Four acquisitions led reseller and software developer Columbus to double-digit increases in revenue and net income last year. And the biggest impact was in the United States which benefited from 2015's acquisition of InterDyn BMI and Sherwood Systems. In fact, the increase in Columbus' revenue for the year ended January 31 was 245.2 million euros and the increase from the U.S. was 241.4 million euros.

Robert Johnson, who held key sales positions with Avalara and Sage, has taken the position of national sales director with Ameriflex. Ameriflex offers HR and related products, including OBRA administration and special plan billing services and  compliance services. Johnson was with Timberline/Sage from 1999 through 2011.

Sage has selected Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group as a keynote speaker for its Summit conference in late July in Chicago. And thus it begins for the event planned for July 25 through 28. Hopefully, we will see a different brand of PR than we saw in the 2015. That was built around the premise that everyone, including the trade press, wanted to see high-profile speakers like Colin Powell.