Epicor’s public statements about its channel continue to be a source of puzzlement and amusement. On March 9, CEO George Klaus told attendees at the first annual Signal Hill Technology Conference in about as plain language as possible that “We have a direct sales organization, a direct go-to-market strategy. … All of our competitors who compete with us in this market …. All of those go to the market through a channel. … Customers who buy through the channel deal with multiple partners in different locations."

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Open Systems has acquired a long-time reseller, Independent Computer Services, has turned that organization into a company office in Orange County, Calif. Tony Moliterno, president of ICS and executive business consultant for Open Systems, joins the Minneapolis-based software vendor. The last time Open Systems absorbed a reseller, it took on TBC International of Salado, Texas, in late 2009.

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It was a major announcement today – Intuit will resell Salesforce CRM, an application that will synchronize customer data with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online.  But how much of the QuickBooks market recognizes the Salesforce name and is comfortable with the terms CRM and customer relationship management? I assume there’s a continuum here on which the recognition falls off as the target businesses get smaller. Read more...

Last week’s statement that it would seem to be easier to carry multiple cloud products and that some VARs are already doing that brought an elaboration from Intacct’s channel VP Taylor Macdonald. Generally, Intacct is not signing those who sell or want to sell competing products. ”We have grandfathered a small number of firms (less than 5, principally BPO firms who became VAR’s) to be allowed to sell Intacct and a competing Cloud product (QB online doesn’t count),” Macdonald wrote in an email. Read more...