy. The company has neglected to invest in any of the above as the CFO now (now COO) committed to delivering an unachievable profit margin to artificially boost the share price (and his own share options). Current product portfolio is confusing mashup of on-prem/hybrid cloud, none of which is actually the native cloud the business dreams of (native cloud revenue is embarrassingly small). Leadership - sage is run by a culture of fear. Huge turnover at the VP and above level means that every new senior leader feels on borrowed time. Consequently they make short term decisions focused on keeping themselves in role, rather than challenging current thinking and setting a course for the long run. Previous CEO sacked staffed with relish - new COO will enjoy it even more. Investment - company has not invested in its people over the last 3-4 years. Employees made to feel they should be grateful for having a job at all, rather than part of a FTSE 100 on an exciting journey. Board decided to pay out £3m to its CEO (now fired) in December, but cancelled the company bonus scheme despite hitting all shareholder expectations. Expect the same decision this year, but worse as they actually missed shareholder guidance this time. Whoops.
