CCH, one of the giants of the American tax and accounting business, is going to be producing analytical tools. That statement was made this week by chief executive Nancy McKinstry, who noted the company had started with a product in the legal market. She did not specifically promise tax and accounting tools that might be in development, but the thrust of her remarks was that analytics would cross all boundaries. That followed a visit to Bainbridge Island, Wash., this month in which Avalara executives suggested they want to do something with all that data they have collected in the company’s sales-and-use tax business. And that was on top of my meeting with Alchemex founder Gary Boddington, who has moved from South Africa to Vancouver, B.C., since Sage purchased his company. He is trying to figure out ways to get the channel more involved with BI tools.