Forget for a moment the channel wars of the midmarket and cast your eyes to the world of public accounting. That came to mind after last issue’s analysis of SAP and Sybase plotting to establish a worldwide mobile platform, an open platform. Because in the run up to the annual Midwest Accounting and Financial Showcase, sponsored by the Illinois Society of CPAs, it quickly became apparent that the tax and accounting market is rushing rapidly towards mobile.

Hightower, a Chicago-area reseller that is one of Sage's larger resellers, has added Syspro's software to a mix that has previously been largely Sage. The Syspro line was added because of its well-known strength in manufacturing. CEO Jeff Rosegarden also likes the attention he got from Syspro. "Syspro is like the State of the Art of old. It’s 250 people who care about you," he says. He notes that Syspro trained his staff; something he said had never happened at SOTA or its successor, Sage, and that Syspro was involved in every deal.

Columbus IT, the Dynamics reseller based in Denmark,  turned in a strong first half in the Americas as software and maintenance boomed and even though consulting revenue showed far less growth the result was a 17-percent hike in revenue for the half ended June 30. EBITDA for this hemisphere was $2.7 million for the six months, up 21.1 percent (when measured in Danish kroner), over a year ago. Revenue was $9.9 million.

Tribridge, Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner of the Year, says it is polishing its operations to continue growth with the appointment of Chris Joseph as CFO. Joseph was CEO of Mercatus, which provided technology services to healthcare providers, and joined Tribridge when it purchased his company in May. Besides doing the usual CFO things, his duties were described as including the support of "the company’s ongoing acquisition strategy."