No one should be surprised that an announcement this week of Microsoft’s Master VAR program has been delayed. I didn’t really think the lawyers going over the documents wanted to work into the beginnings of the holiday weekend. The latest development reported is that Microsoft has set targets for the number of smaller fry that Master VARs must sign up. Read more...

SAP has named Jonathan Belcher as chief marketing officer. Belcher was CEO of Pilot Software before its purchase by the German software giant. And perhaps the most pertinent point in his background at the new GAP is that Belcher served as marketing EVP “focused on streamlining field, solution, and partner marketing.” There’s that word “partner” again and SAP has not strayed from its message that its growth will come from the channel.

The SBS Group, which is one of my picks for Microsoft’s upcoming Master VAR program, kept on growing this week with the acquisition of Enterprise Solution Consultants. The Atlanta operation sells Dynamics GP and reportedly has more than 100 implementations over the last 12 years. Bob O’Brien, who was a principle at ESC, has become managing director of the unit that is now called SBS Atlanta.

Acumatica has released version 2.2 of its cloud-based application, which the company says incorporates changes and updates to the financial, distribution, and customer management modules. Changes also involved expanding the products reach in the wholesale distribution, manufacturing, retail, and service industry verticals. Read more...