After a paragraph describing his pleasure in meeting channel members at least week's Summit Conference, Pascal Houillon, CEO of Sage North America, wished Laurie Schultz luck in an organizational announcement.

Infor's acquisition of Lawson Software is going to be much more than buy and milk the installed base. This week, Infor said it considers Lawson's M3 product line strategic to its growth and would deliver what it called complete industry suites built around the core M3 application. M3 systems were described as "designed for companies that make, move and maintain products or equipment." Read more...

Veteran Intuit staffer Rich Walker, who has handled public relations for the American accountant program, will direct the company's efforts to expand its accountant efforts in the English-speaking world. Walker has been named to the new position of director of accountant strategy and programs with the Intuit Global Business Division. Read more...

Sage is taking another look at its Business Partner Alliance Program, which is supposed to bring accountants and value-added resellers together.  However, not much has happened with the program in recent years. "We haven't been actively pursuing new connections between the VAR and the CPAs," says Jennifer Warawa, the senior director for partner programs for Sage North America.