It's a competition that has everyone on edge. Who knows who will be chosen? No it's not Hillary or Donald, it is the selection of  Bob Scott's Insights' VAR Stars for 2016  Firms are not ranked. They are chosen for quality and factors considered include growth, innovations and participation in the reseller community and contributions to it. Resellers from the very largest organizations to one-person shops have been honored. To receive a form, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Deadline for submissions is October 20.

Sales tax vendor Avalara has significantly expanded operations in Brazil in a series of acquisitions. A spokesperson says recent moves grew the business from a handful of consultants and a NetSuite connector to 12 products, four services, and approximately 100 employees. The move follows this month's announcement Avalara had raised $50 million in capital for fueling growth, including M&A.

Software giant Infor has launched the Infor Partner HelpDesk which is designed to provide a "one-stop resource' for answering complex product-specific queries. The program relies on services of solutions specialists in the Infor Center of Excellence in Hyderabad, India. The initially supported systems are Infor LN, Infor CloudSuite Industrial Manufacturing (SyteLine) and Factory Track.

Sage has launched a payments developer portal. Based on technology from Apigee, The Sage Payments Developer Portal is described as "a modern, scalable, and collaborative content management system that delivers an easy-to-consume API experience for Sage Payment ISV and software development partners." Developers and ISVs can access API resources, share information and promote completed integration products.