It's a bit of old news (what I get for taking the summer off), but ERP vendor Versata, which is based in Austin, Texas, has acquired Everest Software, whose headquarters are in Dulles, Va. Everest started life in 1994 as iCode and back in the 1990s adopted its current name. It went through a series of management changes and at one time was promising to sign up a lot of Navision VARs. That never happened. However, when the deal was announced, it was reported that Everest grew revenue by 25 percent over the past two years, while reducing expenses by 50 percent. Versata will operate Everest as a stand-alone entity with a dedicated customer service and product team, according to a press release announcing the deal. Versata, an affiliate of Versata Enterprises, operates a number of ERP companies as part of its portfolio. Top management will change with a veteran from Versata, Danielle Royston, taking over what was referred to as the Versata-Everest team. Versata itself offers vertical packages for the automotive, retail, banking, insurance and brokerage, government and high-tech/manufacturing markets. Read more...

A couple of years ago, Ridgely Evers, who had modest success by writing a program called QuickBooks, decided to see if he could write another hit. He produced NetBooks. But unfortunately, that term has been taken over by the hardware set. Evers left a few months ago and during the summer the company announced it had spent much of the last year rewriting the package, whose goal is still to provide online billing and invoicing, giving it a new interface. However, until the last two or so weeks, the company was still called NetBooks and its URL was www.netbooks.net. Now, WorkingPoint is both the company and product name and the simple URL is www.workingpoint.com. Pricing also changed with the Web site declaring "Your First User Is Free Forever". I'm not quite sure how much money there is to be made at what seems like dot-com-era pricing. Two users are $10 per month and the highest level, 10 users, is priced at $80 monthly for the lot. But the company promises there are no hidden extra fees. Still, what I hear ringing in my head is the oft-repeated statement by Intuit CEO Brad Smith that "Free isn't Free." Hmmm. Read more...

Nothing says watching your costs more than major vendors passing on major shows. In this case, it was the Illinois CPA Society's Midwest Accounting and Financial Showcase last week. Microsoft was a no show and Sage pulled its booth. Generally at these shows mid-market vendors' booths are stocked by local resellers but they had something.

 

Read more...

Attention any Sage reseller who would like to move into the Texas market: please act now before the doors close. New York's Net@Work became the latest dealer to enter, trying to capitalize on the demise of the MIS Group. Last month there were reports that seven VARs had formed from the debris. While I can't account for all of those, Alex and Ed Solomon's New York operation and Steve Blythe's California-based Blytheco are the two largest remaining Sage resellers (not counting some large CPA firms still hanging around) and both set up offices in Texas, although both had Texas accounts prior to the MIS Group's implosion. Obviously, the Solomons have more plans for Net@Work because they referred to the new Dallas office as a hub. Eddie Provencio, previously director of support, training, and optimization services for the MIS Group is running the Dallas operations with the title consulting manager.

Read more...