Software maker Sage North America is moving its U.S. headquarters from Irvine to Atlanta as part of a global restructuring plan.
The Irvine operation, which had nearly 350 workers through March, will “continue as before,” a Sage spokesperson said.
Sage last year consolidated two offices that encompassed about 91,000 square feet at the Discovery Business Center near Irvine Center Drive and Sand Canyon Avenue following a remodeling project. The North American unit—which ranks as the sixth largest software maker in Orange County—cut some of the space it took under terms of a 10-year lease signed in 2010.
The company has not notified California’s Employment Development Department about any layoffs, according to the latest filings.
The North American unit accounted for about 34% of the nearly $1.1 billion in revenue posted in the six months through March for U.K.-based parent Sage PLC, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange. Sales were up 15% for the region and 6.5% overall for the period.
Sage makes software that streamlines accounting, purchasing, payroll processing and other day-to-day tasks. Rivals include Intuit Inc., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and SAP AG.
A deal to relocate its U.S. headquarters was reached a few months ago as negotiations moved quickly in Atlanta, where Sage plans to establish an innovation and customer support center that’s pegged to employ some 400 workers at buildout, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The company will have about 1,000 employees at two offices in Atlanta.
“Sage has decided to establish its [North America] headquarters in Atlanta, with a new office space in the emerging Midtown Atlanta tech corridor, in addition to our existing operations in the northeastern Atlanta suburbs,” according to Jodi Uecker, the interim head of Sage’s North America unit.
A second business center is slated to open in Dublin, Ireland, later this year to serve the European market as Sage consolidates its marketing, sales, human resources and legal teams there.
The latest developments are a shift away from a long-held structure that gave regional operations more control over back-office and support services. They also follow management changes in the U.S and Europe.
Houillon
Sage North America Chief Executive Pascal Houillon quietly parted ways with the company a few months ago after an 18-year run. He took the top North American post four years ago, leading an aggressive restructuring plan that included shedding 16 offices and more than 1,700 employees, and consolidating Sage’s 11 business units to three.
In 2012 Houillon rolled out a new marketing strategy that put all of the company’s products under the Sage name after years of disparate brands. He pushed to simplify software a year later after internal reports showed customers used only about a third of products’ applications.
Switch
The company under his watch also switched from a licensed-based model with annual contracts allowing multiple users to a subscription model billed on a per-user, per-service basis.
That strategy provided “more flexibility for the customer,” Houillon told the Business Journal at the time, because they can tailor purchases to their needs.
It also has served as a better fit for new cloud and mobile device offerings because the customer pays only for what they use. Both of those segments were major areas of investment for Sage during Houillon’s tenure.
Industry veteran Uecker, who served as interim president at Sage North America before Houillon’s promotion, takes on the role again as the company searches for a permanent replacement.
Houillon’s European counterpart, Alvaro Ramirez, also stepped down but remains on the executive committee for his term and is assisting with the transition of his successor, Brendan Flattery, who led Sage’s operation in the U.K. and Ireland.
