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Top 100 VARs 2018 BSIcontinued from page 2acquirer.No. 2, Columbus, based in Denmark, purchaseda Swedish company iStone. That is a big boostas iStone expected 2017 revenue of about 95.9million while Columbus revenue for the year wasapproximately 201.8 at exchange rates at the timeresults were reported. Although iStone has operated predominately in Sweden, Columbus signaledplans to strengthen its role as a global player by taking iStone’s Infor M3 (Lawson) software line global.No. 3 Tribridge was acquired by DXC, whichwas itself formed by the combination last year ofthe former Computer Science Corp. and part of theenterprise group of Hewlett-Packard. Tribridge,which was expecting 180 million in revenue for2017, according to founder Tony DiBenedetto in anOctober interview with a Florida business publication, about the time he left his position as CEO.In 2016, CSC purchased Australia-based UXC,whose Eclipse operations had 86 million inrevenue in 2015. This year, DXC acquired eBecsand Sable67. Its total midmarket revenue probablyrivals RSM but it remains to be seen how free thecompany will be with numbers once the operationsare combined under the DXC name.Another deal that has the potential for creatinga much larger channel player is Alithya’s pendingacquisition of No. 5. Edgewater Technology. Edgewater had revenue of 111.8 million in revenue 2017and Alithya has 150 million. Edgewater is publiclyheld and Alithya will take over the role as a publiclyheld company.Meanwhile, another player, Velosio, cracked thetop ten through the merger of the SBS Group andSocius, to reach No. 7.There were also important changes among thevendor community, none more visible than Sage’spurchase of Intacct for about 850 million, following on the heels of Oracle’s buying NetSuite in 2016.A family affair saw three manufacturing packages—JobBoss, Macola, Max—shifted from Exactto ECI Solutions. Private equity firm Apax Partnersowns Exact, based in the Netherlands, and acquired ECi as the new home for the three manufacturing applications.In one specialized area, construction software,there were a series of changes. Viewpoint acquiredveteran software company Dexter Chaney andthen Viewpoint itself was purchased by Trimbleto form a unit with a 1-billion annual run rate.Another specialist changing hands was Abila,which markets the MIP Fund Accounting line. Itwas acquired last year by newly formed Community Brands, which purchased several fundraisingsoftware packages.There were also structural changes in the effortto reach the market through the channel. SAP’son again, off again push in the channel took a stepforward.A year ago, SAP made a major push for its SMBbusinesses by prominent executives at its partnersummit and its Sapphire conference and proclaimed its long-troubled Business By Design cloudapplication was still alive and kicking. While therehas been little public information since then, inApril the company unified the structure for ByDand Business One under Michael Schmitt, who hadbeen responsible for ByD since July 2014.ByD is hard to find on the Top 100. SAP loyalistNavigator Business Solutions continues to carry itbut FMT sold its ByD business to VistaVu Solutionslast year and moved on to other things with theacquisition of the Salesforce practice of Red SkySolutions this year.Still, there was a notable development on theByD front as the Rand Group picked up the product.It is the first prominent member of the Dynamics channel—indeed much of the traditional ERPchannel—to add the cloud application in severalyears. Rand, which describes itself as the fastestgrowing Dynamics VAR in America, says it optedfor the SAP package “enabling us to offer clients afull breadth of solutions that can handle any size,industry, and need.”The Sage Look ChangesThe Intacct deal last year gave Sage a muchneeded, mid-market cloud product. United Kingdom-based Sage soon fit Intacct under the umbrellaSage Business Cloud, which includes Sage Accounting (formerly Sage One), Sage Financials (formerlyLive) and Enterprise Management (formerly X-30),along with the HR package, Sage People.Right now, the suite is more marketing that reality as the products are not interoperable. However,Sage expects to integrate the applications in thenext two years.Developing the suite willrequire changes in the Sagechannel. Scott Ehmen, VP ofNorth American partners andsales, expects to add about 100VARs over the next year. Whileexisting Sage VARs have beenadding the cloud-based Intacct,which still operates a separatechannel program, to theirScott Ehmen,product portfolio, Ehmen says Sagethe new recruits will come fromoutside the Sage family.An important source for new recruits is expected to be CRM VARs that carry Salesforce.com.Sage Financials is built on the Salesforce platform.”Our Salesforce partners are turning out to be agreat addition to the mix,” says Ehmen. “They arediversifying their portfolios beyond CRM.”He also noted the need to add larger VARs tohandle Enterprise Management (formerly X-3).“Our growth is going to come from an expandedecosystem,” Ehmen says. Of the Top 20 VARs, onlyfive carry Sage products and EM requires dealingwith more complex and more costly sales andimplementations.Resellers on the high-end will need skills inmarkets served by software publishers such as SAPin products that have multi-national and multilingual capabilities. Playing at that level requiresmore rigor, discipline and quality of consulting,Ehmen says. “I am not looking for consolidated[Sage VARs]. I need net new larger, bigger partners,who know how to do their bigger projects.”Intacct’s Macdonald says since the acquisitionof his company by Sage, fourteen Sage VARs haveadded Intacct to their product line. While manyimportant Sage resellers had turned to other cloudproducts, several of them dropped these otherproducts once they started selling Intacct, hecontinues.Epicor Software has alsomade significant changes andis well along in implementinga new channel program. “Weneeded to focus on a restructuring plan for a channel,”says Lisa Pope, the EVP for theAmerica, who came on boardthe software company in March2017 to do that.A major thrust was definingLisa Pope,the markets to be addressedEpicorby the direct sales force andthe resellers. Previously, Epicor was not activelymanaging to avoid conflict, Pope says. Now, thecompany has established rules of engagement.The rough dividing line is target companieswith 20 million annual revenue. Above that figureis the territory for direct sales. Below that, leadsbelong to the channel. However, partners can goafter larger deals “based on that partner and ourassessment of whether they can run the sales cycleand win the deal”, Pope says.In some cases, Epicor may work with the resellerto land a deal. The company has also created a Platinum reseller level to enable resellers ”to go outsidetheir geographies,” she says, and it carved out rolesfor channel members who wish to implement andprovide services, but not sell.In addition, Epicor has intensified efforts tohelp customers use its software more effectivelythrough its Value Exchange Workshop. “We go intoa customer site after they have made a purchaseand observe how they are using the software,” Popesays. If the team observes areas that need improvement, “we do what we can do immediately for somequick wins.” Currently, the program is availableonly for direct sales. But after seeing “results havebeen outstanding,” Pope says it will be rolled out tothe channel.Besides selling Epicor ERP, VARs in this marketwill be given the chance to sell more Epicor products with Profit 21, a business suite for distributors, the most likely to be made available to them.Pope says that will probably happen because thecompany’s direct sales team has been going afterlarger prospects.“Our direct side, which sells Profit 21, has movedupstream. Last year, they wouldn’t even let me sayProfit 21,” Pope says.While other vendors are emphasizing targeting vertical markets, that approach is somewhatbuilt into the fact Epicor focuses on four verticals:manufacturing, retail, distribution and serviceswith products for such markets as automotiveaftermarket, gun range management and lumberand building materials.Epicor has given resellers leeway in reachingcontinued on page 11www.bobscottsinsights.com 9

BSI Top 100 VARs 2018Bob Scott’sTOP100VARs continuedCompanyRevenue( MM) Employees Financial Software76Raffa, Washington, D.C.6.724Dynamics GP/SL/365, Intacct, Jamis Prime76Resource Group, Renton, Wash.6.725Dynamics GP, Intacct79Technology Management Concepts, El Segundo, Calif.6.527Dynamics GP/NAV/SL/BC80Accountnet, New York, N.Y.6.221Dynamics GP/SL/365 for Financials81Central Data Systems, Farmington Hills, Mich.638Acumatica, Infor CloudSuite Distribution/Facts/SX.381Intellitec Solutions, Wilimington, Del.626Dynamics GP/NAV/SL/ BC, Intacct83CAL Business Solutions, Harwinton, Conn.5.928Acumatica, Dynamics GP84Express Information Systems, San Antonio, Texas5.815Dynamics GP/365, Intacct84Sererra Consulting Group, Newport Beach, Calif.5.828NetSuite86Oasis Solutions, Louisville, Ky.5.7521NetSuite, Sage 100c87Six S Partners, Waterloo, Ont.5.7T52Epicor88Boyer & Associates, Minneapolis, Wis.5.6317Dynamics GP/NAV/SL/BC89Fourlane, Austin, Texas5.625Acumatica, QBES89SouthEast Computer Solutions, Miami Lakes, Fla.5.627Acumatica, Sage 100/100c/300c/500/EM91Interdyn Artis, Charlotte, N.C.5.522Dynamics GP/NAV/36591SSI Consulting, Vienna, Va.5.516Dynamics GP/SL/BC, Intacct, Unanet91TrueCloud*, Tempe, Ariz.5.535NetSuite91WAC Consulting, Northborough, Mass.5.535Acumatica, MIP, Sage 50/100c/300c, NetSuite, ProERP, EM, QBES91Njevity, Denver, Colo.5.525Dynamics GP, Power GP Online96ACE Microtechnology, Atlanta, Ca.5.431Dynamics GP/365 BC96DWD Technology Group, Fort Wayne, Ind.5.425Acumatica, BWorks, MIP, Sage 50/10098Martin & Associates, Cincinnati, Ohio5.322Acumatica, Dynamics GP, Sage 100/50099ComTec Solutions, Rochester, N.Y.5.240Epicor5.124Dynamics NAV/SL/BC, JAAS100 Synergy Business Solutions, Portland, N .Y.NOTES: E: Revenue Estimated by Bob Scott’s Insights. T: Translated from Canadian Dollars. *RSM purchase of Explore Consulting pending, **True Cloud purchased by Eide Bailly, effective May 1.10 www.bobscottsinsights.com

Top 100 VARs 2018 BSIcontinued from page 9these markets. “We have a number of partnerswho have become experts in certain areas,” saysPope. “One is doing very well with the Departmentof Defense and has resources that can implementsolutions. We have given them a number of SICcodes they can run with.” Epicor might not addressverticals for such efforts, but can provide supportthrough its services team, among other methods.Accounting FirmsIntacct’s Macdonald is not the only one promoting the importance of CPA firms in selling cloudproducts. NetSuite has also been active in recruiting these organizations in the last two years. Thisyear, it has signed BPM, which operates in the SanFrancisco Bay area. Last year, it added MossAdams and WithumSmith Brown after picking upCohnReznick in 2016.The firms are contributing to consolidation ofthe NetSuite channel as they pick up Top 100 VARs.Effective May 1, Fargo, N.D.-based Eide Baillyacquired TrueCloud of Tempe, Ariz., while the purchase of Explore Consulting by RSM McGladrey isexpected to close by July 1.RSM US has climbed to the No. 1 position inthe Top 100 with a combination of acquisition andorganic growth.The firm had 174 million in revenue when itsyear ended on April 30, 2015. The unit is now up to 308.6 million, with a sizable chunk of the increasecoming late in 2015 when it added about 50 million with the purchase of Dynamics AX reseller,Junction Solutions. The pending deal to acquireExplore Consulting, another NetSuite reseller, willadd 12 million.The firm carries three cloudlines—NetSuite, Sage Intacctand Dynamics 365 for Financeand Operations and BusinessCentral. Its goal can be statedvery simply:“Our goal is to be recognizedas the No. 1 cloud provider tothe midmarket,” says SteveEms, the firm’s principal andSteve Ems,national business applicationsRSM USleader.The firm is unusual in carrying cloud products from Intacct NetSuite, andDynamics. Only a handful of the Top 100 handlethree lines—DSD Business Systems is another.While RSM competes in all three areas, it has aclear favorite in its worldwide operation, not just inthe United States.“We have established NetSuite as our go-toglobal platform,” Ems says. The firm is dominantwith the cloud application in several places. Emsbelieves it is the largest NetSuite reseller in at leasteight countries. RSM UK has become the dominantNetSuite reseller in EMEA, after purchasing another NetSuite reseller last fall, Ems says. RSM USalso is seeking to establish itself as a major playerin Canada.“We have not had a strong position in Canada,”he said. But RSM acquired Collins Barrow Toronto and established RSM Canada, which inpartnership with RSM U.S. setup RSM Consulting, “a beachhead in Toronto to representboth Microsoft and NetSuitesolutions,” he says.RSM pitches the productlines in different ways. ManyGreg Kaupp,customers simply want to be on ArcherPointMicrosoft products, includingthose with desktop Dynamics sites, who wish to migrate to the cloud. The new Business Central “canpay in three different direction,” Ems says. Thatincludes volume core business. The multi-languageapplication also offers flexibility stemming fromits ability to be modified. “I also see it as a complex,manufacturing, supply chain, financial place, for alarger organization,” he says.Intacct is strong with nonprofits and also ingrant accounting and the “core simplicity of thesystem,” he says. Ems also cites the accountingsystem’s multi-entity capabilities.The Name GameThe last year has also been one of product nameschanges by Microsoft and Sage. As mentioned Sagerevamped its product line, placing four productsunder the label the Sage Business Cloud. Microsoftdid more than its share of renaming.The result was that resellers of both lines submitted Top 100 forms that had a variety of old andnew names.Last year, Microsoft changed the name ofDynamics AX to Dynamics 365 for Operations andFinance Enterprise Edition while NAV became theBusiness Edition. Having two products with similar names and separated only by “edition” confusedresellers customers. Interviewed at the time, RSM’sEms said, “I think it is a problem.”This year, Microsoft cleared up part of the confusion by labelling the cloud version of DynamicsNAV Dynamics 365 Business Central. And thatmade many VARs happy. “We are getting a uniquebrand with a clearer message from Microsoft togo head to head with NetSuite,” says Greg Kaupp,CEO of Atlanta, Ga.-based Archerpoint, which hashistorically sold Dynamics NAV.But beyond naming confusion, Kaupp points toa change in the concept of ERP/financial applications. Microsoft has introduced a common datamodel for Dynamics 365 with the system tied intoits Azure platform. Kaupp says this means computing is moving away from single-point solutions.“I can imagine a future not too far away whereit will harder and harder to articulate this is ERP;this is CRM; this is point of sale,” he says.New WaysIt is not just the model for how software is structured that has changed. The model for operating areseller business is evolving rapidly. Resellers aremoving from selling software and then providingservices—and receiving a large chunk of the moneyupfront—to selling subscriptions, which requirefewer services, and receiving payment over the lifeof the subscription.The traditional model also rewards those whomade products more difficult to consume, saysGeoff Ashley, Acumatica’s VP of partner strategy and programs. That wasbecause so much of the saleinvolved services.The cloud model is movingtowards making productseasier to consume and thatis starting to produce prepackaged versions of the cloudapplications to introduce coreapplications at a more affordable pricing and being able toGeoff Ashley,use the software sooner.AcumaticaAshley pointed to rivalNetSuite’s SuiteSuccess as anexample.Acumatica has made big strides in overwhelming one of its biggest problems, the lack of namerecognition. A recent nine city-road show producedattendance than was larger than the numbersregistered.Ashley said results also show that seminars,which tanked by 2007, are becoming draws againand much of the revival is about users’ needs tounderstand the tangle of technologies they mustcontinued on page 12Choosing the Top 100The ranking of the Top 100 mid-marketreselling firms is based solely on annual revenue.When more than one company reported the samerevenue, they are listed as tied.Few of the companies chosen or consideredare public companies that report results withreadily available revenue figures. These areSWK Technologies, through its parent SilverSunTechnologies and Columbus. EdgewaterTechnology, which will be renamed Alithya afterits purchase by a company of the same name, isalso public.Other revenue figures were submitted bythe companies themselves. In cases in whichresellers declined to provide revenue, estimateswere made. Factors utilized in estimatinginclude the number of employees reported andthe typical selling prices of the products theycarry.Other publicly available sources of informationwere considered, and information provided forBob Scott’s VAR Star selection last fall was alsoused.All companies considered carry products otherthan financial software, and revenue from thoseproducts is included the totals reported here.www.bobscottsinsights.com 11

BSI Top 100 VARs 2018continued from page 11learn.If a sponsor can provide a topic that resonateswith attendees, seminars can have an impacton business. “People want to learn and want toknow. It’s driving business,” Ashley says. “It’sshortening sales cycles.”The major lesson VARs must learn is thatreaching new customers, not just servicing aninstalled base, is the goal. “This is all about customer acquisition,” he says. To grow revenue,resellers must acquire customers to build revenue coming from subscriptions, instead of thetypical on-premise sell, install and implement.As sales build, subscriptionpayments over an increasing number of customerscan become significant.Like Intacct andNetSuite, Acumatica hasbenefited from enlistingresellers of other companies which sell desktopproducts. Among these isColumbus, Ohio,-basedDoug Deane, DSDAlgorithm. In its twentyBusiness Systemsfifth year as a Macola VAR,Algorithm has more than300 customers for that manufacturing package.However, the reseller expects Acumatica tocomprise 50 percent of revenue this year. In itsTop 100 submission, Algorithm reported, “Weare thrilled with every aspect of that relationship, from product direction to their channelonly strategy.”Similarly, DSD Business Systems of SanDiego, Calif., a historical Sage reseller, took onAcumatica in 2015 and made that application itsgrowth product. This year, the firm also startedhandling Intacct and Dynamics 365. WhenDSD made the move, owner Doug Deane noted,“Acumatica will factor heavily into our futureproduct lineup.”The Oracle ConnectionNoting the recently announced purchasesby Edie Bailly and RSM US, Craig West, SVPof channel sales, for NetSuite says, “It is safe toassume they are not the last.”Perhaps as big an opportunity for resellersis the ability of resellersto represent other Oracleproducts. “We have enabledthe Oracle planning andcloud service, “ says Westwho notes those application can be integrated withNetSuite.NetSuite of

18 NeoSystems, Tysons Corner, Va. 30.5 150 Deltek Costpoint, NetSuite 19 Aktion Associates, Maumee, Ohio 30 140 Acumatica, Infor WD/ CSD/SXe/FACTS/A , Sage CRE: 100/300, . Open University and certification courses to support your product knowledge Acumatica customers get modern Cloud ERP with consumption-based licensing . 6 .