Vistavu Solutions, based in Calgary, Alberta, has acquired  AchieveIT, which is headquartered in Port Jefferson, N.Y. Terms were not disclosed.

AchieveIT is an SAP BusinessOne reseller while Vistavu also sold SAP Business One. AchieveIT’s CEO Tim Singleton, CEO has been named VP of VistaVu Business One. Achieve IT also markets Resolve, a product for distributors which is built around Business One and SAP Business ByDesign  The work under Singleton will include continued developmentof Resolv and FieldVu for SAP Business One, including harmonization of the products, extension of technology offerings to include IoT, Cloud, Mobile and Machine Learning. 

 Shannon Mullins, who headed MorganFranklin Consulting’s Microsoft practice, has left the firm. Mullins, a Microsoft MVP, this month has joined security specialist Arbala and chief revenue officer and partner.

Mullins was Microsoft Practice Director for the former Kraft Enterprise Systems from. November 2018 through March 2020. She moved into a similar role in March 2020 with MorganFranklin’s acquisition of Kraft’s Dynamics business. MorganFranklin moved into consideration for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs this year with revenue of $21.8 million and a staff of 53. It carries Dynamics GP, NAV and Business Central, but also Oracle NetSuite and the Oracle cloud. Headquartered in Dallas Texas, Arbala provides Microsoft security services and managed services.

The story for Sage’s results for the first half ended March 31 was that there is Intacct and then there is everything else. Overall revenue was approximately $1.32 billion for the recently ended off, down 4 percent from a year earlier.

Results were impacted by a 5 percent gain in the value of the U.S. dollar against the British pound,  year to year. But cloud native revenue, which is largely Intacct, was up 36 percent. “Sage has had a good half,” CEO Steve Hare said in this week’s earnings webcast. As with the rest of the industry. Company net profit fell 35 percent to roughly $205.7 million. Sage’s results were a blend of strong growth in cloud sales and a decline in on-premise business. Intacct sales in North America rose 19 percent to about $111.3 million. The company added more than 700 Intacct customers, an increase of 50 percent year-over-year, according to Hare. Excluding Intacct, recurring revenue in the U.S. rose 2 percent to about $267 million while total revenue in this country fell 1 percent to about $293 million. North America revenue dropped 1 percent to roughly $479 million. In the mix of charts of statutory, organic and recurring revenue and Sage Business Cloud, Sage did not provide an overall sales figure for Intacct or total revenue for the United States. North American operating profit dropped about 1.8 percent to approximately $77.9 million; up .8 percent both organically and in constant currency. The story in the United Kingdom, where Intacct is relatively new was different because of sales of other cloud products, including Sage Accounting.  “We are definitely making progress with Sage Accounting in the U.K., and it’s not just Sage Accounting. It’s the whole suite,” Hare said  The company also pointed to sales of Sage People, along with migrations to Sage HR, neither of which were mentioned in discussing North American results.

Xero has reported it had 2,741,000 subscribers when the year ended March 31, an increase of 20 percent over fiscal 2010. However, pace of growth was dampened a bit as the 456,000 net subscriber additions for the year was down 2 percent from 467,000 net additions last year.

Although rival Intuit no longer reports changes in the number of subscribers, we will get some sense of the change on May 25 when that software company reports results for the third quarter ended April 30. However, Steve Vamos, CEO of the cloud accounting software company, said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Xero's year finished strong. “A more challenging operating environment first half was followed in the second half in our best ever half in subscriber addition; in fact, our best March ever,” he said during this week’s earnings webcast. For the recently ended year, Xero reported net income of about $15.3 million, more than five-and-a-half times last year’s bottom line. Revenue for fiscal 2021 was approximately $656 million, 18-percent higher than the fiscal 2020 total. North America’s subscriber base grew by 18 percent year-over-year to 285,000, with what Xero called a notable recovery in net additions in H2 FY21. Revenue on this continent was up 2 percent to about $44 million—6 percent in constant currencies, which reflected the loss of revenue from bundling Hubdoc into Xero Business Edition subscriptions and the lack of any Xerocon-related revenue last year. Australia subscribers, who represent 40.5 percent of the Xero total, grew by 22 percent to 1,115,000. Revenue was up 20 percent; 18 percent in constant currency. There were 720,000 subscribers n the United Kingdom, growth of 17 percent with revenue rising 22 percent; 23 percent in constant currency. New Zealand subscribers reached 446,000, an increase of 14 percent, which was the best performance in three years, the company said.

 Some used my computer to look at a web page “Five buttermilk questions you were afraid to ask”. Just how threatening is buttermilk that someone would be afraid to ask a question. “Can I ask if you can drink it straight from the carton, oh, please no. no, no”. ...

I saw a local hotel that advertised, “We treat you like family.” I turned to a friend: “Yeah, they leave socks and underwear on the floor and argue with you during meals.”  … A recent frequently broadcast TV advertisement has me wondering--What does it take to get a roomful of people to listen to a presentation on house gutters?” … “Keeping Up with the Kardashian” has been canceled as the K sisters decided it was time to quit. I figure that’s because they sat down and tried to watch all the episodes from all 20 seasons in the last 14 years. Kourtney had to be put on suicide watch after getting through season 12. … Visitors to a recent track meet were surprised to see flies swarming around stop watches used for the races. As the winner broke the finish line tape, the insects would all land on the button used to stop the watch and give the winning results.  “I can’t believe it,” one said. “But are they always accurate in stopping the watch. I mean, doesn’t this end up with some results that can’t be trusted?” A race sponsor replied, “Yes but, you know, that’s just how flies time.” … Looks like thoroughbred horse trainer Bob Baffert may be leading the race for the doping hall of fame, after admitting he gave Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, a banned substance. He could join previous members in the hall, including racing champion Lance Armstrong and former baseball player Barry Bonds in winning a Golden Needle Award. Racing authorities are considering a new betting foursome—win, place, show and doped.

People may have heard the story about someone visiting hell to find that all the denizens had long utensils attached to their limbs that prevented them from eating. They constantly fought because of their inability to eat.

 (and in heaven people similarly hindered feed each other). In my hell, I would have to eat with chopsticks and would starve. … I think I finally understand the phrase constant currencies used in financial reporting It means, no matter the value of the dollar, I always spend the same amount. … For realism in flying, the drone on Mars has a message it broadcasts that says, “We recognize that you have a choice when picking an airline. So thank you for flying with us.” … While flying a helicopter of Mars is an amazing feet, scientists are pledging an even more amazing feat—a U.S. domestic flight with adequate knee and elbow room in coach, a goal some believe is impossible to achieve. … Medical authorities have started describing what they call the “Giuliani Syndrome”, in which formerly respectable people start raving and making wild claims. It’s characterized by paranoia and a desire to speak Ukrainian.”  Meanwhile, the former New York mayor and former Trump lawyer pleaded his complete innocence of any wrongdoing following a recent FBI raid on his home.  “Why I could no more violate the law than my little dog Check… scratch that. Wrong speech,” told TV reporters. 

In the Greek myth, Sispyhus rolls a ball up hill only to have it fall back to the bottom eternally. In the modern version, he is forever trying to select correct Captcha images.

“What do you mean I didn’t check all the palm trees? There were no palm trees.” …  There’s a new category of machine learning for computers—remedial. It turns out their intelligence was too artificial. … A new letter from executed Queen Ann Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII, has been discovered by researchers. “I asked Hank for a new hat for my birthday. He seemed hesitant. I bet he has a big surprise for me. He said something about finding something bright and shiny for my neck.” … What do you call the empty apartment building owned by a partnership of physicians? Doctors without boarders. … With all the pandemic news, it’s nice to get back to meaningless fare. Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are breaking up. The former Major League Baseball player immediately demanded to be paid the rest of his $128 million contract with Lopez. In retrospect, Rodriguez said if he had used performance enhancing drugs, the relations would have lasted longer.  … And in the future, the new TV Series, “Growing Old with the Kardashions” the first episode, “The Kardashians Join AARP”, tanks when Kim released the kind of  movie that made her famous; people went, Yuck.” …   I told one of my friends this week, “I have been sort of J.G. Wentworth. I don’t have an annuity but I need cash now. I plugged 877-cash now—into an ATM and it didn’t do anything. … And in the first serious opera that crosses over between Wagner and TV commercials, the updated “Das Rheingold”, the Rheinmaidens accuse Alberich of taking too much of the revenue streams of their clients.

You know what I always say, it’s as easy as shooting horses in a barrel, or leading a fish to water. … Ah it’s spring, the flowers and the virus are in the air.

  I was just reading “Coronavirus for Dummies” Actually, they don’t need a book—just show a picture of Spring break beaches in Florida and pictures of opening day at the Texas Rangers stadium on April 5. Surprisingly, the opener was not scheduled for the more appropriate date, April 1. … I am finishing my new book, “Great Moments in Oil Tanker. History”. It opens with the Exxon Valdez and closes with the Ever Given in the Suez Canal. The latter’s blockage of the important waterway had a simple explanation---the captain tried to parallel park and it went wrong. We’ve all been there. … U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz from Florida is under investigation for allegedly  having a commercial relationship with an underage girl. Gaetz is emerging as an early favorite for the “Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Award”. The real question whether he offered her the “Bill Clinton Scholarship” for congressional interns. Now, there are reports Gaetz liked to show his, uh well, vacation photos to other representatives. Gaetz has denied all the allegations. He says just is very friendly with young women.  … I have always insisted that in the chorale number “All We Like Sheep” from the Handel oratorio “Messiah”, the word “like” is a verb, not a preposition.” …  QA Non enthusiast U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is starring in the lead role in a remake of the musical “Annie, Get Your Gun”. However, the most famous song from the show has been rewritten for her to declare “You Can Get A Man with a Gun and I Have a Constitutional Right to Do So”.  … It’s been well publicized that 15 million doses of Johnson and  Johnson anti-coronavirus vaccine were ruined by the plant producing the medicine when they mixed the J&J product with a similar vaccine from Astro-Zeneca, News reports have obtained secret recordings of arguments by managers at the factor  about who was to blame. They are heard saying  “You got Peanut butter I my chocolate. You got chocolate in my peanut butter”.

It has been a year like no other for ERP mid-market software VARs. But one thing has stayed the same–it is time to ready your submission for Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2021--and this week is your last chance to do sol.

The IRS just gave you extra time to submit your individual tax returns, so use the opportunity to be considered. Each year, we rank the biggest financial software VARs in the mid-market and  use the occasion to learn more about how the market has worked in the last year and talk about directions it is likely to take in the near future. To be a player, please ask for a submission form  and return your information as soon as possibleto bob.scott@pmg360.com

 The year 2020 has been Dickensian—the worst of times and best of times. For most of the population, the coronavirus has made this year probably the most awful in memory. But for many mid-market software resellers, the move of companies to the cloud as their workforces went to remote operations, meant 2020 has been a good to great year. The results are not uniform. For VARs in markets such as entertainment and hospitality, it was not great. However, if clients were able to conduct business remote, resellers could service them remotely and despite the difficulties, 2020 was fine. Bob Scott’s VAR Stars for 2020 faced the pandemic and many not only survived, they prospered.

Submissions for the 2020 Bob Scott’s VAR Stars are still open. But you have to act fast. .

The door closes next Wednesday. The selection is based on quality—not revenue. Past honorees have ranged from one-person operations to the largest ERP dealers. Factors that are considered in the selection are growth, development of significant products and services and contributions to the industry. If you are interested in having  your firm considered, please email bob.scott@pmg360.com as soon as possible.

Where are we going in the mid-market? Or in general? The economy started out the year with record employment and has moved to record unemployment with the effects of shutdowns of the Covid-19 virus.  For resellers this year, how they are doing depends on where they are located and in what markets they are involved. Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2020 examines the issues in an era of extreme uncertainty and names 100 firms who are the big players in this market.