RKL eSolutions has acquired Techware, a Minnesota-bases Sage reseller.

Terms were not disclosed for the deal, whose goal is to expand RKL’s construction and real estate development practice. Founded in 1999, Techware was headed by CEO Steve Pierce, who has joined RKL and with his firm's staff. The acquired company’s product inline includes Sage Intacct, 100 Contractor, 300 CRE and Estimating. Joe Noll, CEO of RKL, said the deal also enable his company to expand into new regional markets. In its submission for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2004, RKL eSolutions reported revenue of $33.8 million and a staff of 113.

Reseller Quisitive Technology Solutions is ramping up its AI efforts with what its CEO called considerable investments”.

During the recent webcast for earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, CEO Mike Reinhart said those investments included “a new AI-focused sales team, strategic senior hiring and “collaborative development of go-to market strategies alongside MIcrosoft”. “We formed the AI blackbelt sales team to synchronize with Microsoft’s strong go-to market strategy,” Reinhart said. That strategy includes deploying Copilot “on every device”. The hiring included that of Roy Kunz as EVP of the Microsoft Cloud and AI Delivery Organization in April. Reinhart said the firm has implemented Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot internally and is developing AI accelerators to help its clients deploy proof of concept for AI products. Quisitive has rapidly pivoted its business as this year it sold its PayIQ payments business and BankCard USA, following what Reinhart said was a 2023 assessment of the business. The sales, he said, reduced risk and volitivity while enhancing shareholder value. The divestitures also reduced Quisitive’s size while its cloud sales have slumped. It lost $11.6 million in 2023, compared to a loss of $10.7 million in 2022. Revenue for continuing operations for the most recently ended year was $121.2. million, down 12 percent from $137.8 million the prior year. Including the divested operations, revenue for 2022 was $187 million. Reinhart said cloud revenue has stabilized and CFO Scott Meriwether said the company expects sales for the first half of 2024 will be “relatively flat to 2023” with modest growth coming late in the year. With the disposals, Quisitive was able to substnatially reduce debt. Meriwether also. noted that thecloud business was "overburdened" with corporate costs and Quisitive will be looking for places to optimize operations

Procore Technologies said contract renewals have stabilized after contract last year. The comments were made by CEO Tooey Courtemanche in the company’s recent webcast for earnings for the first quarter ended March 31.

Courtemanche sees an improvement in business sentiment, although not a big change in the immediate state of the market. “Customers are increasingly optimistic for the long term,” he said. The construction company laid off four percent of its staff in the first quarter, which counterbalanced hiring for 2023. Procore reported it ended 2023 with 3,694 full-time employees, up 4 percent year-over-year. The layoffs resulted in a charge of $4.2 million during the recently completed quarter. In addition, CFO Howard Wu discussed the performance of the company’s Procore Pay, which had its first complete quarter on the market. There were 100 companies on the system, which Wu said were “largely upmarket”. The company does not expect a material impact on this year’s results. Courtemanche noted that “Construction companies aren’t going to switch how they are paying the middle of a job”, which slows adoption. Procore lost slightly less than $11 million for the first quarter, down sharply from a loss of $63.4 million in last year’s corresponding period. First-quarter revenue was $269.4 million, an increase of 23.6 percent from $213.5 million a year earlier.

 Aktion Associates has moved into Canada with the acquisition of Acumatica and Sage practices of accounting and consulting firm, MNP.

Terms were not disclosed.  Scott Irwin, CEO of Maumee, Ohio-based firm, said Aktion will use the customer based to launch its Infor, Deltek and MSP divisions in Canada. The deal brings 500 Sage and Acumatica customers to Aktion along with the MNP employees who support them. In its submission for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs, which will be published later this month, Aktion reported revenue of $80.3 million and 240 employees. Aktion services the architecture and engineering, construction, wholesale distribution and manufacturing industries and has been on the M&A trail for the last three years with a goal of building a dominant position in the software reselling business in those markets.  MNP continues to market Dynamics products, a business it expanded in October when it acquired reseller Betach Solutions, whose product portfolio included Dynamics Sales, Marketing, Business Central, Field Service and Customer Service. MNP also carries the Power Platform.

Reports say traffic controllers, left without pay during the government shutdown have been taking part-time jobs, such as driving for ride-sharing services. That is producing a great deal of confusion.

On a recent flight  the cockpit conversation was coming over the PA system and I could swear I heard air control say, “Your car will be there in 15 minutes”.  One of my friends said an Uber driver texted him that there was a ground hold on his ride. … Veteran actor Patrick Stewart is playing the wizard, Merlin, in the movie, "The Kid Who Would Be King". It took the actor some getting used to after the years in Star Trek, the Next Generation. He kept telling King Arthur “Make it so”. In this updated version of the legend, instead of pulling a sword from stone, Arthur gets factions in the medieval government to agree to end a shutdown. Local serfs called it a miracle. … Actually, Stewart’s confusion was even worse a few years ago when we saw him in his one-man show of Dickens’ Christmas Carol when, instead of being visited by the ghosts of the past and present, he was visited by the ghosts of the Klingons and Romulans. … Sometimes fresh eyes can solve a problem. I suggest we let the U.S. government work on Brexit and have the Brits tackle the government shutdown.  Gotta be better than what’s going on, although today the President and Congress agreed to a three-week halt in the halt. Gotta be encouraging to employees “We’ll pay you but you may only have three week before we do this again.” … A regular feature of the Oscar awards is a retrospective featuring members of the film industry who have died in the last year. This year will include another segment of individuals accused of misconduct of various kinds.

A lot of attention was focused on the meal President Trump provided for the national champion Clemson football team.  With the government shutdown affecting the cooking staff, Trump provided a banquet feast of fast food.

The president chose from the essential food groups:, onion rings, French fries,  shakes, jalapeno poppers. … A pilot has been ordered for “Lincoln”. That is  a series based on “The Bone Collector”, which starred Denzel Washington and all I can say is, hey, everybody needs a hobby. I used to collect insects. …. My resolution each year is to not make any new year’s resolution I have a 100-percent record of success. … Our neighbor is not too bright. He was worried the government shutdown means that the water to Niagara Falls will be turned off.  I told him probably not until they put the cover over the Grand Canyon. … The latest in the outer space entertainment franchise is under development—Star Trek, The Golden Years. In the opening episode, the characters are reliving their roles at a nursing home. Dr. McCoy intones to Kirk “Damn it, Jim. I’m not a … uh I’m a uuh. Where am I?” And given his addled state, everywhere he goes is somewhere Kirk thinks he has never been before. … Physical therapy can be very uncomfortable I have learned. As the therapist leaned into my knee again, I remarked, “Isn’t this banned by the Geneva Convention?”

You know you have a dull existence when your life flashes before your eyes and you fall asleep. ... I am always amused by the TV broadcast, "Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin Eve" as the namesake died in 2012.

It reminds me of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who died in England in 1839.  His will dictated his skeleton and mummified head be assembled, clad in a black suit ad seated in a chair in a wooden cabinet He has been in a corridor at University College London since 1850. I am wondering how soon Clark will be hauled out and seated in Times Square. ... TV viewers were perplexed and some amused by a young couple caught, show we say, starting the New Year with a bang. "I don't know Dick. It's got a beat,but can you hump to it?' … General Mills is planning a new entry in its famous Chex cereal line aimed at celebrating our Democratic governmental values. The new product is called Chex and Balances. … This year’s Rose Parade could have better reflected current issues in the United States. But a float to show the proposed U.S-Mexico border wall was rejected by sponsors, but was a serious contender for the "International Cooperation" award. A National Marijuana Growers' Association float was also rejected because of fears it would be picked clean before the parade started. Speaking of floats, there were 40 in the Pasadena event this year with 23 awards handed out. I suppose everyone received a Participant Award.

People with abusive bosses are more likely to treat direct reports ethically and with respect, according to a recent study. I have a couple of people I’d like to thank for contributing to the improvement in my career.

…  People can say a lot of things under anesthesia. Apparently on the way into knee surgery, I confessed to the kidnapping of the Lindburgh Baby and being Bigfoot. …  The year 2020 will be the 25th anniversary of the debut of the TV series “Xena”, known for its revealing costumes of well-endowed female characters In the anniversary special, the Amazons enlist Xena and Gabrielle in the search for a way to fix their sagging bosoms. … The long-running home improvement show “This Old House” has been expanding its brand with programs such as “Ask This Old House” and “This Old House Trade School”. Coming soon is “This Old House—Urban Slumlord”. ... Trailers are hitting for the new “Downton Abbey” movie. Among critical scenes in the new film is a tear-jerking moment in which the wait staff corrects incorrectly arranged meal seatings.

Certinia has underscored its use of AI in Spring 2024 release, describing the product’s “Infusing pragmatic AI capabilities”. 

The company, which said the release several major developments incorporating AI, noted the ability to simulating closing opportunities on a related estimate and conducting what-if analysis, as giving users the ability to adjust inputs. In addition, Certini said Spring ’24 introduces enhancements to accurately scope projects and easily analyze estimates. It provides a predefined set of questions specific to each services product in Services CPQ, which also offers an estimate overview, The releases also offers work planner enhancements, which include the ability to pivot between hours and percentages, along with filters for matching resources based on skills and distance. Certinia said the there is an updated resource request “features allow for better management and visualization of scheduled hours for suggested resources.”  Resources’ schedules can be viewed in Gantt charts and overviews of key performance indicators and with the use of automated billing event splits project managers can bill up to a billing cap and split the remaining amount. Project costs can also be split and attached to milestones allocated to specific budgets,

Infor has introduced Infor GenAI and ESG Reporting. Both products went into early adoption via invitation this month.

Infor GenAI utilizes large language models to generate, contextualize, analyze, and summarize content. In one example, Infor said the tool could be used for automatic assignment of attributes for products in distribution, creating exception summary for complex projects in industrial manufacturing. The company said its applications adhere to stringent security and data privacy best practices. ESG Reporting helps monitor and analyze resource consumption and waste across your organization and supply chain. Infor says the application relies on data collection from operations such as transactional systems and supply chain with Infor Industry Analytics delivering audit-ready metrics using templates based on ESG reporting frameworks, Global Reporting Initiative  and European Sustainability Reporting Standard.

 Deltek has introduced Dela, which it calls an AI-powered, intelligent business companion.

Deltek says Dela is a suite of existing AI-based technologies, which is designed to encompass future capabilities.  Elements of Dela capabilities are already being used in the company’s GovWin IQ and Vantagepoint products and will soon be fully available in Deltek ERP applications, starting with Vantagepoint. The assistant is described as organizing “vast amounts of data and distills it into concise, actionable insights with GenAI-powered Smart Summaries.” Among the first was GovWin IQ Smart Summaries, which was introduced late last year and quickly produces executive federal Agency Profiles, federal Contract Awards and state, local, and education (SLED) Government Profiles. Deltek says when introduced into its ERP software, Dela, which utilizes a natural language interface, will automate labor forecasting. One of those ERP applications, Costpoint, features GenAI capabilities, including the Hey Deltek, feature for the latest release to enable users to ask questions of the assistant.

Payments software company Nuvei has launched its Invoice Financing services.

Incorporated in ERP products including Sage and Acumatica, the capability enables merchants to access Nuvei services from with their ERP systems. Nuvei describes Invoice Financing as an on-balance sheet extension of its Accounts Receivable Automation Suite, which provides instant access to capital, enhanced cash flow management. It also provides “seamless integration with existing workflows” with loan and repayment general ledger (entries automatically reflected in the ERP system and associated with the financed invoice. The integration process provides onboarding and funds disbursement within 24 hours of choosing to finance an invoice.

It’s that time of year again—submissions are now being accepted for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs.

The selection for 2024 once again ranks 100 mid-market resellers by revenue and provides information about the product lines carried by each. The special report that accompanies the ranking will discuss the impact, or lack of, artificial intelligence on mid-market reselling.—it’s hard to think of anything else that is drawing so much discussion. To receive a form, please email [email protected] . If you have any questions about any part of the process, they are welcome.

Another 100 resellers have been honored by their selection to Bob Scott’s VAR Stars. As always VAR Stars members are not ranked. This selection is designed to honor VAR of all sizes from the smallest to the largest. This year’s class faces the unexpectedly rapid development of generative AI and its impact on almost everything in the technology world. This year’s report discuss trends in the mid-market and reseller reaction to the demands of the latest wave of change.

Stay tuned for the May publication of Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs, which are ranked by revenue.

The 2023 VAR Stars is brought to you by our sponsors:

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2018 BSI Top 100 VARS

Bob Scott's Insights would like to congratulate all the 2018 BSI Top 100 VARS winners.

This year's selection of Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs comes at a time of dramatic change to the business. Larger firms are becoming larger and all are grappling with the movement of the business from reliance on desktop software to the cloud. Read about the state of the market and the names of the selected resellers.

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