Logan Consulting has received the Business Transformation award from QAD. The award was given recently as part of the manufacturing software company’s Partner Program Awards for 2020.

Chicago, Ill.-based Logan received the award for helping “a customer change their business processes as supported by QAD solutions and has been able to measure and demonstrate those achievements.” With $17.6 million in revenue, Logan was No. 44 on Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2020. Among other honors was the Rapid Achiever award went to Strategic Information Group, headquartered in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., for “rapid, agile and effective implementation of a QAD solution.” Livonia, Mich.-based  Thirdware Solution Inc. received the QAD Cloud award which “recognizes a partner that demonstrates a strong commitment to software, services or technology that affords customers a rapid and agile deployment in the QAD Cloud.”

Sage has named Cath Keers, a non-executive member of its board of directors, as chief marketing officer. She replaces the position vacated by Ron McMurtrie, who had held the role from October 2017.

Based in the London, England, area, Keers cuts into the very strong representation the United States has had on the Sage executive committee, on which McMurtrie had served .The other American members are all from Intacct originally: Aaron Harris, now chief technology officer; Rob Reid, chairman, midmarket solutions; and Marc Linden, EVP of mid-market native cloud solutions. Keers, who has been on the Sage board since 2017,  sits on several boards in both executive and non-executive roles. These include Funding Circle UK, TrustedHousesitters, ustwo and Bupa.

SAP has introduced “Spotlight Black Businesses,” to assist small, Black-owned businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19 and protests caused by social unrest. Announced this week, the program is part of a number of elements of SAP’s Social Justice programs.

“Through the new program, the company plans to allocate time on its social media channels and launch a website to raise awareness for these businesses,” SAP said in its official statement. The software giant will also grow pro bono economic development programs to strength black-owned businesses and social enterprises. Its support includes providing access to the knowledge of SAP programs. In addition, on June 4, SAP held a town hall led by top executives “to acknowledge the pain and grief of SAP employees, and to offer access to grief counselors.” SAP said it will continue its strategy increasing diversity in its workforce with a commitment to double the number of blacks it employs in the United States over the next three years. It is also increasing its commitment to education and economic development and providing direct support for social justice reform through groups such as the Equal Justice Initiative.  And SAP said it is partnering with Global Citizen with the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2020 and announced a Unite for Our Future campaign “to tackle the enormous injustices the world is facing due to COVID-19and racial unrest”. It said it has pledged financial support to end COVID-19 and injustice.

FinancialForce has entered a partnership with Gainsight and will integrate with data network provider Plaid. Gainsight, which bills itself as a customer success platform, helps companies with issue such as reducing customer churn.

As part of the partnership, FinancialForce has joined Gainsight Sightline, which Gainsight describes as a customer success ecosystem.  The two will provide integration for pre-defined metrics “so that aggregating the signals, interpreting them, and acting upon them will be out-of-the-box functionality.”  Gainsight offers a predictive health scorecard “ offering a CSM predefined call to action with that customer, based on the data and established threshold,” according to the announcement. Via the Plaid integration customers can connect their bank accounts directly to FinancialForce Accounting and use imported bank statements for reconciliation.  This feature launches later this year in the United States and Canada with expansion into other countries in future updates.

Texas has begun enforcing the wearing of masks in public. It’s a bit disconcerting to have people wearing masks in a state that allows people to openly carry guns.

… I continue to think a great idea would be to combine Texas’ open-carry gun law with New Orleans’ open carry rules for alcoholic beverages. Who wants to deprive people of the right to drink and shoot? … The administration’s position that its response to the virus is a cause for celebration is the most overly optimistic statement since Noah looked out of the ark and said, “I think these showers will pass”.  It remains to be seen if President Trump’s scheduled rally in Tulsa, Okla., turns out to be his first coronathon.… There are so few places to go, describing plans are is quite boring. “What are you doing this weekend?” a friend asked. I responded. “The same thing we do every weekend, try to take over the world.  … A recent LinkedIn  invitation came from someone whose profile described her as a food service worked. Her picture was that of a bosomy blonde in a low cut top. LinkedIn’s “People Also Viewed” sidebar featured a lot very of lovely women including a young lady saying she missed her truck driving job in Poland. Very nice looking chassis. The truck looked good too. ...  Somehow,  I accidentally started playing an album form favorite group mine on my MacBook Air “Who is?” my wife asked. “Guess Who”. “No,  I want to know who that group is”. “Not Who, Guess Who” “Can’t. you just tell me what the name of the group is. I don’t want to guess what.”  “Not Guess What, Guess Who.” (Millennials, ask your elders to explain this)

Experts say creating a “Memory Palace” (a mental construction of place in which your mind stores images) is one way to substantially improve memory. I tried it, but instead I created a “Memory Hovel” and I still managed to get lost in it.

… Scientists discuss the end of the universe in terms of entropy, which essentially all motion of particles ceases as energy dissipates. In other words, the universe ends up on a couch eating potato chips and watching TV. … I got bad news from the genetic testing service, 23andMe, it has invalidated my DNA. … A new movie is being planned to update the 1994 comic love story that starred Hugh Grant and an Andie McDowell. It will be called “Four Weddings and a Quarantine”.  In the new film, the now 59-year old Grant and 62-year old McDowell both pull muscles in attempting to dance at one of the weddings. Two other repeat characters suffer the fate of the character “Gareth”, who died in the first movie. …. New Jersey is expected to allow barbers to resume business in about three weeks. Currently, the state has been adding to the famous poem “Give you your poor, your tired, your unshorn yearning to get a cut”. … Experian is reconsidering the use of the Experian Cow in commercials after one repeatedly interrupted commercials doing what cows generally do in decorating the ground.  … Hasbro is dealing with the new for social distancing with “Twister Solitaire”. In the traditional game, player spin a dial colored circles and then try to put a hand or a foot on the same colored circle while maintain contact with other circles. In the new game, players get individual twister mats and attempt to follow the instructions. 

Ah summer. Who isn’t looking forward to the sounds of empty baseball stadiums, empty car racetrack stands, empty summer camps and empty summer schools?  It’s going to be a good year for people who like peace and quiet.

Today,  Friday May 22, is National Solitaire Game as celebrated by Microsoft. It seems fitting. It's also Solitaire Month, Solitaire Summer and possibly Solitaire Year.  ...Until the shutdowns ease, Las Vegas has been considering changing its slogan to "What happens in Vegas isn't all that interestingl."… I am sure there is a hidden demand the current environment new cleaning product for removing cobwebs off home exercise equipment for people stranded in their abodes. … Kim Kardashian’s company is making fabric face masks but it’s her fabric butt masks that are generating interest.. Certainly, she is one celebrity for whom better exposure might be less exposure. … Tesla inventor Elon Musk has threatened to pull his factory out of California unless it is allowed to reopen. Musk has been making Apple founder Steve Jobs seem like a warm, fuzzy guy. California responded by threatening to send Musk into space to drive car he previously sent there… The escort business and related services have been hard hit. The work at home part is easy and masks are a hit with certain clienteles. But the social distancing thing has been a challenge. … In a public service announcement, Zorro TV episodes  and movies are being retrofitted so the crime fighter’s mask covers not just the area around his eyes but his nose and mouth as well. The sessions end with “Who was that mask man?” “I couldn’t tell. He looks like everyone else.” 

I think instructions on the 5-pack of masks being sold at 7-11 were not written by a native English speaker. The first step in  the instructions of how to wear them is “Crap one pcs.” That’s doesn’t sound sanitary to me.

… Brett Farve has agreed to return $1.1 million he was paid by the Mississippi welfare department that he was paid for speaking engagements at  which he did not appear. I don’t know if this will end chances for an over/under a plea deal. Actually, investigators missed the fact he actually attended many of them and nobody noticed, demonstrating the high degree of skill he acquired in football in executing fakes. … The Trix Rabbit was starting to show his age. So leaders at General Mills decided they need something to sharpen his mind. It was recommended that he receive training involving his skills of perception. So the Rabbit was taken to a  training school for young dogs. His task was to look at pictures of the dogs and he would be told their names. After 10 minutes, he was shown the pictures again and asked to Identify each mutt. Try as he could, no matter how many times he practiced, he could not remember the names of the individual canines. It just goes to show: You can’t teach an old Trix new dogs.  … I was surprised to learn that so many New Yorker fans of the world’s most famous cellist. You can hear that in the kids expression when they come home and yell, “Yo, Ma.”

Where are we going in the mid-market? Or in general? The economy started out the year with record employment and has moved to record unemployment with the effects of shutdowns of the Covid-19 virus.  For resellers this year, how they are doing depends on where they are located and in what markets they are involved. Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2020 examines the issues in an era of extreme uncertainty and names 100 firms who are the big players in this market.

A majority companies submitting forms for this year’s Top 100 selection have more than 50 percent of their revenue coming from cloud products. That was 62 percent of the 93 firms that answered the question. (All provided revenue and employees)

 This group includes all submissions, whether the VAR was selected as a member of the Top 100 or not. Nearly 10 percent reported their revenue was 100 percent from the cloud. This is a very rough survey—there is lots of room of interpretation about what cloud means and some firms talked only of new sales. But it gives an indication of how strong the penetration has become. Twenty-nine percent said cloud ERP represent 80 percent or more of the total. Only one firm answered the question with zero percent. There was interpretation required as some gave one percentage for new sales and another for total so some back-of-the envelope averaging was performed. 

There is a boom in the mid-market financial software reselling business. One industry observer said the move from desktop to cloud computing has created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This year’s Bob Scott’s VAR Stars firms are participating in that opportunity Along with honoring the firms chosen, this year’s special VAR Star report looks at a market that is providing tons of opportunity to the business people with the talent and will to take advantage of it.

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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