The sales of its Mapadoc operations gave SilverSun Technologies its profit for the year. The company, parent to SWK Technologies, posted net income of $6.8 million for the year ended December 31, up from $262,432 the prior year.

The profit stemmed from a $10.3 million gain on the sale. Meanwhile, SilverSun reported revenue of $38.5 million for the most recently ended year, an increase of 6.6 percent from $36.1 million for 2018. The company had $6.9 million in product revenue last year, an increase of 29.2 percent from $5.3 million. Services revenue for 2019 was $31.6 million, up 2.7 percent from $30.8 million. SilverSun had an operating loss of $1.9 million last year, compared to an operating loss of $1.2 million for 2018. The company had little to say about the factors in growth, except that software sales were a factor.

Microsoft Inspire and SAP’s Sapphire now and ASUG Annual conference they have been cancelled in-person events. The Microsoft event was scheduled for July 18 through July 22, which says the company does not think recovery is just around the corner.

It has not said exactly what will occur, but stated, “We are exploring alternative ways to bring our partner community together to connect and learn. Stay tuned for more details to come.” Sapphire was set for May 12 through 14 in Orlando, Fla., and SAP became merely the latest company with a mid-May event to draw the shutters. Likewise, SAP had no specifics, but it promised, “In the coming weeks, we look forward to bringing you new event program details and engagement opportunities that will help you to learn about the vision and strategy of SAP, provide opportunities to gather in a digital environment and conduct important discussions that the SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference allowed for, and go deep into various topics of interest delivered in a new and exciting way.” 

Sage announced the commencement of its share buyback on March 11. It said on March 18 the program was suspended as the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll on the markets. The official statement was the action was  “in order to preserve a high level of liquidity.”

The buy-back was valued at about $300 million based on today’s currency exchange and was announced the same day Sage confirmed the sale of Sage Pay to Elavon. The company completed the buy-back of 1,101,918 shares, with the average somewhere around 5.9 pounds per share.

A slow-down in business has caused reseller Columbus to suspend its dividend. The company said during the week’s webcast for earnings for the year ended December 31 that it is also writing down goodwill on its North American business by roughly $13 million.

The decision was made because the turnaround in the United States, which Columbus has talked about for more than a year, still hasn’t happened. North American revenue fell 12.6 percent to approximately $44 million last year. Coupled with customers holding on purchased, led the company to that action and the suspension of the dividend. “We expect to see a substantial short-term impact on customer demand,” CEO Thomas Honoré said during the webcast. “We started seeing customers holding back.” After-tax profit dropped to about $3 million for 2019, a decline of 78.3 percent from the prior year with the write-down a big factor. Columbus ended last year with approximately $289 million in revenue, a 3-percent increase from 2018. Organic revenue was up by 4 percent The U.S. turnaround includes accelerating the move of customers to the cloud. With new leadership on this continent, “We believe we are now on the right path,” Honoré said. He continued that Columbus “expects to see progress during 2020”. but does not expec to complete a turnaround this year.

The impact of having people at home for extended periods is wearing on everybody. I went to walk the dog and he looked up with an expression of “Not again.”

On the other side, our cat resents our being here and taking up his favorite spots on the couch. Wait a minute, that’s not new..… If the coronavirus keeps going through October, we won’t need Halloween masks. All children will have to do is walk up to a door and offer to shake hands. “Ahhhhhh” …  One of the warnings for staying healthy is for people not to touch their faces, noses or mouths. It revamps the old disdain for “touching yourself” somewhat. …  With families together interminably, there has been a untick in Google searches for the phrase “Justifiable homicide”. … Fantasy sports has gotten new life. People are staring at TV screens and fantasizing there are games being played. The real solution is to hire play-by-play announcers and color commentators to narrate the fake games instead of having to settle for replays of decades-old games.  … If isolation remains in place for much longer, the fall crop of “How I Spent My Summer” school essays is going to be extremely repetitive? “I spent the summer cooped up at home”, “I spent the summer cooped up at home,” “I…” You got it. Meanwhile, kids are worried about Easter. “Will eggs be safe to eat?” and “Do you think my daddy will take a shot at the Easter Bunny to keep him off our property?”.  Reports are the mythical rabbit is seeking asylum with Punxsutawney Phil.

Because of the coronavirus and vacation travel, Random Thoughts is on break. Stayed tuned as we bring you the latest thoughts from South Africa in the near future. I just flew in from the United States and boy are my arms tired. Thank you, I'm here all week (actually two).

I had my DNA tested by 23andme which suggests health trends based on the analysis of your genes. Because of the spread of the coronavirus, I checked and got a message from the service: “You’re a dead man.”

...  The virus has been particularly dangerous to the elderly. That means the Democratic presidential campaign is in jeopardy. On the other hand, President Trump’s arteries have to look like pipes in a house with water that has lot of lime. And with Trump’s question health officials about the possible use of the flu vaccine to combat the corona virus, it looks like they will have to abandon plans for his post White House TV series “Donald Trump, MD”.  …. Given the demands on hand sanitizer, health authorities are considering the use of moonshine as an antiseptic. Putting the stuff on your hands has got to be easier to take than drinking it. It could revitalize the economies of several mountain states. … Former New York Mayor captured the presidential primary in American Samoa. Before he withdrew the next day, his captain was toying with the slogan, “Today, Samoa, tomorrow, Guam.”  … For newlyweds stuck on quarantined cruise ships there is one bright spot—they get to see how well their marriage works out when they are stuck with each other day-after-day-after-day.

Scott’s rule of prescription medicine: The pill you drop will bounce twice as far and in the opposite direction that you thought.

… My financial advisor is urging me to consider putting some of my money in the “Pandemic Panic Fund”, i.e., putting some money in my mattress. The reaction of the Trump administration reminds me of the first statement from authorities in Milan in 1348 who declared “we have successfully controlled the plague” … Actor Johnny Depp is engaged in a libel suit against News Group Newspapers, parent of the Sun, for its publishing of his texts to actor Paul Bellamy in which he allegedly said he would burn and then drown ex-wife Amber Heard. The star of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies said he was more interested in exiling her soul to a ship that would forever sail the seven seas. “It’s was more of a guideline than a plan,” he said. … Authorities in California have been trying to identify the participants in an adult film shot at Santa Monica library. Although they believe they can identify the woman from other films—which officers volunteered they knew who she was?—they couldn’t see the man’s face. So they have been left with other images and the wanted posters have proved extremely popular ….  Opera has enough trouble maintaining a following. Now KFC has made things worse with the use of a raucous version of the Flower Duet from Delibe’s opera “Lakme”. Maybe we can get Placido Domingo to sing “Muleskinner Blues” in retaliation. 

The mid-market has been strong. Companies like Microsoft, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, IFS and Unit4 have all reported cloud subscription growth of greater than 25 percent in the last six months.

With the coronavirus sweeping through the world, working remotely has gotten a boost. Will mid-market sales stay strong with this impetus or take a dive with the general economy? There are many factors in the new, new norm. As we try to gain a handle on the market direction, the call for entries for Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs is open for the 2020 selection. So to receive a form for submission so you can be a part of this year's story, email to request a form and return it to  bob.scott@pmg360.com by April 10

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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The speculation over when the market will move to the cloud is over. Resistance has faded and however many holdouts there are, financial cloud software is mainstream. Read more to learn who is being recognized as a 2017 VAR Star.

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