Planning software publisher Vena says it has topped $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

The privately held company, which did not offer exact figures, released the data in qualifying for the Centaur status, awarded by Bessemer Venture Partners. Vena’s products include, Vena for Copilot, an AI-based planning applications that debuted in April and Vena for PowerPoint, introduced in May and described as a native integration with Microsoft 365 . Besides offering financial planning and analysis products, Vena also offers sales performance management and financial close management and financial reporting. It says its products are used in more than 1,800 companies.

 Acumen Information Systems has acquired Dynastics, a Dynamics reseller. Terms were not disclosed

. Based in Orlando, Fla., Acumen sells Sage Intacct and 300.  Founded in, Dynavistics, which is based in Brandon, Fla., sells Dynamics GP and BC, along with NetSuite. It is led by managing directors Todd and Pamela McDaniel, who founded the firm in April 2007. Led by managing partner, Paul Crompton, Acumen was founded in 2008. It ranked No. 81 on Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2024 with $10.1 million in revenue and 38 employees and operates in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

 Tom Thornton, who has led the Intacct practice at Net at Work, has left the position he has held since April 2021.

In a LinkedIn post, Thornton termed the change a “brief (but long-overdue) sabbatical” but said he would land in another position “which will start sooner than. you think” A channel veteran, he was VP of sales of nonprofit software reseller JMT Consulting from 2008 through July 2010. Before that, Thornton had a slightly more than 10-year career in channel leadership position at Sage.

IFS has acquired EmpowerMX, which makes aviation maintenance software.

Terms were not disclosed. In its announcement, ERP vendor IFS, based in Linköping, Sweden, said Frisco, Texas-based EmpowerMX specializes “in Airframe Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) solutions,” These are used by companies such as Delta and American Airlines. This month, IFS also issued its the Global AI Optimism League Table a global study of industrial Ai, which surveyed 1,700 senior decision makers from Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Aerospace & Defense, Services, Construction & Engineering, and Energy & Resources companies. The survey founds those businesses with $200 million to $500 million were the most optimistic about AI, while those with $60 million to $100 million were the least optimistic. The two countries with the most optimistic respondents were No 1. Norway and No. 2 Sweden; the least optimistic were No. 11, the United Kingdom, and No. 12, the United States

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.

 Avalara has certified integrations with 49 more applications, including accounting, ERP, ecommerce, point-of-sale, mobile commerce, payments and CRM software titles.

Avalara is pleased to announce integrations with a broad variety of solutions. The ERP packages are from source-code AccountMate, Bizowie Cloud ERP, e-PIC One and WinWeb a suite for wholesale, retail, healthcare and other industries.  Commerce packages involved include Centra Commerce, Commercetools by Mediaopt, DigiCommerce, Flex E-Commerce, which offers a shopping cart system, k-eCommerce, described as an all-in-one omnichannel ecommerce platform for SMBs and WorkSpring, a platform serving industries such as apparel, health, home, luxury and wineries. Among other applications are those for rentals and dealers, including Ideal DMS by Constellation Dealership Software; IntegraRental for tracking assets across multiple locations and Integrated Rental Systems for dealers; and NexGen by Fleet Cost & Care is for fleet owners to help heavy equipment rental companies.

 Sage has launched a cloud suite for specialty contractors recently.

Sage for Specialty Contractors, now available for purchase, is described has handling every element of that business from preconstruction to closeout. Modules include Construction Management which provides access to project information and Field Service Operations which provides information on metrics such as average repair time, technician utilization, and customer satisfaction.  Sage Intacct Construction Financials is built for the needs of the industry. Specialty Contractors is built on a multi-tenant, true-cloud foundation.

Oracle NetSuite has introduced the NetSuite SuiteSuccess Heathcare Edition.

The new application is described as an “industry-specific pre-configured solution with pre-defined role-based dashboards, reports, KPIs, and workflows.” Features include financial management and reporting that offers a single, real-time view of business, including clinic financials, patient billing and inventory. The edition’s inventory management is designed to provide a real-time view of inventory at all locations and includes medications and medical supplies. Its asset and lease management feature offers detailed asset reporting and integration with NetSuite’s accounting software. Healthcare’s compliance and security features 

Cegid has unveiled a set of intelligent agents called Cegid Pulse in its software products, Cegid Retail Live Store, Retail Store Excellence and Retail Store Intelligence.

The company says the agents enable “retailers to make real-time recommendations to their in-store customers, streamline internal collaboration and gain a better understanding.” With Retail Live Store, Pulse assists sales assistants as an instant translator, useful in areas in which there are customers of different nationalities. Customers’ and sales assistants’ words are translated in real time. In addition, Pulse immediately analyses and synthesizes customer data such as purchase history, size and color preferences, repeat or non-recurring customers, via a tagging system. Another Pulse use in Retail Live Store the AI technology will listen to conversations between customers and sales assistants in real time and formulate recommendations based on the exchange. , a task management platform, can improve communications between head office and stores, and the management and control of field operations, Cegid says. It can also write content for store teams. With Retail Intelligence utilizing Pulse, managers can ask questions in natural languages about topics such as sales, product return rates, discounts and promotions.

There seemed only one choice in discussing major trends among Mid-Market resellers—the impact of artificial intelligence. At times, it seems the only topic in technology and the Special Report, The Mid-Market Faces the AI Revolution, covers the trend impacting VARs. But there is more than AI going on as private equity investments have an increasing impact in the reselling and accounting firm space. Of course, there is the selection of Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs itself and this year’s list honors a lot of family names, but also reflects the changing nature of the list.

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:

Report: 2018 VAR Stars Building on the Cloud

Overall, the questions of what technology will be used given the accelerating pace of cloud adopting are being answered. The cloud has won it's just a matter of how quickly the rest of the market moves. Download here for your free copy.

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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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