Sage 100 had 13-percent year-over-year growth for the last year. The number was provided by Joe Langner, EVP of mid-market solutions. Langner gave those numbers, not reported in the Sage financial statements, and others during a briefing at the Sage Summit conference in Washington D.C. The  number matches the 13-percent Dynamics growth that Microsoft reported for the year ended June 30. Neither company releases actual revenue for the product sales.

Avalara has begun a program to enlist payroll providers to sell its sales-and-use-tax software. This is in addition to programs to sign middle-market accounting software VARs and programs operated through vendors such as Sage North American. The payroll companies view sales tax issues as "an extension of compliance," says Pat Falle, SVP of sales for the Bainbridge Island, Wash.-vendor.

Tom Miller, veteran of the Sage and Dynamics channels, has joined   Net@Work; as leader of the VAR's Channel Partner group.  It's the second high-profile hiring by a reseller this month of a former Sage executive. That follows the earlier hiring of Sam Hunter by SWK Technologies of Livingston, N.J. Most recently VP of channel management for Sage North America, Miller will spearhead the channel alliance program of New York-based  Net@Work.

Microsoft has reportedly laid off about 60 partner account managers leaving smaller resellers confused about how they will be doing business with the company. The buzz is that there are still reps for nationally managed AX VARs, but everybody else is left with little way of interfacing with the company outside of websites. This is being read as a further step towards the validation of the view that AX is the favored child and that Dynamics GP, SL and NAV are somewhere down the list.