Last week Zoho became a payments aggregator in India, enabling it to launch a full payment solution in the future. Medallia made a series of announcements at its Experience ’24 conference. It announced a commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040. On the second day, it revealed four AI-powered innovations.
Dean Forbes, CEO of Forterro, gave a business update for Forterro for the full year ending December 31st on LinkedIn with a total revenue growth of 9%. Screendragon, the workflow automation platform, has raised €25 million in a funding round led by Kennet Partners. Gresham House Ventures announced that it has invested in Azarc, the business process automation company focused on automating cross-border supply chains.
OneStock, a leading order management system vendor built using MACH principles, has announced a new connector for Shopify. Accounting Seed has announced AP (Accounts Payable) automation as the first product release of 2024. Fyle has announced a new integration with Amex for its expense management platform. FourKites has released an update to its ocean visibility solution, Dynamic Ocean.
Rootstock Software beat off competition from Oracle NetSuite, Infor, SAP, and Acumatica to win an ERP contract for Trace Medical. Fivetran revealed that Deliveroo is leveraging its data integration platform to help centralise its data from multiple sources. Percipient revealed that it has helped TROO Hospitality deploy Sage Intacct as part of its digitisation strategy.
Syniti appointed Craig Ayers as Chief People Officer. Simpplr announced the appointment of Don Wight as its new Chief Revenue Officer. Seedtag, the leading global contextual advertising company, announced the appointment of Kartal Goksel as its Chief Technology Officer.
Azul
More Azul products are now available on AWS and Google Cloud Marketplaces. The products include Azul Platform Core and Azul Platform Prime. With Platform Core, customers receive secure and stable builds of OpenJDK — a drop-in replacement for Oracle Java SE — l partners are able to take advantage of Amazon’s Channel Partner Private Offers (CPPO) program to sell the products at a wholesale price.
George Gould, Senior Vice President of corporate development and partner alliances at Azul, commented, “Making Azul products available on the AWS and Google Cloud marketplaces unlocks tremendous purchasing efficiencies for businesses deploying their Java applications in the cloud. By working together with the hyperscalers and preferred channel partners, we’re providing our customers additional ways to procure our products and optimize their cloud spending.”
Certinia
A5 Corporation, the full-service solutions provider and, a leader in digital transformation and a partner of Salesforce and Certinia, announced that it has deployed Certinia PSA across its consulting workforce globally. The company has operations in the US, Canada, India, The UK and China.
The LinkedIn post noted, “While we already utilize Salesforce for core #CRM functions, the introduction of Certinia #PSA has consolidated the project setup process and provided us with a comprehensive 360-degree view of all our projects. This implementation brings significant benefits to our clients, as our delivery teams can now seamlessly execute all projects on the platform. This includes improved clarity on milestone and utilization metrics, simplified time and expense entry, and shared project visibility for our leadership. It is truly a game changer for A5!”
Deltek
Deltek announced the launch of Replicon Time Tracking and Polaris PSA for Government Contracting. At first glance, this appears to be a re-launch under the Deltek brand of the Replicon solutions rather than a major new release for the products. However, backed by Deltek, channel partners should take note that these solutions provide a sophisticated time-tracking capability and a modern professional services automation product.
Warren Linscott, SVP and Chief Product Officer at Deltek, said, “As government contractors grow, expand and diversify their business, they need solutions that can help them collect project time in a compliant way while maximizing their global workforce and ensuring the right people are on the right projects.
“We are launching these solutions with out-of-the-box integrations with Deltek Costpoint and other industry-leading ERP solutions. This approach provides government contractors with a time-to-value and a total-cost-of-ownership advantage no matter which back-office system they have in place today. Our solutions offer an integrated platform for time tracking and resource management that supports built-in compliance with DCAA, FAR, and dozens of federal, state and local time tracking requirements, allowing our customers more time to focus on delivering better projects.”
Infor
Infor partners ICCG announced that it has added Infor CloudSuite Supply Chain Planning (SCP) to its portfolio. Bala Anantharama, Executive Vice President, Business Strategy at ICCG, commented, “Evolving product portfolios, dynamic markets, unavoidable constraints, emerging competition and regulations, and expanding networks create a dizzying array of go-to-market options. The gap between getting something done and getting something done right keeps widening.
“Infor Supply Chain Planning (SCP), part of Infor’s integrated planning suite, synchronizes supply and demand, balancing customer expectations and business goals. Advanced algorithms support modular solutions to identify the best use of assets and optimize performance. This enables businesses to take control of your supply chain.”
iplicit
iplicit has strengthened its leadership team to help expand and launch in the US after delivering triple-digit growth in 2023. It has promoted Scott Regnier to head up the US sales operation where it plans to launch in 2025. Regnier returns to Colorado after a year at iplicit. He previously worked in sales leadership positions at Checkr, Mainline Information Systems and Check. He also spent nearly three years at Salesforce.
Nicky Cox becomes iplicit’s first Chief Customer Officer. He was previously at Sapphire as Global Operations Director. Cox has significant experience in the ERP industry, also working at Unit4 and Agilsys in senior positions.
Colin Mann joined as the new head of marketing in November, completing the trio of recent appointments. He previously held marketing leadership positions at Enghouse Interactive, Talkdesk and Mitel.
Lyndon Stickley, CEO, iplicit, said, “We can realistically expect to add another 1,000 organisations and 20,000 users to our iplicit customer base in 2024.
“Scott is over from the US to work with us throughout 2024 in preparation for our launch into the American market in 2025, while Nicky is taking a lead role in the rapid expansion of our customer service delivery. And with the sales and marketing team now consisting of 28 staff, Colin has been brought in to manage a significantly enhanced budget and team.”
Panasonic Connect
Panasonic Connect published research that reveals that businesses expect wireless technology investment to boost their productivity by 32% on average in the three years after implementation. Respondents (36%) say that 5G is the most important wireless technology investment for their business, with private campus networks more popular than public networks.
One in five (22%) view WiFi 6 as the most important type of wireless technology. A substantial upgrade over its predecessor, it offers faster connections and improved resilience for networks with a high connected device load. Interest in Bluetooth and Long-Range Wide Area Networks (LoRaWAN) were similarly high (21%), as organisations seek the right technology for specialist applications in their own sectors, such as supply chain logistics and manufacturing.
The report highlights that there are still barriers to adoption, notably security (24%) and interoperability/connectivity (22%).
Jan Kaempfer, Marketing Director for Panasonic Connect Europe, commented, “This research highlights that this is a crucial period in wireless technology investment and decision-making. The advent of 5G, the evolution of WiFi, and the innovation around Bluetooth and LoRaWAN are all driving the connected world in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. Clearly, business leaders believe wireless connectivity presents enormous opportunities, but there are also challenges to overcome.
“Businesses have a lack of internal expertise and resources and there is a role for technology providers to play in supporting organisations with expertise and education to instil greater confidence and plug some of the resource gaps. But overall, the picture for wireless is very positive, with a strong appetite for innovation and advanced deployment. At Panasonic Connect Europe, we’re committed to helping business leaders understand the dominant drivers for wireless technology investment, the key technologies and their applications, and how to overcome barriers.”
Percipient
Percipient announced that it has implemented Sage Intacct at yet another hotel chain. This time, McKeever Hotels has deployed the solution across five hotels in Ireland. McKeever considered NetSuite to replace its aging Sage 50 solution but opted for the proven expertise of Percipient in the hotel industry and the financial strength of Sage Intacct.
Victoria Walton, Director of Finance, McKeever Hotels, commented, “Sage Intacct was a no-brainer. The depth of analysis and reporting combined with its easy-to-use dashboards were impressive, and precisely what we needed to deliver greater strategic value to the business. And because Sage Intacct is cloud-native, updates are delivered automatically. We knew right from the initial demo that the system would scale to support us as we expand, without needing to rely on IT resources to facilitate.
“The Percipient team were also incredibly impressive from the outset, and their experience and expertise from working within the hospitality industry shone through.”
Yooz
Yooz revealed how it has transformed the Accounts Payable workflow of Ilisaqsivik, a registered Canadian charity and not-for-profit Inuit community organisation in Clyde River on Baffin Island. Ilisaqsivik leverages Yooz alongside its NetSuite ERP solution to automate the accounts payable processes for more than 50 projects. It has significantly reduced the amount of manual work required. This has helped free up time for program planning rather than administration and also delivered a more robust audit trail.
Lisa Morel-Misener, Chief Financial Officer at Ilisaqsivik, commented, “As a former auditor my ongoing interest lies in the detailed retention of data, comprehensive support and well-documented processes and controls. I love that Yooz provides a fantastic clear and robust audit trail for all transactions. I love to know that our auditors can access proof of our controls and have the flexibility to grant access to any tax auditor. Furthermore, Yooz enables the review of any transaction for anyone who steps into my role, ensuring transparency and accountability.”
Zoho
Zoho unveiled Zoho Sprints 2.0, the latest version of its agile project management platform. It has improved the user interface. There is a revamped home page that gives greater access to the entire workspace. A newly designed left panel includes Global View and Global feed. These ensure that users can quickly shift between different project views whilst maintaining an eye on the latest discussion points across all projects.
There are also enhancements to the List, Sheet and Card views, with more customisation options. Improvements to filters include quick filters and customer filters — the former using existing criteria to view project data, the latter delivering users’ sophisticated customisation. There is more in the update, and like the recent update to Zoho Projects, it is well worth exploring before Zoho Sprints 1.0 is discontinued on April 30th 2024.
Zoho also announced Zoho Payroll’s UAE edition to the Zoho People Plus bundle. The update enables organisations with employees in the UAE to combine a powerful HR solution with a compliant payroll solution. The combination reduces the amount of manual work required by having two separate solutions. Zoho Payroll is compliant with the Wage Protection System and other labour laws. It also delivers a self-service portal capability, further reducing the work for payroll staff.
Last week, Zoho also inaugurated a new headquarters in Queretaro, Mexico. The event was attended by the Honorable Minister of Sustainable Development, H.E. Mr. Marco del Prete Tercero & Mr. Sridhar Vembu, Founder & CEO of Zoho. The company aims to create 250 jobs in LATAM in the next two years as part of a $20 million investment.
