Ross Jenkins, COO of Xero, is retiring from the company by the end of the year. He will not be replaced. Jenkins started with the low-cost cloud accounting software company as CFO in 2011. His LinkedIn profile describes that as his "dream job." In late January, Jenkins became COO when the company named Doug Jeffries as CFO. Jeffries, who was based in the San Francisco area, left after eight weeks on the job and Jenkins became interim CFO. He will remain in the transition when Sankar Narayan takes over as CFO.

CEO Steven Kelly impressed resellers at last week's Sage Summit, scoring well for leadership, openness and vision. Whether the market gives him time to execute the plan produced a more divided opinion. But as usual, people with positive things to say were more willing to put their remarks on the record. "The message and communications to the partners is a very positive change from the old management team," says Steve Blythe, owner of Blytheco, a top reseller. Bob Kohlmeyer, director of the DWD Technology Group, had glowing comments. "I walked away from Sage Summit more energized than I have in years. They announced a recommitment to Sage partners and increased reinvestment in core Sage products including Sage 100," Kohlmeyer said. "I think Sage has the ship moving in the right direction." Wendy Gorrie of Baass Business Solutions  also complimented Kelly on being available to VARs and praised Rich Spring, EVP and chief revenue officer. "He [Spring] is saying all the right things and showing signs of follow through with action," Gorrie said. Other attendees I contacted made remarks in the same tone.

Much of the country has been suffering from a heat wave. How hot was it? It was so hot the Canada geese were considering migrating north. It was so hot I saw a robin chilling his worm in a glass of lemonade It was so hot and sticky the jaws of life had to be used to separate the thighs of N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. ... There's a new Maury Povich show. It follows the usual quest to determine fatherhood of children. But it has been named "From Here to Paternity". ... In another update, a remake of the classic cop show "Dragnet" has Friday and Gannon uncomfortably being fitted for bodycams.

Blackbaud saw net income drop to slightly more than $7 million for the second quarter ended June 30, down 24.1 percent from $9.3 million in last year's corresponding period. The company this week reported revenue of $157.3 million for the most recently ended quarter, up 12.1 percent from $139.4 million a year ago. Cutting into the bottom line were operating expenses of $68.4 million, which represent an increase of $16.5 million, an increase of 24.1 percent year-to-year. Subscription income continued its upward trend.