Acumatica has created a cloud platform division. And the company once again reached into the Microsoft ranks for leadership, hiring Ajoy Krishnamoorthy as its general manager in October. Krishnamoorthy's LinkedIn page noted he is "Responsible for driving cloud platform effort; Managing and growing solution/ISV partner ecosystem." He was most recently Microsoft's director of OEM segment marketing from April 2013 through October and had been with that company since July 2005.

Sage's new chief executive Steve Kelly scored strong marks as a salesman during the earnings webcast for fiscal 2014, far more dynamic than his predecessors. But then, Guy Berruyer, was fairly laid back, and long-time chief exec Paul Walker was, well, an accountant. And for those in the channel who feel they have been here before, Kelly's declaration that "the strategy is paying off" was ho-hum. "I saw him on CNBC.

Syspro has released a module for global manufacturers and distributors called Voyage & Container Tracking. Available on premise or in the cloud; the product is described as a three-part application. The Release Matrix identifies and manages items available for shipment and enables users to manage items in purchase orders and sales orders in order to assess available goods, adjust quantities and view expected departure/delivery dates.

The headline here should probably have the word 'Again' as software vendors have generally prized accountants for their ability to influence the buying decision of clients. But with the growth of cloud computing, we appear on the verge of a new era of firm enlistment. In a webcast of his presentation at the 31st Nasdaq Investor Program in London this week, Intuit CFO Neil Williams said Intuit has done about all it can in terms of product enhancements to encourage desktop users to migrate to QuickBooks Online.