ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- (Marketwire) -- 08/31/09 -- Sage North America helps more than 2.9 million small and mid-sized organizations in the U.S. and Canada, like DuBois Chemicals, Inc., increase efficiency and more easily manage their operations.

Sharonville, Ohio-based DuBois Chemicals, a global provider of sustainable cleaning solutions with more than 300 employees in the U.S. and Canada, recently implemented Sage Abra HRMS (human resource management system) software in a hosted environment. DuBois Chemicals estimates that internal control of payroll and HR saves the company 50 percent per employee, compared to the cost of an outsourced provider.

The system also enables DuBois Chemicals to do more in-depth reporting and provides greater flexibility, while also providing automatic updates, security, and backups through a hosted vendor, and personalized local support through a Sage-certified business partner. Return on investment for the HR/payroll system is expected within 14 months.

"We invest heavily in quality and innovation, striving to be lean, green, and clean in our operations, and we expect the same from our business management technology providers," said Dennis DiMasso, director of HR for DuBois Chemicals. "Sage Abra HRMS fits perfectly into our company's business plan, providing us with measurable operational and fiscal benefits in our HR and payroll departments."

For years, DuBois Chemicals' parent company, JohnsonDiversey of Racine, Wisconsin, used various outsourced payroll providers, including Ceridian and ADP, to handle its HR and payroll tasks.

"When we were purchased by a private equity firm (The Riverside Company) last year, we quickly found ourselves with a very tight timetable of less than 45 days to transition our payroll operations," said DiMasso.

DiMasso reviewed several options, including staying with a large outsourced provider, but ultimately decided to implement Sage Abra software, hosted by Overland Park, Kan.-based nGenX, a Sage marketing partner for managed hosting services.

"The outsourced providers removed us too far from the process, and had too few options for reporting and inquiries," explained DiMasso. "We wanted the ownership and control of an in-house system, but lacked the internal IT resources to run the software in-house."

DuBois Chemicals' local business partner recommended Sage Abra and nGenX, which provides Sage Abra in a virtual server-hosted environment. "This solution means we don't need to deploy a server or employ the IT support that typically goes with running business software in house," said DiMasso.

Using secure, high-speed Internet connections, DuBois Chemicals' HR and payroll staff access the Sage Abra software and the company's data remotely from nGenX's SAS 70, Type II certified data center.

Rapid Implementation, Immediate Open Enrollment

The software was up and running in approximately 30 days. "All parties delivered on all their promises," said DiMasso.

Right after going live on the new system, DuBois Chemicals began its annual open enrollment cycle. "Sage Abra's benefits enrollment and employee self-service capabilities have saved us countless hours of data input," explained DiMasso. "Handling forms for 300+ people, and then entering the data into the system, one-by-one, would have been too much for my small staff to process in a timely manner. With Sage Abra, open enrollment was an efficient and successful process."

Best of Both Worlds

"Running Sage Abra in a hosted environment gives us all the benefits we wanted from an in-house solution," said DiMasso. "We can quickly react to employees' problems and issues without waiting for information or a fix from a service provider. At the same time, we have the benefits of an outsourced solution, including minimal IT requirements, automated updates and backups, and tight security."

DiMasso added, "It's easy to generate reports; we can operate on our own time schedule; we have personalized local support; and we can customize the software to suit our business needs."

Lower Total Cost of Ownership, Quick Return On Investment

In addition to convenience and efficiency, Sage Abra delivers DuBois Chemicals significantly lower ongoing cost. "The annual cost-per-employee of an outsourced payroll provider would have been more than twice as much as the Sage Abra hosted solution, plus still require the same number of HR and payroll staff," said DiMasso. "With Sage Abra, we expect to have full payback on our investment in less than 14 months."

DiMasso estimates even more savings were realized during the initial conversion. The outsourced solutions considered by DuBois Chemicals would have required at least three interim conversions to fully support the company's multi-country payroll. Sage Abra required a single conversion. "It would have taken three of us at least three months of full-time work to get through those multiple conversions," added DiMasso.

He concluded, "Outsourced payroll seemed like the fastest, easiest, and most cost effective solution, especially given our tight schedule. However, Sage Abra hosted by nGenx provides us with a better solution for less money."

For more information about Sage Abra HRMS, please visit www.sageabra.com, e-mail info.abra@sage.com, or call 866-271-6050.

About Sage Abra HRMS

Part of a broad portfolio of Sage business management software and services that support accounting, ERP, CRM, human resources and other business needs, Sage Abra HRMS delivers tightly integrated functionality across HR, payroll, benefits, time-off, and training management. Sage Abra offers rich reporting and analysis capabilities, and a Web workforce portal with employee self-service, company communications and benefits enrollment. The Sage Abra product line features support for multiple databases, with Abra SQL supporting Microsoft SQL Server, and Abra Suite supporting Visual FoxPro. Customers also have the options to run Abra either as a plug and play hardware/software solution or in a managed virtual server-hosted environment.

About Sage North America

Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs more than 4,100 people and supports nearly 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 14,500 people and supports 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

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