Disclaimer: At the time of announcement, this update release was intended for Sage 300 users in the North American region. They will presumably be available for end users in Asia like yourself at a later date.
After the release of Sage 300 2023.0 and the 2023 Product Update 1 late last year, Sage 300 received the 2023 Product Update 3 back in April 2023. This latest update is expected to be made available for end users in Asia like yourself at a later date.
2023 Product Update 3 is focused on improving the security capabilities of Sage 300 by offloading user authentication to MS SQL servers, amongst other changes.
Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that came with the 2023 Product Update 3 for Sage 300.
Security Enhancements Coming With 2023 Product Update 3
ISM Files Moved Into Vault Database
For both the Desktop and Web Screen versions, Sage 300 now contains a Vault database, in which ISM files that contain sensitive user credentials will now be stored. This means that these credentials are no longer stored in the file system itself, making it more secure from data breaches.
It also leverages the authentication features offered by MS SQL servers to directly authenticate user credentials in Sage 300.
Because of this, this update also eliminates redundant security configurations and features in Sage 300 itself which are now administered by the MS SQL server, as well as local machine policies such as password expiration, number of retries, and system lockout.
Before you can move your ISM files, you’d first need to create an MS SQL server login. This will grant you the role of ‘dbcreator’ and ‘securityadmin’. You’d then need to create two MS SQL databases while you’re logged in as the new Sage 300 Vault owner.
One should be your Vault database, where you’d store your authorization credentials. The other one will serve as the Store database, where additional information for the support of the Vault database will be stored.
Changes to Database Setup
After your instance of Sage 300 has received the 2023 Product Update 3, running the Sage 300 database setup screen from the server will display the Configure Databases screen. Here, you can enter the new database information.
You will then be brough to the Configure Portal screen, which will require you to fill in the login information.
Changes to Advanced Security Setting
The Advanced Security settings in Sage 300 will now only contain the minimum password length field. Most of the other options and features will be removed; these will now be found in Local Security Policy instead.
Questions About 2023 Product Update 3?
The 2023 Product Update 3 for Sage 300 is primarily focused on enhancing the security of your end users, by leveraging on the security authentication features in MS SQL servers. Other changes that come with this update are also made with this in mind.
Highlights Of Sage 300 2023 Product Product Update 1
New Features And Improvements For Desktop Screens
With 2023 Product Update 1, Sage will include the newUser Activity Report for Sage 300 customers.
Only available to the administrator user account, this grants login/logout information permissions in the Administrative Services module. It generates a user activity log which includes:
- Login
- Logout
- Open a Screen
- Close a Screen
- Eviction
The report will also display the following columns:
- Date and Time
- Company ID
- Action
- Platform
- Screen ID
- Screen Name
- Computer Name/Address
On top of this, the update will also add a new checkbox, “Enable User Activity Logs”, to the existing Database Setup desktop screen when editing the system database. This allows Sage 300 to start or stop recording user activity for companies in this system database.
New Improvements For Sage 300cloud Web Screens
New improvements for Sage 300cloud web screens include:
- New web screens for Project and Job Costing:
- Revise Estimates: Allows you to enter changes to project estimates.
- Post Transactions: Revise Estimates has been made available for posting.
- New web screens for Inventory Control
- Bill of Materials: Can be used to set up bills of materials if you’re planning to assemble or repackage inventory items, to create a supply of ‘master items’ to sell.
- Assemblies/Disassemblies: Can be used to enter and post assemblies and disassemblies of master items from component items.
- Related functions in Inventory Control:
- On the Post Transactions screen, post assemblies/disassemblies.
- On the Posting Journals screen, print posting journals for assemblies/disassemblies.
- On the Transaction Listings screen, print transaction listings for assemblies/disassemblies.
- On the Transaction History Inquiry screen, allow a drill down to assemblies/disassemblies documents.
- On the Stock Transaction Inquiry screen, allow a drill down to assemblies/disassemblies documents.
Highlights Of Sage 300 2023.0
Improved Security
With the 2023 version, the security of Sage 300 has been enhanced in the following ways:
- User Passwords
In Sage 300 Database Setup, on the Advanced Security Settings screen, there’s now only one option to require complex passwords. The complexity requirements have been increased, and passwords must now include at least one of each of the following:
- Lower case letter
- Upper case letter
- Number
- Special characters (such as * or #)
- Systems and Databases
Sage has made some technical upgrades and enhancements to improve the overall security of Sage 300. If you’re currently using a previous version of the ERP software, you may need to make some corresponding changes to your system setup.
New Improvements For Sage 300cloud Web Screens
Some of the new improvements for the Sage 300cloud web screens include:
- New Web Screens for Project and Job Costing
- Account Set: Allows you to create groups of general ledger (G/L) accounts, which you can then assign to contracts to identify the G/L accounts to which you post Project and Job Costing transactions for each contract.
- Charges: you can use this to record amounts that you charge your customers for services, or fees for which you have not incurred any direct costs such as registration fees or pre-payments on a project.
- Update Retainage: If you use retainage accounting, you can use this screen to enter opening retainage balances for contracts you are transferring to Project and Job Costing from another job-costing system. You can also use this screen to update the retainage payable or receivable for contracts, projects and categories.
- New Setup Reports are now available in the following Web Screens:
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- General Ledger
- Tax Services
- Bank Services
- Inventory Control
- Order Entry
- Purchase Orders
- Project and Job Costing
- New keyboard shortcuts are now available for the navigation menu. You can use these to move around the menu, and open screens with the press of a few buttons.
New Improvements For The Windows Start Menu
Sage has improved the organisation of Sage 300 items on the Windows Start menu, to help you find what you need more easily.
There are now three menus (Sage 300, Sage 300 Admin Utilities, and Sage 300 Support Utilities), instead of the single menu prior to the 2023 update.
There are also new items added to the Sage 300 Admin Utilities menu, allowing you to use the following features without needing to open Sage 300:
- Data Activation
- License Manager
- Current Users
You’ll need to uninstall your previous version of Sage 300, before installing Sage 300 2023.
Improvements to CRM Integration
On the E/W Sage CRM Setup screens, you can now enter up to 60 characters in the Sage CRM Server Name field.
If you’re using Sage CRM integrated with Sage 300, when changing the customer contact name (on the Contact tab of the A/R Customers screen), you can indicate whether and how to update information in Sage CRM.
Questions About 2023 Product Update 1 And Sage 300 2023?
Both the Sage 300 2023 update, as well as the 2023 Product Update 1, brings improvements to the web screens for Sage 300cloud.
Other new features and improvements have also been brought to the classic desktop screen, as well as other functionalities.
If you’d like to know more about Sage 300, click on the image below to download the fact sheet for the ERP software.
