Sage Software Helps Manage Rapid Growth for Green Valley Growers With Sage Pro ERP

Market Wire, March, 2006

Sage Software announced today another example of how it responds to the needs, challenges, and dreams of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with the successful migration and upgrade of the business management system of Green Valley Growers, Inc., of Willis, TX, from its Peachtree by Sage entry-level accounting system to the award-winning Sage Pro ERP business management system. With the assistance of Sage Pro business partner Koenig Software Systems, LLC, located in Bellaire, TX, this migration exemplifies how Sage Software and its large network of authorized resellers in North America continue to mutually deliver on the company's "customers for life" strategy, effectively providing the business management solutions SMBs determine they need as they grow and change over time.

With 160 employees, Green Valley Growers operates more than a million square feet of heated greenhouses, and has 400 acres in production, growing high-quality landscape and patio plants. Selling to independent garden centers, home centers, and other retailers, Green Valley Growers has become one of the largest wholesale nurseries in the nation.

Green Valley Growers started their business with Peachtree by Sage. As the company grew, it determined it needed a more sophisticated business management system to handle its ever-increasing complex operations. Sage Pro ERP is now used to manage virtually all business operations at Green Valley Growers. The system has automated standard accounting functions such as payables and receivables, payroll, and the general ledger. It also tracks customer orders, inventory, purchase orders, production, and work orders.

Jim Hessler, president of Green Valley Growers, is certain that Sage Pro ERP was the right decision when looking to upgrade their business management system. "Sage Pro reduced redundant data entry, allowing us to achieve 35 percent growth in sales in one year while reducing office labor by 10 percent. Also, we now have much better financial information. The system makes it easy to get real-time cost information, which makes us more efficient and improves production planning decisions."

Green Valley Growers relies on Sage Pro ERP and its suite of sophisticated financial, inventory management, and Manufacturing modules to run the entire company, giving it a competitive edge while maintaining continued growth.

By better automating the company's business management processes, Sage Pro ERP facilitates faster ordering, order fulfillment, and picking and invoicing, and helps make Green Valley Growers' overall production processes much faster than before.

"Perhaps the best thing about Sage Pro is that it works for us, not vice versa," Hessler notes. "It doesn't force us to conform to someone else's business system. It does exactly what we need now, and will support growth at our current rapid pace."

Recently named a "Top 100 Product" for 2006 in the High-End & Mid-Market Accounting category for the 5th straight year by the editors of Accounting Today magazine ( http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=16589&pg=acctoday ), Sage Pro ERP is a powerful business management solution that features modifiable source code, a scalable architecture, and a complete set of optional, integrated manufacturing modules, plus integration with other end-to-end business management applications, including customer relationship management (CRM) and warehouse management, among others.

Pricing and Availability

Available in two editions, 100 and 200, Sage Pro ERP is available from Sage Pro business partners starting at an SRP of $995 per module (USD) for Sage Pro 100 ERP. To locate a Sage Pro business partner, call 1-800-945-8007, or visit www.sageproerp.com .

About Sage Software (formerly Best Software)

Sage Software offers leading business management software and services that support the needs, challenges and dreams of more than 2.5 million small and mid-sized business customers in North America. Its parent company, The Sage Group plc (LSE: SGE.L), supports 4.7 million customers worldwide. For more than 25 years, Sage Software has delivered easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software for accounting, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking and the specialized needs of accounting practices and the construction, distribution, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagesoftware.com/moreinfo or call (866) 308-2378.

© 2006 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. All other brands are trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contact: Mark Priscaro Director, Public Relations Sage Software (925) 931-7048 mark.priscaro@sage.com