Maine Systems is recruiting resellers for its P2 Microsoft CRM for Professional Services, whose  target market, includes accountants. The company is based in Jersey (not the one in the U.S., the island with the cows). Maine developed its system on top of Dynamics CRM and has done the best job I've seen of an English company getting American English into the displays. There's a time honored tradition of English companies trying to move into the practice management software market here but leaving the "U" in labour. And Maine says the ability to change terminology to fit a business is one of its strengths. The one clinked I see is that P2 has its own accounting module which was described as "QuickBooks-like". Trying to buck the QB behemoth doesn't seem like a great way to make a product a hit. I'd say why not add QB- friendly features. Main used Microsoft Convergence in April to inaugurate its reseller recruitment efforts in the States. There are three modules, bundled for $750 suggested retail. Two modules are $550 and individual modules are $350. There is also a 29 percent annual maintenance Read more...

It’s not a big trend, but then given the chilling effect the economy had on mergers and acquisitions in 2009, there were few ways to go but up. Start with the fact that Sage Group made an acquisition in every year from 1997 through 2008, but had none last year (at least none large enough to make its acquisition chart). In releasing its first half 2010 results, it noted the purchase of  Netcash, a payment processing service in South Africa for about $12.3 million. Read more...

Epicor Software put its newest version, Epicor 9, into the clouds in a new release called Epicor Express, which makes it a pioneer among veteran mid-market companies to get an Internet version to market. Express is designed for job shops and smaller manufacturers. The on-demand version packs in a variety of functions, including CRM, financial management, product, production, product and material management functionality, business intelligence, business process management and the Epicor ICE business architecture. It’s an all-in-one, except that name is sort of taken. The press statement that an “affordable monthly fee” that covers software, hardware, operating systems, support, training sources and on-going system maintenance and upgrades. The Temptations’ s song, Cloud Nine, could be a good theme. “You can be what you want to be.” However, I suppose the line, “You’re a thousand miles from reality” probably doesn’t fit the image. Read more...

Many readers have received the credential from the American Institute of CPAs called the Certified Information Professional, an IT designation available only to CPAs. However, all of them, to my knowledge, qualified based on experience and none took the exam that was once offered. That's going to change in about a year when a new test hits the market, according to Jim Bourke, the CPA who heads the CITP committee. Read more...