Jeeves, based in Sweden, has opened a customer portal, which the company says is powered by the toolset of Oracle Rightnow. The portal is designed to offer improved support and education by providing new tools “to submit and track questions, defects, product ideas, and service requests,” the company said in a press release. Jeeves support can also use the portal as a platform to deliver self-service via an FAQ knowledgebase, as well as access to news, product documentation , education and training.

KPMG New Zealand has been a national group platinum partner of Xero. This appears to be the next step after Xero’s March signing of a strategic alliance with KPMG in the United Kingdom. KPMG says the deal enables it to offer value-added services to its small business clients. An interesting sidelight is the announcement notes KPMG is an early adopter of Xero’s Farming in the Cloud application.

Exact Macola has laid out plans for a new channel program. The plan and strategy were outlined at the recent Exact Macola Edge Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. Details have new been released, but the company says they will be spelled out in public following their delivery by managing director Alison Forsythe at the second-ever Edge conference. A press release issued as the show started promised, “a renewed focus on uniting with its partners and strengthening the company’s indirect sales model.”

In December UXC, an Australian technology company, acquired Tectura North America under its UXC Eclipse subsidiary. It was the first step in the dismemberment of the once worldwide America-based Microsoft VAR. In its report for the year ended June 30, UXC noted the deal added 180 staff from Tectura in the United States and Canada. That’s a major hike as that means there are 240 UXCers on this continent Revenue is expected to rise by about 46 percent to more than $64.2 million annually.