Here’s our roundup of MIBAR news for the summer of 2019. It’s been a busy season, with stories from Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power BI and Oracle NetSuite.

IFS and Acumatica come together under EQT ownership

EQT Partners, an investment firm with $45B under management, has signed an agreement to acquire Acumatica. The deal is going to be done through the same holding company that owns Industrial and Financial Systems (IFS), a global applications company. Jonas Persson will be chairman of both companies.

Fewer Microsoft Dynamics partners make on the 2019 Inc. 5000

The 2019 Inc. 5000 list has fewer Microsoft Dynamics partners on it than in previous years. The Inc. list features US-based, high growth private companies. This year, only four partners were on the list, versus 18 in 2017. The number has gone up and down over the years. In 2016, there were nine Dynamics partners on the list. Reasons for the change include mergers in the partner sector along with changes in Inc.’s perception of growth rates for Microsoft Dynamics partners.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 adds industry accelerators and more

Dynamics 365 has issued a number of updates. These include industry accelerators like the Banking Accelerator. This is an addition to Microsoft’s existing portfolio of Dynamics 365 accelerators. e.g. Automotive, Higher-Education and Nonprofit. Customer Service Insights now support 39 new languages – including both Serbian alphabets (Roman and Cyrillic characters). The solution has further optimized its capabilities for natural language processing in German, French and Spanish. Microsoft is also taking steps to protect sensitive data like Azure Key Vaults as it transitions the logic of Business Central from the system layer into extensions.

Oracle NetSuite releases study on non-profits

Oracle NetSuite has published a study that explores the challenges facing non-profits that want to connect dollars to outcomes. The study, “Connecting Dollars to Outcomes,” offers insights from over 350 senior U.S. nonprofit executives. The study found only 29 percent of nonprofits can effectively measure how their investments translate into outcomes.

Microsoft Power BI Desktop update has many additions

Microsoft Power BI Desktop has a new August 2019 Update (2.71.5523.641). This update has many new features affecting reporting, analytics, data connectivity and template apps. In reporting, the update offers the ability to group visuals. Other reporting features in the update include filter pane migration, an icon style picker for conditional icon formatting and conditional formatting warnings.

New custom visuals and updates are part of the Analytics updates. Key influencers get visual improvements. Data connectivity changes include support for SAP HANA HDI Containers along with the ability to edit SAP variables in the Power BI service. PostgreSQL DirectQuery and MarkLogic connector are also now generally available. A new Power Platform category is available within Get Data. In Template Apps, Power BI now offers basic analytics for Facebook pages.

As always, business software companies are aggressively coming out with new features and research. The industry continues to see strong growth, as exemplified by the M&A activity in the sector.