Last week, the Sequoia Group team had the opportunity to attend the Infor SMB & Channel Summit in Atlanta, where partners, product leaders, and distribution-focused teams came together to align on what’s next for ERP, WMS, and supply chain technology.
Events like this are less about announcements and more about direction.
They provide a clearer view into how platforms are evolving, where investment is being made, and how partners and customers can better align systems with real-world operations.
For distributors navigating ERP decisions or evaluating their current systems, the conversations coming out of this summit were both practical and timely.
A Closer Look at Where Infor Is Heading
The summit brought together Infor’s CloudSuite Industrial, Distribution, and WMS teams alongside partners and channel leaders.
Across sessions and conversations, one theme stood out:
The future of distribution systems is not just about capability. It’s about alignment.
Infor continues to invest in:
- Cloud-based ERP platforms designed for industry-specific workflows
- Improved data accessibility across systems
- Better integration between warehouse, financial, and operational layers
- AI-enabled tools to help teams make faster, more informed decisions
But what became clear during the sessions is that technology alone does not solve operational complexity.
It only works when it is implemented, aligned, and adopted correctly.
What Partners and Operators Are Actually Talking About
While product roadmaps and feature updates were valuable, the most impactful conversations happened around how these systems perform in real environments.
Chris “Bud” Budney, Sequoia Group’s Sr. Customer Solutions Expert and Strategic Alliances Manager, shared:
“It was great to reconnect with the Infor team and partners and hear where CloudSuite Distribution and WMS are heading. The sessions were valuable, especially seeing how the roadmap is evolving and how new capabilities are being developed to support distributors.”
That sentiment was consistent across the event.
The focus was not just on what is being built, but how it translates into:
- better warehouse execution
- clearer visibility across operations
- stronger alignment between systems and process
The Reality of ERP and WMS Evolution
One of the more important takeaways from the summit is that many distributors are still navigating the same challenge:
Their systems are capable, but not always aligned to how their business actually runs.
This shows up in familiar ways:
- ERP platforms that handle finance well but struggle to support warehouse realities
- WMS systems that require workarounds instead of enabling efficiency
- Data that exists, but is not easily usable across the organization
Infor’s roadmap is clearly moving toward addressing these gaps.
But the conversations at the summit reinforced something even more important:
The success of these systems depends as much on strategy and implementation as it does on software.
Why Long-Term Partnerships Still Matter
For Sequoia Group, the Infor relationship is not new.
Infor has been one of Sequoia’s longest-standing partners, and the summit served as an important opportunity to reconnect, realign, and deepen that relationship.
Michael Alvarez, SVP of Business Development at Sequoia Group, noted the value of engaging directly with Infor leadership and channel partners, including conversations with Mike Herder and Alec Larson from Infor’s team.
These interactions matter because they create alignment across:
- product direction
- partner capabilities
- customer needs
In distribution, where system decisions carry long-term operational impact, that level of alignment is critical.
The Value of Staying Close to the Roadmap
Another consistent theme throughout the summit was the importance of staying close to product evolution.
Distributors who actively engage with their platform ecosystem—through events like this, partner collaboration, and ongoing evaluation—are better positioned to:
- adopt new capabilities earlier
- avoid costly misalignment
- make more informed system decisions
As Bud shared after the event:
“Working with the Infor team and partners to review upcoming capabilities and roadmap direction was extremely helpful. It gives us a clearer picture of how we can continue supporting distributors moving forward.”
Looking Ahead
The Infor SMB & Channel Summit reinforced something we see consistently across the distribution space:
Technology is evolving quickly, but the real opportunity lies in how well it is applied.
ERP and WMS platforms are becoming more powerful, more connected, and more data-driven.
But for distributors, the real question remains:
- Are our systems aligned with how we operate?
- Are we getting the value we expected from our platform?
- Are we positioned to scale with confidence?
Those are the questions that matter.
Continuing the Conversation
The Sequoia Group team looks forward to continuing conversations with both Infor and distribution leaders in the months ahead.
We will also be attending the upcoming TUG conference in Nashville, where many of these discussions will continue. Because in distribution, progress does not come from technology alone.
It comes from aligning systems, processes, and people in a way that actually works in the real world.
