Quisitive Technology Solutions has named Dan Kunz as its Executive Vice President of its Microsoft Cloud and AI Global Delivery Organization.

It has also promoted Lane Sorgen to the position of  EVP of sales and marketing. The two are leaders of Quisitive Cloud and AI Solutions. Sorgen, joined the reselling company in August 2021 and was most recently EVP of global business applications. He spent 18 years nine months at Microsoft and was a regional VP from January 2019 through September 2020. Other changes include the departure of Terri Burmeister, president of global cloud services and applications, this month. She joined Quisitive with its purchase of the former Catapult Systems, where she was CEO, in November 2021

A planned spin off of SilverSun Technologies, parent of SWK Technologies, will not happen.

But although SilverSun will be renamed as QXO and moved into the building products market, reseller SWK will remain there.  “We will continue to scale SWK from within the QXO umbrella,” says SilverSun’s current CEO Mark Meller. The renaming will follow the investment of $1 billion in SilverSun by investor Brad Jacobs. The whole plan must be approved by SilverSun investors at a shareholder meeting, whose date has not been set. Previously the SWK business was to be spun off under a company called SilverSun Holdings NV to apply for a Nasdaq listing, with Meller as CEO and the original company renamed SilverSun investors were to receive a $2.5 million special dividend but with the change in plans that was raised to $17.4 million. Jacobs will replace Meller as CEO of the renamed company with Meller becoming president. The original plan was that the merger with ensuing spin off would be with bitcoin miner Rhodium Enterprises, but that deal was cancelled in October 2023,

 Epicor Software is building a channel to sell its Prophet 21 distribution software.

The ERP software company has been known for its manufacturing software, sold under the name Epicor Kinetic.  “We have a hired a director of channel sales who is going to be focused on our distribution channel,” says Brenda Noblezza, VP of the Americas channel.  There has been a small Prophet 21 channel, but that dealt only with clients with 10 or fewer users. While some Kinetic VARs may be interested in carrying the distribution line, Noblezza says she does not want to cannibalize the Kinetic channel. The new manager, Holly Oberbroeckling, joined Epicor in April, after spending nearly seven years at Infor where she headed North American distribution channels. She was with Infor from June 2017 until taking the new job. She was also with Infor as a strategic account executive, working there from February 2010 through August 2016. Overall, Epicor, which just announced it has achieved $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, and overall plans to grow the channel which currently included 35 resellers and service partners in the Americas.

Sage has named Nancy Sperry as VP of partner sales effective April 29. This hiring comes during a period where there has been a lot of change at Sage, especially in the channel area.

For example, Kent Hollrah, who had been a channel sales VP at Intacct and then with that product line after its purchase for Sage director of digital growth for accounting firm CLA in January after working at Sage for nine years, six months. Sperry comes to Sage from reseller Aktion Associates where she was hired as VP of its construction and real estate division from January 1 of this year. For Sperry, it’s a return to Sage where she worked from February 2013 through January 2022. She was VP of Eastern region channel sales for Intact during the time. The announcement by Mark Hickman, Sage’s managing director for North America, noted Sperry will be responsible for channel management across all of its products in the United States. She also worked for Deltek for 15 years seven months where she worked in leadership positions in channel sales, alliances and consulting.

Reports say traffic controllers, left without pay during the government shutdown have been taking part-time jobs, such as driving for ride-sharing services. That is producing a great deal of confusion.

On a recent flight  the cockpit conversation was coming over the PA system and I could swear I heard air control say, “Your car will be there in 15 minutes”.  One of my friends said an Uber driver texted him that there was a ground hold on his ride. … Veteran actor Patrick Stewart is playing the wizard, Merlin, in the movie, "The Kid Who Would Be King". It took the actor some getting used to after the years in Star Trek, the Next Generation. He kept telling King Arthur “Make it so”. In this updated version of the legend, instead of pulling a sword from stone, Arthur gets factions in the medieval government to agree to end a shutdown. Local serfs called it a miracle. … Actually, Stewart’s confusion was even worse a few years ago when we saw him in his one-man show of Dickens’ Christmas Carol when, instead of being visited by the ghosts of the past and present, he was visited by the ghosts of the Klingons and Romulans. … Sometimes fresh eyes can solve a problem. I suggest we let the U.S. government work on Brexit and have the Brits tackle the government shutdown.  Gotta be better than what’s going on, although today the President and Congress agreed to a three-week halt in the halt. Gotta be encouraging to employees “We’ll pay you but you may only have three week before we do this again.” … A regular feature of the Oscar awards is a retrospective featuring members of the film industry who have died in the last year. This year will include another segment of individuals accused of misconduct of various kinds.

A lot of attention was focused on the meal President Trump provided for the national champion Clemson football team.  With the government shutdown affecting the cooking staff, Trump provided a banquet feast of fast food.

The president chose from the essential food groups:, onion rings, French fries,  shakes, jalapeno poppers. … A pilot has been ordered for “Lincoln”. That is  a series based on “The Bone Collector”, which starred Denzel Washington and all I can say is, hey, everybody needs a hobby. I used to collect insects. …. My resolution each year is to not make any new year’s resolution I have a 100-percent record of success. … Our neighbor is not too bright. He was worried the government shutdown means that the water to Niagara Falls will be turned off.  I told him probably not until they put the cover over the Grand Canyon. … The latest in the outer space entertainment franchise is under development—Star Trek, The Golden Years. In the opening episode, the characters are reliving their roles at a nursing home. Dr. McCoy intones to Kirk “Damn it, Jim. I’m not a … uh I’m a uuh. Where am I?” And given his addled state, everywhere he goes is somewhere Kirk thinks he has never been before. … Physical therapy can be very uncomfortable I have learned. As the therapist leaned into my knee again, I remarked, “Isn’t this banned by the Geneva Convention?”

You know you have a dull existence when your life flashes before your eyes and you fall asleep. ... I am always amused by the TV broadcast, "Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin Eve" as the namesake died in 2012.

It reminds me of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who died in England in 1839.  His will dictated his skeleton and mummified head be assembled, clad in a black suit ad seated in a chair in a wooden cabinet He has been in a corridor at University College London since 1850. I am wondering how soon Clark will be hauled out and seated in Times Square. ... TV viewers were perplexed and some amused by a young couple caught, show we say, starting the New Year with a bang. "I don't know Dick. It's got a beat,but can you hump to it?' … General Mills is planning a new entry in its famous Chex cereal line aimed at celebrating our Democratic governmental values. The new product is called Chex and Balances. … This year’s Rose Parade could have better reflected current issues in the United States. But a float to show the proposed U.S-Mexico border wall was rejected by sponsors, but was a serious contender for the "International Cooperation" award. A National Marijuana Growers' Association float was also rejected because of fears it would be picked clean before the parade started. Speaking of floats, there were 40 in the Pasadena event this year with 23 awards handed out. I suppose everyone received a Participant Award.

People with abusive bosses are more likely to treat direct reports ethically and with respect, according to a recent study. I have a couple of people I’d like to thank for contributing to the improvement in my career.

…  People can say a lot of things under anesthesia. Apparently on the way into knee surgery, I confessed to the kidnapping of the Lindburgh Baby and being Bigfoot. …  The year 2020 will be the 25th anniversary of the debut of the TV series “Xena”, known for its revealing costumes of well-endowed female characters In the anniversary special, the Amazons enlist Xena and Gabrielle in the search for a way to fix their sagging bosoms. … The long-running home improvement show “This Old House” has been expanding its brand with programs such as “Ask This Old House” and “This Old House Trade School”. Coming soon is “This Old House—Urban Slumlord”. ... Trailers are hitting for the new “Downton Abbey” movie. Among critical scenes in the new film is a tear-jerking moment in which the wait staff corrects incorrectly arranged meal seatings.

It’s that time of year again—submissions are now being accepted for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs.

The selection for 2024 once again ranks 100 mid-market resellers by revenue and provides information about the product lines carried by each. The special report that accompanies the ranking will discuss the impact, or lack of, artificial intelligence on mid-market reselling.—it’s hard to think of anything else that is drawing so much discussion. To receive a form, please email [email protected] . If you have any questions about any part of the process, they are welcome.

Another 100 resellers have been honored by their selection to Bob Scott’s VAR Stars. As always VAR Stars members are not ranked. This selection is designed to honor VAR of all sizes from the smallest to the largest. This year’s class faces the unexpectedly rapid development of generative AI and its impact on almost everything in the technology world. This year’s report discuss trends in the mid-market and reseller reaction to the demands of the latest wave of change.

Stay tuned for the May publication of Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs, which are ranked by revenue.

The 2023 VAR Stars is brought to you by our sponsors:

Report: 2018 VAR Stars Building on the Cloud

Overall, the questions of what technology will be used given the accelerating pace of cloud adopting are being answered. The cloud has won it's just a matter of how quickly the rest of the market moves. Download here for your free copy.

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2018 BSI Top 100 VARS

Bob Scott's Insights would like to congratulate all the 2018 BSI Top 100 VARS winners.

This year's selection of Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs comes at a time of dramatic change to the business. Larger firms are becoming larger and all are grappling with the movement of the business from reliance on desktop software to the cloud. Read about the state of the market and the names of the selected resellers.

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