Columbus, formerly Columbus IT Partner, has acquired Dynamics reseller First Tech Direct for an undisclosed amount of cash. Led by John Silvani, First Tech has been one of the smaller VARs to break into the Dynamics Inner Circle in the last few years. Columbus, based in Denmark, said that the leadership of the Detroit-area reseller would remain with the company.

Sales-and-use-tax specialist Avalara has named Salim Hemdani as its chief technology officer. Hemdani who oversees technical operations at the Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based company, was most recently group VP at Razorfish. At that company, he managed “experiences and platforms” for the Microsoft Global account and was responsible for user experience, delivery management and technology.

SAP has announced a cloud version of its Business One software. SAP Business One OnDemand is described as being for the midmarket. The difference between this cloud and the Business ByDesign cloud? ByD is hosted by SAP and the B1 OnDemand will be  hosted by the channel members. ByD is for 25-user operations, B1 less than that and that threshold went into effect in January.

Sage North America is rolling out a subscription pricing program that has lots of goodies for users shelling out for the most expensive plan. That plan, effective in April, offers unlimited support for those willing to pay $110 per month per user for Sage 100. The price rises to $130 per month per user for Sage 300 and $160 for Sage 500.