Infor said its channel had strong growth in the year end May 31 2016. The software vendor made that statement this week in a webcast about financial results for the fiscal year CEO Charles Phillips said the channel had 14-percent revenue growth and that during the year, Infor also consolidated its regional channel operations in one global organization led by SVP Jeff Abbott. As a result, "We are attracting a lot more partners," Phillips said.

The Rand Group, a Dynamics reseller based in Houston, Texas, has named Joe Eldridge as its first chief technology officer. Rand said Eldridge will have a heavy focus on developing "a deeper level of Professional Services." The company also said that the increasing number of cloud opportunities and changes to the Microsoft channel program means Eldridge will "work closely with the development teams to deliver a noticeably improved set of competencies and a superior balance of skills." 

Deltek has published Talent Management for Dummies, the ninth book in its For Dummies Series. The Herndon, Va.-based software company says the downloadable publication discusses concepts of an effective "people" strategy in a way intended to be easy to understand. Components of talent management covered in the book include the acquisition, development, and retention of top talent along with implementing technology to support a strong talent strategy.

Every year, I total exhibitors and sponsors for shows like Sage Summit which is being held in Chicago at the end of July. My view is the totals looks good. My combined count for the medal sponsor categories is 135. Last year, I started three weeks earlier so I will not compare those numbers. But my sense is Sage made substantial gains in numbers in the last weeks of 2015 and that it should come in well ahead of last year's total which I had at 124.