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.

Faye Business Systems Group has been selected as Most Valuable Global Partner for 2016 by SugarCRM. The award was made at SugarCon 2016, the company's channel and customer conference this month. Faye, led by David Faye, is based in Woodland Hills, Calif. The company is also a developer that recently released Sage 100 integration 3.0. Sugar also gave Brainsell Technologies the channel leader award for North America.

Last year, I did not attend Sage's Summit conference because the company refused to provide any worthwhile information to the press. All we got were glowing promotions of the celebrities—nothing about product, strategy or promises of chances to meet with execs. And I was told we could not attend the reseller sessions. This year, I was trying to get information and so far it had been the same dreary tune.