Rootstock Software has hired one VP and promoted another. The ERP software company this week said it had hired Zach Feige as VP of professional services.

It also promoted Scott Johnson to SVP of customer operations. Feige, whose LinkedIn profile shows he joined Rootstock in October, was SVP of professional services for Viewpoint from September 2019 to October. Before that, he was with Plex Systems for eight years four months and in his last job was VP of professional services from August 2016 through August 2019. Johnson was previously VP of product management and support.  Johnson, whose LinkedIn profile shows he moved into the new position in August, has been employed by Rootstock since July 2012 and held the product management job for two years two months.

There was optimism last year when companies scheduled conferences for Spring 2021. Given the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems more likely anything scheduled for the first half of the year will not be held on[ premise.

At the end of 2020, Zoho announced a virtual Zoho Day for February 24 and 25, instead of an on-premise Zoholics. Avalara has set a virtual version of its Crush conference for May 27 and it seems likely we will see plans for other in-premise events turning virtual for anything before September. Oracle NetSuite had already moved its normal plan for spring with SuiteWorld set for October 18 to 21 at Caesar’s Forum, Los Vegas. Acumatica Summit is planned for May 16 to 21 for Wynn Vegas, displaced from its normal January slot and likely to be displaced again. Sage seems to be fudging the date for Sage Summit, which was postponed from last fall. The website notes the conference is “Currently planned for Dallas, Texas, USA” in Dallas Texas, for May 25 to 27. Oracle OpenWorld has a big “TBA” on its web page and the usual springtime Oracle Modern Business Experience, does not appear on a search for a 2021 event.  Xero, which had not planned a U.S. version of Xerocon last year, was supposed to have one this year, but given a lack of dates that seems less and less likely for an event that usually happens in the first six months of a year.

Insightsoftware has acquired Cetent, which makes SaaS products for financial disclosure management and equity management. Terms were not disclosed.

Cetent says its products replaces spreadsheets in managing “complex equity plans and cap tables, transmit equity and capital information between data sources, such as the brokerage service, transfer agent service, and payroll provider, and to automate the end-to-end internal and external reporting cycle, including XBRL, ESEF, and other regulatory filing requirements.” Insight says it offers products for the Office of the CFO. In the last two years, it has been very active in buying reporting applications such as Jet Reports, Longview and BizNet Software.

Repay Holdings, which has been acquiring payments companies, is raising $402.5 million in a combination of shares and debt under a shelf offering. The company has made an offering of $130 million in shares of its Class A stock and $350 million in convertible senior notes due 2026.

The underwriters have an option to purchase up to $19.5 million in additional shares. The company plans to use proceeds to repay term loans and other general corporate purposes including Post-Merger Repay Units, future acquisitions, satisfaction of earnout obligations from prior acquisitions, the repayment of outstanding indebtedness and working capital. With the repayment of its term loans, the company expects to increase the amount available under its revolving credit facility. Repay raised $305 million in an offering in December.

A  friend learned that a shortage of chips is threatening automobile production. He said he was very surprised and commented, “Couldn’t they just switch to trail mix?”

… A previously unseen episode of the “Ghost Whisperer” had a surprising when, in the climactic scene, the deceased person de jour is ready to make the move to the next life. Someone yells, “Hey, can someone turn off that white light?” …  I think there’s a future in movies for Jacob Chansley, alias Jake Angell, who was seen in the Capitol building last week with his horns in fur attire. He would be perfect for a remake of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”. He wouldn't need that match make up to morph into an animal/human mutant.  The rest of that crowd is slated for the latest installment of “Dumb and Dumberer”.  … Some Congress people thought there were tours of the Capitol building scouting the building before the riot. Police should have gotten suspicious when they saw a couple of buses labeled “Tours by QAnon” touring the city. … Has anyone noticed that as new Star Trek episodes emerge, the Klingons kept getting uglier?  In the original series, they only varied from humans by their hairdo. In the “Next Generation” part of the franchise, they evolved to have, in the words of a friend, “A butt in them idle of their faces.” In the first season “Star Trek Discovery”,  they looked like metallic iguanas, although in season two they reverted to the NG look. If it keeps going they will just be slime on rocks in the next series. … Denmark TV has trod new ground with a children’s show about John. Dillermand, who has a giant male part. He would have made an interesting addition to “Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood.”  Mr. Rogers, in his gentle voice, says, “I have a friend with a large. ….Can you say, “XXXX”? Might not make it on American public TV 

The DNA testing service 23andMe has updated the results of the ancestry composition for those of us who have tested. All my wife was interested in how much my Neanderthal DNA has changed.

“It must have gone up,” she said. … I don’t know if there has been an update but pre-Christmas. Cannabis sales were expected to hit $400 million. That probably explains why it was essential to leave lots of cookies for Santa during the holiday visit. This year, the delivery of gifts was delayed since so many homes were requiring Santa and the reindeer to have temperature checks.…… I have always wanted to put “Do not Exit signs” on all of the exits on a traffic circle and see how long people will go around before ignoring them. … A friend asked me if I h ad ever read El Cid?  I told him, no, but I had read material by El Max and El Bernie. … President Trump’s neighbors in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, got together and bought him a book for Christmas. It was Tom Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again”. … Someone asked what I thought about the meteor shower over the holidays. I said, “Personally, I prefer soap and water.”

Cannabis sales hits an estimated $238 million for Thanksgiving, one of the biggest sales periods for the drugs. Use of cannabis, of course, can make users slow moving and drowsy—somewhat hard to distinguish from what happens to people after a normal meal of turkey.

The widespread use of cannabis in stuffing may explain a reported drop of fights with crazy uncles. “Biden? Trump? Wow, look at the pretty lights. Do you have any Mallomars and chips? …  News Flash: The amphibious creature from the hit movie of 2916  “The Shape of Water”, died after being caught in a fishing net and could not be freed…. The Six Million Dollar Man has been fully depreciated and taken out of service. He is being replaced by the Six Hundred Thousand Man, manufactured in the Far East.… Roofs around the area are starting to bear signs “Santa must wear a mask.” Also it turns out on the retelling of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer that while the North Pole workforce has been little affected by COVID-19 the reindeer herd has been savaged by hoof-and-mouth disease. … Parents in the New York metropolitan area recently breathed a sigh of relief with the cancellation of SantaCon set for December 14, the rowdy pub crawl of people in Santa costumes, because of the pandemic.  It’s difficult to explain to your children why there are so many Santa throwing up in the street. Cancellation also means authorities won’t have to respond to numerous complaints about elf-tossing contests. SantaCon is reportedly a charitable fundraising, although the main beneficiaries, Budweiser and Coors, usually aren’t thought of as organizations needing charity.

New of the future: 2050—The estate for the late former president Donald Trump filed its latest appeal to overturn results in the state of Pennsylvania that favored the late President Joe. Biden.

…  Gov. Rick DeSantis has confounded medical experts by forbidding cities in Florida from adopting rules requiring the wear of masks. I think it’s simple—he believes that having people with tan lines on their face would be bad for Florida’s image. … A sure bet for a hot gift for Christmas is the new Barbie Quarantine House. It comes with a supply of masks and Ken is suffering from a worrisome coughs and is waiting for tests results.… Instead of Baby New Year 2021 crawling in after Old Man 2020 limps, it looks more likely the Old Man will exit on a ventilator and will need assistance.  … Fantasy football has evolved with the times. Now players are not only traded, but can be sidelined in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. … There is nothing like college football math. There are 10 teams in the Big 12 and 14 teams in the Big 10.

 The year 2020 has been Dickensian—the worst of times and best of times. For most of the population, the coronavirus has made this year probably the most awful in memory. But for many mid-market software resellers, the move of companies to the cloud as their workforces went to remote operations, meant 2020 has been a good to great year. The results are not uniform. For VARs in markets such as entertainment and hospitality, it was not great. However, if clients were able to conduct business remote, resellers could service them remotely and despite the difficulties, 2020 was fine. Bob Scott’s VAR Stars for 2020 faced the pandemic and many not only survived, they prospered.

Submissions for the 2020 Bob Scott’s VAR Stars are still open. But you have to act fast. .

The door closes next Wednesday. The selection is based on quality—not revenue. Past honorees have ranged from one-person operations to the largest ERP dealers. Factors that are considered in the selection are growth, development of significant products and services and contributions to the industry. If you are interested in having  your firm considered, please email bob.scott@pmg360.com as soon as possible.

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.