The SBS Group, a Dynamics reseller based in Woodbridge, N.J., says it has entered on phase two in building its partner network. And the company has hired former Tectura CEO Terry Petrzelka to help recruit VARs. Owners Jim Bowman and Joe Longo say their goals include enlisting business people “who maintain the entrepreneurial spirit at the local office” while consolidating services “that make sense”, according to Bowman. SBS now has 15 offices put together from seven organizations that include affiliated companies “and a few that turned into acquisitions.” Read more...

Forget about the fact that a number of Dynamics resellers felt short-changed on the announcements about cloud products made at this week’s Convergence user conference. Microsoft continues to have odd, if not conflicted behavior in dealing with its channel. The company used to hold a partner day before the start of the user conference. Since that isn’t held anymore, it offered the VARs a reception on Saturday night, billed as an opportunity to meet Microsoft executives. Read more...

Microsoft's highly publicized new partner network regulations were delayed as the certification requirements were moved from May 1 until October 1. But Anders B. Spatzek, director, Dynamics channel capacity, says resellers shouldn't expect it will happen again. Spatzek would have preferred that Microsoft had stuck to its original plan. However the decision to postpone its implementation stemmed from a very practical fact – the original deadline came during Microsoft’s fourth fiscal quarter which ends on June 31. Read more...

Former Exact CEO Raj Patel got roughly $289,000 in severance when he resigned the company last year.  That brought the pay for his final 12 months at the head of the Dutch software company to about $984,000 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010. Patel left on July 31, but the severance represented an amount in lieu of the half-year pay required by Dutch law. Exact paid his successor, Martijn Janmaat, about $460,000. Janmaat says he plans to stay only until August and would not consider staying past the one year he committed to in agreeing to take over the job. He made his announcement last month to give the company's supervisory board time to find a replacement.