Cegid, whose products include retail POS systems, plans to buy Talentsoft. Headed by former Sage executive, CEO Pascal Houillon, Cegid will have annual revenue of about $715 million when the deal is completed.

Terms were not disclosed. CEGID already has its Cegid Talent line. The company said the deal will help it expand both in Europe and globally. Taletsoft was described as being particularly strong in Northern Europe. Talentsoft’s 600 employees, along with co-founders,  Jean-Stéphane Arcis, CEO, Joel Bentolila, CTO, and Alexandre Pachulski, product director. Cegid says this is its fifth acquisition this year. The previous purchase was that of Koalabox, which sells cloud-hosted invoicing software in Belgium. Cegid describes its broader product line as “business management solutions for Accounting, Finance and Tax, Payroll and Human Resources, ERP and Retail”.

As NetSuite has become more integrated with its Oracle parent, NetSuite unit has taken a turn away from the top of the market to focus on the mid-market and smaller organizations. And NetSuite is going to get a larger dose of Oracle architecture with the development of the Oracle Redwood design system.

“We have had to transform our channel a bit,” Craig West, VP of channel sales for Oracle Netsuite, said during a company webinar this week, which he attributed to “the pivot in our business to be more mid-market." Asked about relationships with global systems integrators, West’s comments suggest there is less emphasis on those organizations. “We continue to have relationship with the Deloittes of the world,” he said. But West did not say that NetSuite is making a push to sign more SIs. EVP Evan Goldberg, who leads Oracle NetSuite, noted that when NetSuite was a separate company, it addressed all levels of the market. But because Oracle has Fusion ERP for larger businesses, NetSuite took a step back from up-market. He also noted that in terms of sharing features with other Oracle products. “There is so much we can share there with Fusion,” Goldberg said, noting in particular expense reporting as an area with joint development work underway. Overall, he commented that in terms of product development, “You are going to see some dramatic changes in the next calendar year.”

Insightsoftware has continued on its acquisitive path with the purchase of Logi Analytics. Terms were not disclosed. Based in McLean, Va.,  Logi provides embedded analytics products for software companies.

According to the company, “insightsoftware will embed customized analytics seamlessly into any commercial or enterprise application featuring customer-branded user interfaces, reports, dashboards, KPIs, and other actionable insights.” Logi’s technology will also be utilized for new operational analytics and reporting products. At the end of March, Insightsoftware integrated one of its more recent purchases, Bizview, with its Spreadsheet Server and Jet Reports financial reporting tools. Bizview, which has been available in Europe for more than 20 years, was launched in North America after its acquisition.

Quisitive Technology Solutions, a Dynamics reseller based in Canada, has closed about $50 million in financing. Proceeds from a Subscription Rights Offering and Concurrent Private Placement are expected to be used in the Quisitive of BankCard USA Merchant Services.

The bought deal public offering involved the sale of 38,410,000 subscription receipts including exercise of an over-allotment option C$1.50 per Subscription Receipt with gross proceeds of approximately $45.7 million U.S. and concurrent private placement with FAX Capital of 3,333,333 Subscription Receipts with gross proceeds of about $4 million U.S. The purchase of BankCard USA is one of two deals announced by Quisitive last month. The other was the acquisition of healthcare firm, Mazik Global, which closed on April 1.

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”.

My friend recommended I invest in a basket of stocks. I misheard him and put all my money in baskets.

… The DNA testing service 23andMe has updated its calculations of customer’s ancestry composition. My new chart shows I am overwhelmingly English, Irish and Scottish. However, the company attached a note that “We think someone in your line crawled out from under a rock in the last 200 years.” There is also a strong possibility that I am my grandpa. … My wife and I were having a fight and I shouted, “It really disgusts me when you are like this.” “Like what?”, she replied. “Right,” I said. … Looking at the videos transmitted from Mars by the Perseverance Rover shows a reddish, harsh unfriendly landscape that resembles Arizona. Actually, I think that harsh and unfriendly sums up much of Arizona. There were suggestions that for realism, NAS should launch a rover shaped by a Winnebago that arrives ever fall.  At one point, NASA had to shut down the feed from the fourth planet as the Curiosity Rover, which landed in 2012, kept photobombing Perseverance. Conspiracy theorists claim the rover landed in the Sonoran desert and they can see aliens being smuggled across the landscape. … General Mills has come out a new shape for its Honey Nut Cheerios. To emphasize the heart healthy nature of the cereal, the shapes have been changed from little circles to little hearts. For smokers, there’s a special edition in which the crunchy treats are in the shape of little lungs. … In a update to “Touched by an Angel”, the new version of the TV series brings the tone up to date by revealing that not all the touching was consensual.’ … The people who swear they won’t take the COVID-19 vaccine may prove to be as another example of Darwinian selection in action—like motorcyclists who won’t wear helmets. … Someone offered me a package of Lindt truffles and I turned him down. “Why,” he said with a puzzled face. “They are great”. “Ah, who wants truffles made out of lint,” I replied.

Restaurant chain Arby’s is offering a fish sandwich for a limited time. The only problem is they are so used to drenching food in gravy.

… It used to be the question of whether you had your shots was about your dog. Are we going to get tags to wear? … A friend heard me talking about heavy metal last week. “Oh, who do, you listen to? Zeppelin? Sabbath? Maiden? “No, heavy metal. It’s been lying in front of the garage after we cut apart the old oil furnace.” … I don’t know why people are upset that Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson required the Senate to have the entire 650-page COVID virus relief bill read out loud. After all, March is National Reading Month.  … It looks like the New York Democratic Party will be canceling the fundraiser “Win a Date with Governor Cuomo”. However, the Empire State executive will be honored for putting women in new positions in government. The award will be presented by former president Bill Clinton. … Science fiction fans have an explanation for the destruction of Space X rocket moments after the Elon Musk hardware made a successful landing. Someone who was a fan of the Star Trek series mistakenly installed a Self-Destruct button instead of an off switch in the control system. They got a kick out of hearing the system broadcast "self-destruct will take place in 10 seconds".

My wife reminded me the family pet was scheduled to go to the veterinarian’s for a test. “He has a CAT scan in on Friday,” she said. “No, he doesn’t’,” I replied.

“Yes, he does. I made an appointment himself,” she said. “It’s not a CAT scan. It’s a dog scan,” I smirked. “Arf,” she responded. … The NASA Rover has landed on Mars.  Scientists have are looking for residual traces of water and possible evidence of past life. Perhaps they should sned it to Texas to look for water and heat following this month’s electrical outages. … Have you heard about the new Ted Cruz fun in the sun cruises? Every traveler gets an autographed Chris Christie beach chair when they visit Cancun, Mexico. … In a TV sitcom based on the hit movie “The  Shape of Water”, the concerned parents, Elisa and the Amphibian Man, are called to the principal’s office about why their son is falling his swimming lesson.  … Software vendor Akerna said Cannabis sales for Valentine’s day weekend topped $170 million, with sales trending towards women. I couldn’t find an appropriate Hallmark Card, with the proper sentiment. “Valentine. You fill my head with smoke” or “Valentine. You make me confused and full of laughter.”

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.

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.