Acumatica has named 69 most valuable professionals and 15 developer MVPs in advance of its partner summit in Las Vegas next week. The MVPs include resellers and ISVs while the developer MVPs also include individuals working for reselling firms.

Notable was the number of SVPs from construction software resellers where Acumatica has made significant inroads. These include  three MVPs from Alliance Solutions Group: Andrew Rashid, Glen West and Colette Bashir. Two from Action Associates: Shannon Ward and Tim Rodman; and Justine Bangert of Bangert Inc. and Pat Chappell of the Strategies Group. Among reselling firms with multiple MVPs were Crestwood Associates with Michael Aichinger and Melissa Blassingame and developer MVP Joe Jacob. Kensium Solutions had two developer MVPs: Sharif Ahammad and Yuriy Zaletskyy and MVP Rahul Gedupudi. Firms with two were SWK Technologies, Mary Abdian and Jeremy Potoka; BHE Consulting, Gregory Archambault and Will McComb; PC Bennett Solutions, Patricia Bennett and Tim O’Sullivan; Dynamic Tech Services, Sharon Conkey, and Michelle Hesketh; NexVue Information Systems Melanie Miu and Daniel Schwartz; Blytheco Tina Renner and Kevin Ruppert.

Syspro is working to change its channel. In an interview this week, Geoff Garrett, CEO of Syspro USA said, “We are disrupting our channel a bit. We are pushing them to become a bit more professional.”

Garrett assumed his job in May after Syspro acquired Syspro US, the distributor that handles products in this country for 31 years. Syspro made the move because of the important of the U.S. market. “Although we are a global business, we hadn’t integrated ourselves,” he continued.  Garrett said resellers need to adopt to sales  which are made increasingly to C-level executives instead of IT. The company has 75 partners and Garrett wouldn’t mind seeing some consolidate, but still plans to bring on some new VARs. Syspro also needs to adopt to the need for reseller specialization in its manufacturing sector. He said. “We have been pushing our channel to move down the path of specialization." In addition, it needs to enlist more ISVs to handle products that address developing technologies—Garrett gave blockchain as one example. To spur the change, Syspro USA is investing in training and investing in marketing to reach the correct audiences. “There is a lot of refreshing of content,” Garrett said. The company has also retooled its channel management, tripling the size of the sales organization. “Their job is to the partner grow the value of their business,”  he added. While Syspro will incent resellers to step into territories in which has no dealers, the sales team will address prospects there rather than let territories go undeveloped. Still, the main lesson for the account executives is their job is to help the channel grow faster, Garrett said.

Solver Inc. has given its BI360 software the company name this month. The BI360 suite will now be known as Solver. The company will also replace the product logo with the company logo.

The Solver Suite encompasses budgeting and forecasting, reporting and consolidation, dashboards that connect with Power BI and a data warehouse based on SQL Azure. The software line supports a wide range of financial software applications, including Microsoft Dynamics 365, Acumatica, SAP Business One and Business ByDesign; Sage Intacct, 100/300/500 and X3; and NetSuite.

Dynamics 365 reseller Enavate has hired Holly Grogan as chief human resources officer. Grogan, who joined the Denver, Colo.-based company on January 1, is the second notable hiring by the VAR this month.

On January 3, Enavate said it had named Eve Cline as its new chief marketing officer. Grogan was previously with the former Tribridge from July 211. Tribridge was acquired by DXC Technology in July 2017. Grogan was chief people officer at Tribridge. Her career before that included working from September 2005 through July 210 at Xerox Audio Visual Solutions, where she was HR director, and a tenure from January 2002 through September 2005 as HR director at Primedia Busieness.

A news item said the next generation of credit cards that will be keyed to owners’ handprints. I can see it now, “Now be sure to wash your hands or you won’t be able to pay for your meal at school today”.

… Intuit’s slogan for tax season is “All people are tax people.” Somehow I keep reading that as “All people are taxed people.”  … The planned release of a Star War movie, “Obi Wan-Kenobi”, from Disney Plus has been pushed back following the resignation of a key writer. That pushes the start of the childhood story “OWK”. In the first episode, OWK’s parents are bombarded by complaints of parents whose children have been injured by OWK, paying with his little light saber. … I’m not sure about the tax software I just bought. It’s called “TaxFraud, the software preferred by tax cheats everywhere.” But a friend says it’s dirt cheap and produces great refunds.  … Sometimes people are very rigid about their views on day. I told a friend I knew someone who is trying to make her cat vegan. “What’s a vegan cat?” he asked. “A dead one,” I replied.  … There has been a lot of publicity about the upcoming ad will by Planter’s will feature the death of Mr. Peanut, the product’s long-time spokesnut. The funeral is already being planned with Eulogies by Captain Crunch, Toucan Sam and the Trix Rabbit. The Keebler Elves will serve as pall bearers. Trailers suggest he died in a car going over the cliff. As likely he was run over by a steamroller and will be praised as “the world’s greatest, creamiest spread”. … With the trend towards online buying continuing, I am planning a documentary called “The Last Mall in America”. I should be able to do it in five years.

The Houston Astros baseball team made the news for the teams’ stealing sign from opposing baseball teams. Their management will be joining New England Patriot’s head coach Bill Belichik and quarterback Tom Brady on a panel discussing “Ethics in Sports”.

 Actually, the Astros real crime was the sign theft threatened sto speed up the game and make it more interesting. … A recent TV ad talked about “Five Indicators of Brain Performance”. I have one—does it work when I get up in the morning? …. How many politicians does it take to change a Ukrainian light bulb? I don’t know. The number keeps growing. … The nominations for Oscar awards—better known as the “Old White Guys” contest have been announced. That means next year, one of the major missions of “The Black Widow”, due in theaters in May 1 with star. Scarlett Johansson, will be to overthrow the academy establishment. …  Someone asked what I thought of gold as a hedge against hard times. I said, “It’s a great device. If someone tries to take what you have, you can hit them over the head with a bar of it.” …. Never trust online tests: One of these said if you like 23 of the 30 foods, you are over 50. I tested as Generation Xer and tested out of a second at 35 years old. Maybe it’s because I said I don’t like meatballs with grape jelly.  Another test summary  said, “You don't have close to enough experience to even qualify as a 30-year-old, never mind for a full-blooded 60-year-old. My wife said it doesn’t matter since, “You always eat like a five-year old’.  … 

Stock Middle East news announcement: A hotel in [city name here] has been destroyed by a bomb. A group called [organization name here] claimed responsibility.

The group [organization name here] is backed by the government (country name here) which has been in a long-simmering dispute with (country name here) … time to update America the Beautiful, replacing the amber waves of grain with the green fields of cannabis … When I heard the royal couple was stepping down from its duties, I thought it was Ivanka and Jared. Turned out it was just Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The other possibility was it was Dog the Bounty Hunter and long-time friend Moon Angell, who his daughter and step-daughter claimed was moving in on their dad after the death of his wife, Beth, last year. It gives a new image of the “dog howling at the moon”. In a twist to the bounty-hunting format, Democrats have attempted to hire Dog to corner Trump administration officials who have refused to testify before Congress.… TV  News 2035: “Grey’s Anatomy' wrapped up work for its thirtieth-anniversary show. The producers vowed to continue to serve the diminishing number of people still watching broadcast TV or even know what broadcast TV is. Sponsors in the last decade have moved from mainstay of ED products to reverse mortgages and final-expense insurance. The anniversary episode coincided with the final issue of the New York Times, the last print newspaper in the United States.… The Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in 2019 with a group of eight youngsters declared co-winners after judges concluded the contestants were unlikely to run out of steam. Sponsors are looking for a sure fire tie-breaker. Asking them to name all announced candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination should do it.

Another candidate for the Democratic nomination for president has dropped out of the race. That was, uh, I think it was, no what was his name again, wait a minute, I thought he quit last month. Never mind. 

The latest Christmas gift hit for the scientifically minded was “Schrödinger's Cat”. Kids get to guess if the cat in the box is alive or dead. The package comes with a dead cat figurine. Optional live cat figures sold separately. The live cat figurine can also be used with the veterinarian version of the venerable game “Hospital”, which challenges players to “remove” various body parts without sounding a buzzer. For animal lovers, there is the new line of "Schrödinger's Kitty Litter", which may or may not work depending on whether the cat in the box is alive or dead. The phrase takes its name from scientist ErwinSchrödinger, who was unsure if his cat was alive and dead after it was trapped behind the refrigerator. His wife suggested, "Wait a while and sniff." Instead, he posited a theoriy. … I took my wife to a friend’s so they could go to a movie over the holiday. I would say I took the little woman to see “Little Women” but some people might be offended by that so I won’t say it. … James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, the highest money winners in “Jeopardy” history. The show is “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” and notable for its omission of “Watson” the IBM computer, which defeated Jennings and Rutter, has been working in healthcare. Reached for comments, Watson dismissed the “puny, human, carbon-based life forms” that will be ompeting. … Voters for next year’s Golden Globe awards will be required to watch a public service film “Woman Can Be Directors Too” before casting their ballots. … … The Reese holiday peanut butter and chocolate candies seem to be extending the holiday year. The year, bunny-shaped chocolates were spotted before Christmas. Next year, they will probably be out before Thanksgiving. Somehow, I missed the groundhog shaped ones. Well, maybe for Feb. 2, 2021.

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.

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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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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