The Sage CRM Business Partner Advisory Council (BPAC) met on 16 September 2026 for our latest update on the product, roadmap and the growing ecosystem of solutions around Sage CRM.
This meeting had a particularly strong partner focus, with contributions from the Sage CRM development team and several of our ISV partners. The BPAC is intended to be a meeting of minds, allowing partners to understand and challenge our strategy, share their own experiences and help influence the future direction of Sage CRM.
Sage CRM 2026 R2
We started with an update on Sage CRM 2026 R2. The release timetable has been revised following the work required to complete the Java uplift, with pre-release builds due to be made available to our internal teams and Beta Programme members from 28 September.
Elizabeth Pienaar provided an update on the move from Java 8 to Java 11, an important platform modernisation that also allows us to update components including Apache Solr, Tomcat and OpenSSL. Testing has already demonstrated performance improvements on some screens, alongside the security and maintainability benefits of the uplift.
We also discussed the replacement of Sage CRM Ally with Sage Semantic Search. This moves the technology behind our AI-assisted help experience onto Sage technology and provides improved understanding of context, intent, synonyms, and even typing errors.
Other areas discussed for 2026 R2 included Entra ID user provisioning, support for MFA and SSO through Microsoft Entra Application Proxy, the Enriched Semantic Schema for AI integration, new Sage CRM Labs features, security improvements and updates to third-party components.
Bringing the ISV ecosystem closer to Sage CRM
An important part of our strategy is recognising that Sage does not need to build everything itself.
Sage CRM is increasingly being positioned as a trusted integration hub, providing customers with control over their data while connecting CRM with ERP, finance, marketing, communications and other business systems. As part of this approach, Sage CRM 2026 R2 will begin bringing ISV solutions more visibly into the Sage CRM experience itself.
We therefore handed much of this BPAC meeting over to our partners.
TimeLinx demonstrated Tap Connect, its integration platform for connecting Sage CRM with multiple Sage ERP products and other applications. The discussion included integration resilience, synchronisation and migration scenarios for existing integrations.
CRM Together introduced Accelerator Lite and Mobile X Lite, providing simple ways of extending Sage CRM into users' everyday email and mobile experiences. Mobile X Lite is free to download and use, while Accelerator Lite provides an accessible starting point for bringing Sage CRM context and information directly into email.
Ariox then demonstrated Lumino, an integration and automation platform designed to help partners connect Sage CRM with ERP, e-commerce, warehouse, HR, data platforms and increasingly AI applications. The team demonstrated a Sage CRM and Sage X3 integration and showed how partners can build, monitor, adapt and reuse integrations across their customer base.
These presentations provided practical examples of how our ISV community can extend Sage CRM while allowing customers to retain Sage CRM at the centre of their customer relationship strategy.
Watch the recording
If you missed the meeting, or would like to revisit any of the presentations and demonstrations, you can watch the full recording here:
Get involved with BPAC and the Sage CRM 2026 R2 Beta
The BPAC is not intended to be a one-way Sage presentation. We want partners, developers and ISVs to participate, challenge our thinking and share their experiences.
If you are a Sage CRM partner and have colleagues who would benefit from joining the BPAC, please contact [email protected] and we will add them to the invitation list.
We are also approaching an important stage in the Sage CRM 2026 R2 Beta Programme. Pre-release software is due to be made available to Beta Programme members from 28 September. If you are prepared to test the release and provide feedback, particularly around the new functionality and AI-related capabilities, please contact [email protected].
Looking ahead
We also heard from the TPAC team about the next Third Party Advantage Conference, taking place in South Africa from 14–16 March 2027 at Misty Hills, Muldersdrift. TPAC continues to provide an important meeting point for Sage partners, ISVs and Sage teams to discover solutions, build relationships and turn connections into new opportunities.
Before then, our next BPAC will be a special Sage CRM 2026 R2 pre-release session on 20 October 2026. This will allow us to look in much greater detail at the completed release and what Sage CRM 2026 R2 means for customers, partners and ISVs.
Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the September meeting, particularly our partner presenters. I look forward to continuing the conversation in October.