My wife is very frugal in cleaning up food. I told her she would have ruined Dickens.

“May I have another? “No , there is plenty left in the bowl. You have to do a better job of scraping the sides.” … Reports are President Trump wants to buy Greenland. He thought from the name it would be a great site for a golf course. Apparently, he read a translation of a Viking real estate promotion written by Erik the Red, who changed his named from Erik Thorvaldsson so he would get a job in the Norse entertainment business. … Todd and Julie Chrisley, whose family is featured in the TV series “Chrisley Knows Best”, have been indicted on 12 counts of alleged fraud and tax evasion. That reminds me of a little-known episode of “Father Knows Best”, in which the kids are left at home trying to figure out what to have for dinner after Jim and Jane Anderson have been led away in handcuffs. I guess we won’t be seeing that PBS special by the Chrisleys on “Saving Money on Your Taxes”.  (The Chrisleys deny all charges). …I believe there is a thing called Verizon math. It must be different because I remember being told I could add a line for ten dollars per month and my bill seems to be large multiples of that. I think they really mean the numeral “10” in base 100. … Scientists speculate there may thousands of microbial creatures called tardigrades living on the moon following the crash of the Israeli moon mission vehicle Beresheet, which carried them in a dehydrated state. Scientists say they may have multiplied and developed quickly—that may explain them spelling out a “Humans Go Home” sign recently spotted on Earth’s satellite. … It’s a big year for anniversaries with the landing on the moon and the Woodstock music festival. In the cases of Woodstock, many people who were there remember in great detail. Many don’t remember it at all the way you’d think. “Oh, yeah, I was landing on the moon in ‘69”.  … Watching a PBS show which features sections on various planets. Right now, the episode is about gas giants. I once knew a gas giant in college. But I digress.

Alithya, which acquired Edgewater Technology last year, said the integration of the purchased company is ahead of schedule.  Paul Raymond, CEO of the Montreal, Que.-based company, made the comments in this week’s earnings webcast for the first quarter ended June 30.

Edgewater’s operations included the Fullscope Dynamics reselling business and the Ranzal Oracle unit. “We assumed Microsoft would be growing and Oracle would be shrinking,” Raymond said. But instead, he found, “We are ahead on both counts.” Alithya will continue to seek cost savings in the United States in the former Edgewater’s administration. Financial results were a story of the addition of Edgewater, producing large percentage changes in most lines of the profit-and-loss statement. Alithya lost about $1.17 million for the most recently ended quarter, down 62.3 percent from a year ago. Revenue for the first quarter was roughly $54.4 million, an increase of 73.7 percent from last year’s corresponding period. SG&A expenses rose 134.7 percent to approximately $14.3 million. Raymond also said  he has seen no sign of an economic slowdown in Alithya’s business. With Edgewater tucked in, Alithya is on the look out for more M&A opportunities.

Salesforce plans to buy ClickSoftware, which makes field service management applications. Valued at about $1.35 billion, the deal will be accomplished through cash and Salesforce stock, along with assuming equity awards held by the target’s employees.

The sale is expected to close by October 31. Bill Patterson, EVP and GM of the Salesforce Service Cloud, said in a prepared statement,  “Our acquisition of ClickSoftware will not only accelerate the growth of Service Cloud, but drive further innovation with Field Service Lightning to better meet the needs of our customers.” ClickSoftware’s markets the Click Field Service Edge,available in four editions, Essential, Professional, Professional Plus, and Ultimate. Modules includes Customer Engagement, Contractor Management, Demand Forecasting and Capacity Planning. The two companies have partnered since Field Service Lightning was launched in 2016 with the combined capabilities giving dispatchers the ability to switch jobs to different field technicians and automatically update the information across the Salesforce platform.

Insightsoftware has received an investment of an undisclosed amount from private equity firm Genstar. The companies said this week the capital will be used for growth, including global expansion.

Insight has been an acquisition path in the reporting software arena this year. In March. it acquired BizNet Software and followed that with the May acquisition of Jet Global Data Technologies, which markets reporting, analytics, and budgeting applications for Microsoft Dynamics. It purchased in October  Excel4apps, which makes Excel-based reporting software for Oracle E-Business Suite and SAP. The company reached its current form with the merger of Hubble by insightsoftware.com and Global Software in June 2018.

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.

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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The last year has been one of change—the cloud has moved from being something everyone talked about to something most resellers are doing something about. It is also a market facing rapid automation through related technologies such as artificial intelligence, bots and machine learning. As usual, this year’s Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs provides the names of dealers who are at the top of the mid-market in revenue. But they are a group that is rapidly changing how they operate.

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