Accpac 6.0, an eagerly awaited release, has entered phase 2 of beta testing with the official release expected in December. The Sage North America website has a page for those interested in participating. Beta participants receive a 1.5 Tier Credit on the first three New Customer Sales within three months of the product release and those in beta and controlled release get double tier credit within the same three-month window. Read more...

NetSuite has raised list prices on its Internet-based products for new customers. The move was noted by CFO Ron Gill at a presentation this week at the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference. Gill was unable to provide the average price increase and the company hasn't responded to my inquiry about the amount. However, it's interesting to have prices raised since Gill also told the audience that the price of most deals is negotiated company by company.

San Diego-based DSD Business Systems, a Sage reseller, has created the position of chief solutions officer to manage inside and outside software sales and professional services. Stepping into that role is April Holman, who has been serving as chief consulting officer. The company also is adding three sales and administration positions at its headquarters. Holman joined DSD as VP of sales and marketing in 2000. Before that, she owned and operated a Peachtree support center and an accounting firm.

Pronto Software has appointed Luke Thomas as product manager-financials to manage the direction, development and take-to-market strategy of its financIal applications. And given how quiet the company has been since announcing it was recruiting VARs in the United States, some action is necessary if it's going to be serious in this country. A year ago, the Australian company said it had signed three U.S. resellers, but since then, there hasn't been any channel news here, unless it's doing a stealth enlistment campaign. In his role, Thomas will manage the architecture development of the flagship product, Pronto-XI, and provide strategic input to the R&D team. Previously, he was global developer program manager at MYOB Australia and held positions in technical support, training and education.