Sage opens new professional division

ACCOUNTING and business management software company Sage Ireland has opened a new professional services division in Cork that will employ more than 30 people.

The office will provide software support aimed at accountancy practices and other professionals, such as architects and engineers.

Sage Ireland managing director Liam Mullaney said professional services were an important market for Sage and that the new office, at Little Island on the outskirts of the city, would help the company grow and develop this business.

The office would make it easier to target and serve customers in the south of the country, although it would provide support to customers irrespective of their location, he said.

“Cork is critically important to us and we’ve always had aspirations to open there,” he said.

The company already provides software to more than 50,000 customers across the country, which are mostly small and medium businesses and accounting firms.

Head of the new division Noel O’Regan said the Cork operation had all the advantages of being part of a large organisation, but would retain the ethos of a small company.

This would allow it to keep in close contact with individual customers and respond quickly to their needs, he said.

Mr O’Regan previously headed software firm SSAP, which was acquired by Sage earlier this year.

Sage employs more than 220 people in Ireland and 5,000 worldwide.

The Cork office will employ specialist staff with skills in taxation and accounting, who will assist in developing new software and work closely with research and development staff to address specific issues raised by customers.

Mr Mullaney said the company’s software had been successful with the accounting community but that Sage had just “scratched the surface” of professions that had similar needs.

He said the company had moved quickly once it had decided to establish a presence in Cork, with the new office being opened within six months of getting the go-ahead.