New ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) Product Family Centers on User Experience

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - August 12, 2008) - Sage CRM Solutions, part of the Sage Group plc, today announced availability of the new ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) contact and customer management product family consisting of ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0), ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.0), and ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2009 (11.0). Inspired by customer feedback, ACT! 2009 products focus on enhancing user productivity with improved Microsoft® Outlook® integration, calendar and activity visibility, and database search capabilities. ACT! 2009 is available in North America beginning today. Additional local language versions are in development and will be delivered incrementally.

"We completed interviews, surveys and usability tests with thousands of customers to improve ACT! functionality," said Joe Bergera, executive vice president and global general manager, Sage CRM Solutions. "This feedback helped us create the most productive ACT! experience we have ever offered. Our customers spoke, we listened, and we have delivered a tool that can help them grow sales, save time, and reduce operating expenses in trying economies, or any business environment."

ACT! by Sage is the #1 selling contact and customer management solution used effectively by more than 2.8 million users and over 43,000 additional corporate customers, including individual professionals, small business owners, corporate teams, and anyone who regularly works with contacts. ACT! by Sage Premium Solutions are specifically designed to benefit larger teams of users with increased data sharing capabilities, group scheduling functionality, advanced opportunity tracking and customization capabilities, robust dashboards and reports, and multiple security levels.

New ACT! 2009 productivity features include:

--  En masse e-mail attaching - select multiple Microsoft Outlook e-mails
    from different senders and attach them quickly to ACT! contacts
--  Activity scheduling from e-mails - create ACT! activities within
    Outlook e-mails and the contact and regarding/subject line is pre-populated
--  One-click calendar copy - copy an ACT! calendar to an Outlook calendar
    quickly from the main ACT! Toolbar
    

Improved ACT! 2009 productivity features include:

--  Simplified lookups - search by only part of a name or title; switch
    between contact, group or company to modify a search without starting over;
    advanced queries from main lookup(1) toolbar carry previous searches over
    for refining
--  Fast access to previous contact lookups - view the last several
    contact lookups by type, date, timestamp, and number of contacts in a query
--  Calendar filters applied on printouts - print an ACT! calendar with
    selected users, type, priority, and date range applied
    

New and improved ACT! 2009 database and automation options include:

--  Automated tasks - automate calendar(1) copying, database backups(2)
    and maintenance from ACT! Scheduler (previously only available in ACT!
    Premium)
--  Streamlined sync progress bar - see progress of database
    synchronization by steps and time remaining
    

A complete list of new and improved ACT! 2009 features is available at www.act.com.

ACT! 2009 Product Family Available In North America Today

Sage Software in North America today also announced ACT! Premium - Corporate Edition, an exclusive offering for its corporate customers that includes ACT! Premium and ACT! Premium for Web(3) on a single-user license to provide users with the benefits of both Windows and Web-based ACT! clients. The Corporate Edition also includes enhanced service from dedicated account managers, access to sales engineers during the purchasing process, and volume discount pricing.

ACT! 2009 and ACT! Premium 2009 are also available immediately, at no cost, for North American customers who are subscribed to the ACT! Platinum Care service. ACT! Platinum Care, announced in July, ensures that annual subscribers receive all upgrades released for their registered ACT! product during their subscription period and provides exclusive access to online business development forums, sales training resources, and exclusive ACT! Add-on offers.

In a separate announcement today, Sage Software detailed over 65 ACT! Add-on solutions that further extend ACT! 2009 with marketing, shipping, mapping and mobile device synchronization capabilities, among other functions.

"We're participating in an enormous amount of conversations with customers on the ACT! Online Community," said David van Toor, senior vice president and general manager for Sage CRM Solutions North America. "Community member comments helped refine many ACT! 2009 features, and aided our customer beta testing program in achieving extremely high levels of participation. Connecting with our customers continues to have a powerful impact on how we deliver the ACT! user experience."

The ACT! Online Community (http://community.act.com), introduced earlier this year, has recorded over five million page views and more than 75,000 forum logins in its first six months of operation.

"The superiority of ACT! has not changed," said Michael Gladishev, president and CEO of Audio Holdings, LLC, a distributor of audio books and content, ACT! Community member and beta program customer. "I have evaluated many alternatives and the overall power and flexibility of ACT! 2009 is simply the best I've seen, bar none. You wouldn't think Sage could improve on ACT!, but they did."

North American Pricing & Availability

ACT! -- Ideal for individuals and small teams. Available at popular software retailers, e-tailers and direct resellers, at www.act.com/estore, or by phoning 866-903-0006. ($229.99 MSRP, upgrade $169.95 MSRP)

ACT! Premium -- Enables comprehensive, integrated view of contact relationships to help teams provide a better customer experience and maximize productivity. Available at popular software retailers, e-tailers, and direct resellers, at www.act.com/estore, or by phoning 866-903-0006. ($399.99 MSRP, upgrade $259.95 MSRP)(4)

ACT! Premium - Corporate Edition -- Includes ACT! Premium and ACT! Premium for Web, dedicated account managers, access to sales engineers, and volume discount pricing. For more information, contact ACT! Corporate Licensing at 866-903-0006. ($459.99 MSRP, upgrade $299.95 MSRP)(4)

ACT! Platinum Care -- Special introductory pricing of $49 per year per ACT! user and $69 per year per ACT! Premium user good until September 30, 2008. Available by phoning 866-903-0006. For more information, visit http://care.act.com.

ACT! products are also available from more than 700 ACT! Certified Consultants. For more information, visit www.act.com/certifiedconsultants or phone 866-903-0006.

About Sage Software

Sage Software supports the needs, challenges and dreams of nearly 2.9 million small and medium-sized business customers in North America through easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software and services. Our products support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage Software is a subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services to small and medium-sized businesses. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. Sage Group now has 5.7 million customers and employs over 14,800 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the web site at www.sagesoftware.com or call (866) 308-2378.

(1) This feature is not available in ACT! Premium for Web.
(2) In ACT! Premium for Web, administrative functions must be performed on
the Web server.
(3) ACT! Premium for Web is not available on a standalone basis in North
America. ACT! Premium for Web is only available with purchase of ACT!
Premium - Corporate Edition.
(4) Pricing shown is for ACT! Premium (EX Edition).

© 2008 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. All other brands are trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact Information: Contacts: Ryan Zuk Sage Software 480-368-3818 ryan.zuk@sage.com Katherine Mason Porter Novelli 404-995-4516 katherine.mason@porternovelli.com