Out of the darkness,
into the light
The 2010 Pacesetters emerge
from a tough year by focusing
on expanding core services,
and exploring vertical markets
BY seth fineBerg
As the economy begins its recovery, today’s leading resellers and consultants of accounting technology have earned their
place on our technology Pacesetters list of top-flight accounting and erP VArs not simply by selling the latest software,
but by being able to offer essential — often new — services to their clients, and focusing more on key vertical markets.
Moreover, since many of the businesses
they serve have been hit hard too, resellers of
all sizes have had to do more than just push
software upgrades and new packages.
“Many businesses have been reluctant
to make new investments in technology.
This trend now appears to be changing for
the better, but plenty of businesses are still
choosing to stick with the status quo,” said
David Cieslak, principal at Simi Valley, Calif.-based Arxis Technology Inc. “To overcome
this challenge, we have rededicated our efforts to serve our existing customers, focused
on nurturing key alliances and referral partners, and diversified our product portfolio.”
In many cases, this year’s Pacesetters opted to dig deeper into vertical markets.
Grapevine, Texas-based Exact Macola reseller SRH Consulting was among many that
pursued a more vertical focus — in its case,
biotech — and is starting to see the rewards.
“The downturn has led us to lower our expec-
tations regarding near-term revenue growth,”
reported chairman Randy Napier. “We plan
to continue our emphasis on biotechnology
as an area of vertical specialization. We are
fortunate to have a base of biotech activity in
or near our home market area.”
The same scenario held true for Microsoft
Dynamics AX and GP reseller and Paceset-
ter I.B.I.S. “Verticals are driving our most
profitable business opportunities and are
resonating very well in the marketplace,” said
chief executive Andy Vabulas. “Over the past
year, we picked up a new industrial supply
distribution vertical. This is an extension of
our industrial equipment manufacturing ex-
pertise, so we remain in alignment with our
in-house expertise.”
“Our best clients are looking for more ser-
vices now — as long as there’s measurable
value for their business,” said Steve Birdwell,
president of Fontana, Calif.-based Incor Tech.
“We are exploring software integration and
development and spending more time look-
ing at integration of cloud solutions. We have
several hosted and cloud options and [that
business] is picking up too.”
Meanwhile, Livingston, N.J.-based SWK
Technologies has turned its eye overseas,
primarily via offshore development. “We
constantly strive to create new recurring rev-
enue streams that relate to our core business,
yet may not have existed two years ago,” said
president Jeffrey Roth. “We have created a
new profit center in going offshore for de-
velopment; it’s working quite well. We have
utilized these resources to support third-
party integrations that we may have done
in-house last year.”
With clients being more selective and spe-
cific in their needs, it has become common
for our Pacesetters to make adjustments, be
it to their own expectations and internal pro-
cesses or by looking outside their long-stand-
ing product lines to offer more variety.
“One thing we have noticed is an increase
in rate pressure, with clients trying to nego-
tiate lower rates for projects,” revealed Eric
Sheehan, CPA and managing partner at
St. Paul, Minn.-based OTT Inc. “We have
countered with offering pre-paid blocks of
consulting time at lower rates. ... We are giv-
ing a lower rate in return for prepaid dollars,
which is a positive boost to cash flow.”
For others, like Minneapolis-based Boyer
& Associates, making internal adjustments
has helped, while turning to cloud-based
services has offered opportunities. “It is
harder to find leads in the traditional areas
where we typically got leads,” said president
Jack Boyer. “We have responded by doing
more specific statements of work so that
clients know exactly what we are doing and
not doing, regardless of whether the work is
fixed-fee or not. We have also provided many
more learning events via webinars ... . We
have signed up to resell and consult on a new
cloud-based product. We believe that using
software development tools that are much
more up to date [like those in cloud-based
offerings] gives clients much more of an abil-
ity to share data.” AT
EXPANDED SERVICES
Innovation and adaptability, of course, are
one of the hallmarks of our Pacesetters, who
are chosen based not on size, but on proven
excellence and leadership. Many demonstrated that this year by choosing to increase
their service offerings to boost business.
Herndon, Va.-based Sage reseller SystemLink started a business process outsourcing
initiative to provide outsourced accounting
transaction processing, controllership and
CFO services, while Monterey, Calif.-based
ie Solutions has increased its focus on training and management consulting.
