On the heels of Institutional Shareholder Services supporting the purchase of Avalara by Vista Equity Partners, another proxy advisor said shareholders should vote against the $8.4-billion sale. In doing so, Glass Lewis sided in investor groups, Altair US, a pre-IPO angel investor in the sales and use tax company

The proxy advisor wrote “we have concerns about the questionable deal timing, the sometimes inexplicable course of the deal discussions and negotiations, the board’s pessimistic reasoning for adopting the merger agreement, apparent conflicts of interest in the decision-making process, and the uncompelling and inadequate valuation of Avalara in the transaction.” Those are the same reasons raised by Altair, with Glass Lewis also citing “apparent conflicts of interest stemming from Goldman Sachs' longstanding relationship with Vista and certain Avalara directors' ties to Vista, for which the Avalara board took no action to attempt to mitigate.” I would have to think if the deal is approved we will see many of these words again quoted by law firms who trawl the Wall Street waters looking for publicly held companies to sue. Another long-term investor, Merrion Investment Management Co., a long-term owner of shares, will also vote against the deal but Altair has taken the lead on proxy materials filed with the SEC.

Epicor has acquired eFlex Systems, which makes Manufacturing Execution Systems. Terms were not disclosed.

The software company noted the deal will expand Epicor’s Advanced MES portfolio. eFlex markets the Manufacturing Integrated Platform, which it describes as “A flexible, configurable software platform to simplify digital transformation on the plant floor and bridge the data gap—allowing manufacturers to become more agile, efficient, productive with a competitive advantage.” eFlex modules include the Job Element Monitor which configures digital work instructions and enforces process control and error proofs operation; Track and Trace, which provides real-time traceability; Andon, which offers user-configurable data display, and OEE, which incorporates scheduling and data metrics by capturing data directly from machines and equipment 

FinancialForce has named John “JT” Turner as chief revenue officer. He becomes the fourth person in that office in the last four years.

His predecessor, Tony Kender, occupied most of that tenure having served from January 2020 until leaving in June.  This is the latest of executive changes under Scott Brown , who became CEO in November. Those changes include Heather Gille as chief people officer in December; Todd Kisaberth as chief customer officer in February; and Rav Narula as CFO in June. Turner previously held the same position with Red Canary from April 2021 through May 2022. Before that, he spent four years with Googleand fiveyears four months at TriNet.

 Newly-formed ThriveSaaSWorx has joined Oracle NetSuite Solution Provider Program. Based in Frederick, Md., the company markets to senior living and health services providers.

ThriveSaaSWorx is also joining the NetSuite SuiteLife initiative, designed to accelerate partner onboarding. The company is founded by CEO Nick Patel, who was previously with CompuGain, where he served as COO and CFO, November 2010 through March 2020. He was a strategic advisor for the last two there and also served as president of ThriveWell Tech from April 2018. That firm’s operations included managed services and offers NetSuite via ThriveSaaSWorx, which says it serves more than 215 countries and territories with more than 27,000 customers. ThriveSaaSWorx and ThriveWell are affiliates of Asbury Communities, a non-profit company that operates senior living communites.

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You know it’s been a bad day if you see a sign saying, “If you see anything suspicious report it” and your photograph is posted next to it.

… There’s a new movie in the magic franchise, “Harry Potter and the Orkin Man” in which the Ministry of Magic has to call an exterminator to deal with a nasty outbreak of house elves. After dealing with the nasty little vermin, he caught villain, Peter Pettigrew, in a rat trap. … With the focus on new diseases, scientists have reported the first episode of a disease combining monkey pox, chicken pox, swine flu, avian flu and equine encephalitis. It causes infected individuals to rant at animals of all kinds and is being labeled the “Dr. Doolittle Disease.” … I was relieved to find that the phrases “Manufacturing Execution Systems” is not the dire life-threatening experience I had feared. … Made it to Manhattan for the first time in three years in the middle of humid sweltering day. Of course, there was the smell of something slightly disgusting from the gutter along 42nd Street. On the same street, at Madame Tussaud’s wax figures near the door was melting in the heat. But a second look showed that was a tourist group from the Midwest. The wax figures were fine. The I ran into a guy promoting Hop On, Hop Off. “Buses?" I asked. “No, hookers, he replied.

I spent most of the last week unable to speak with laryngitis.

A surprising number of my acquaintances and friends remarked upon the improvement..  … The crypto market crash has spurred new looks at blockchain technology, which in this context is now being referred to as blockhead technology. Blockhead technology is based on the premise that crypto currency is immune from historical market forces and can serve as a store of value when other markets crash.  … I told a friend that when it comes to deals I always before a win/win outcome. I also like it when I win, win, win. …. The resignation of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the architect of Brexit who is making is own Bexit, has spurred interest in what his next move might be. There is some talk that he will embark on a new business sponsoring parties during times of distress, such as pandemics. Also, the combative leader is also planning a string of hair salons “Mr. Boris” in honor of his coiffure. It has been report4ed in some places, Liar's Poker has been renamed Boris' poker.

One of the hot trends of the last few years is the Gender Reveal party.  Someone asked my opinion.

“Gender reveal? That’s hardly new. We have had guys running around in raincoats doing that for years. Just not my style.” … Inflation is taking a toll on products of all kinds. The manufacturer of “20 Mule Team Borax” has been forced to reduce the product to 17 mules.  … I have decided that the purpose of blister packs is to make you prove you really want to take the pills you have. …. When they pulled out of the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Russian soldiers are said to have left behind 100 liters of high-quality vodka. Apparently, they thought it might to prove a practical substitute for fissionable material in powering the plant. … Somebody asked me how much I paid to fill up my gasoline tank the last time. “I think it was three cents a gallon higher when I finished than when I started,” I said. … A local van had large lettering advertising the “Racoon Guy”.  I thought maybe he was a feature in a carnival sideshow. But now, he was just an animal control expert.  Actually, he did have rather short noise and beady eyes. …  The latest in the saurian franchise is Jurassic World Dominion. If there’s a sequel, we’ll probably find the dinosaurs are getting a bit long in the tooth. There are some reports the next victims of tyrannosaur will actually be pureed meat disguised by Halloween costume and makeup specialists so he won’t have to gum his food. That will probably be similar to the next in final editions of Top Gun so that 10 years from now, the currently 59-year-old superstar Tom Cruise, will be carrying a Hurry-cane and have to have a handicapped access ramps for the fighter jet. Of course, he will be probably be assisted by lower-level members of the Church of Scientology.

 What the public didn’t know in the well-publicized verdict in the trial of Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard, there was an initial ballot in which the seven jury members registered their real feelings.

Two were for Depp; two for Heard and three didn’t care anymore. … In the last week, England’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 70 years on the throne, her Platinum Jubilee. What can you give the woman who has, well the crown jewels; a few palaces? I thought coupons for trading in Prince Andrew for a new model might be welcome. Or we could buy her a nice set of platinum dinnerware. … A woman recently was the recipient of an ear made by 3D printer. I asked someone if that involved dot matrix or laser? The break-through will revolutionized the childhood game of “I have your nose” to “I made you a new nose.” … Dr. Mahmet Oz was just declared the winner of the highly contested Republican senatorial primary in Pennsylvanian. If Oz is elected, he will likely become a key spokesman for the GOPs plan for healthcare reform. He will a stalwart champion of eye of newt, bleach and exorcism as major tools in the fight against contagious diseases. He will also propose that discounts for healthcare with be available as coupons in packaged meals at Mcdonald’s and other fast food outlets.

Submissions are now being accepted for Bob Scott’s VAR Stars for 2022. VAR Stars is designed to acknowledge 100 quality firms in the mid-market reselling business for financial software regardless of size.

Firms chosen in past years have included single-person firms all the way up to the largest VARs.  We are looking for firms that have shown growth, produced innovative products or contributed in other ways, such as showing leadership and vision, to the mid-market. To receive a form, please contact me at bob.scott@pmg360.com and return your information by October 19b. Along with the selection of Stars, we will be writing about market trends and talking to leading firms.

index.php/component/rsform/form/31-2022-bob-scott-s-top-100-varsThe last two years have been like nothing else the mid-market has experienced--indeed like nothing most peope alive have experienced. But for the ERP channel, the pandemic produced opporuntity as remote work accelerated the move of businesses to the cloud.

But new opporunties and new problems usually go hand and hand and the demand for web-based financial products has been accompanied by a shortage of the consultants needed to install and implement them. This Special Report "Beyond the Pandemic" discusses these issues, as it announces the 2022 edition of Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs. It tells you where the leaders rank and examines how several of them have addressed the problems and the opportunities.

 Sponsored by:

Top 100 VARS Survivor? Given the pandemic over the last two year and the swift move to remote work and the cloud, it may have felt that way. But the top firms have done more than just survive--they have prospered.

We'll look at the trends impacting the market in a period that has been one of the most unusual events in the lives of most people--well, most of the earth's population. There's war in the Ukraine a virus outbreak exploding in China. So is the next year more likely to resemble thelast two years, or maybe there will be some return to the way life looked befoe March 2020

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 2022 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 

The title of this special report "Reselling the Era of COVID" sounds even more relevant with the recent outbreak of the Omicron variant. But one thing is for sure, the move to the cloud was accelerated by the pandemic in a way no one could have anticipated.

It has not beneftied everyone in the midmarket who sells ERP software. But a large number of resellers and software publishers have benefited, even as they work around issued such as remote work. So within that framework, we are pleased to announce the 100 resellers who have been chosen as VAR Stars for 2021 and share some of their experiences of the last year.