Rux Shares Why A Fresh Brand, Product Roadmap, And Smart Event Strategy Matter For ISVs

Well, welcome to this episode of ISV Talks. I'm Carol Livingston, the owner of Dynamics Connections and your host of ISV Talks. And we're doing the Summit edition at Community Summit here. And I have Natalie from Rux.

Welcome, Natalie. Thanks so much for having me, Carol. Well, thank you. You just kind of walked up and it worked out that you had a few minutes.

So I appreciate you taking the time. First, just introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about your company, and maybe how many times you've been to Summit. Sure. I'll maybe go in reverse order.

Okay. I think this is my fourth summit officially. And Ruck Software is a business that was formed through the creation of two different organizations. So in January of this year, we purchased open door technology and brought the rentals and service products into the fold.

Malcolm Roach was able to retire. And then in July of this year, we acquired ERP Connect Consulting. So Ben Cole and his famous BC Toolbox apps. Yeah.

And we're focused on that suite of solutions and making sure that we're being a good partner in the ecosystem and that we've got the right solutions for the folks we're partnered with. Okay, great. Thank you so much. So how many times have you attended Summit?

Four times. Wow. Yesterday we were talking to one of the other sponsors. He's been here every summit since it started.

So wow. Well, what inspired your company to attend Summit this year and be a sponsor? For us, it was really twofold. One is with the launch of the brand in August, it was the perfect time for us to come and make connections, both with the clients that we already have in the ecosystem and the partners we work with, and then folks we haven't met yet.

And that was also the reason that we wanted to go. We're at a 10 by 20 booth. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of space that folks could walk up and see the products. So for us to be able to demo the products on the floor.

Awesome. Yeah. And a lot of people don't know the Rux name. So this is a good opportunity to kind of reintroduce yourselves.

So far, we're in now day three of Community Summit. So what has been the most engaging part of the event? For us, I think we've had a lot of good fortune with folks coming to our booth for different casual conversations. Ben knows so many folks in the channel.

I've been in and out of the channel over the last 10 years. And so between the two of us, there's a lot of folks we know from our past and being able to have real-time connections with folks has been really meaningful. Yeah. So kind of meet old friends and make some new ones.

Exactly. So how does Summit align with your missions and goals and helping you further your goals? Yeah. Our goal right now, especially with the launch of the brand in August, is to really gain momentum and make sure folks know that we're here.

I think it's really important for us to showcase our vertical solutions in the rental and services space and then folks showcase our horizontal apps, the BC Toolbox Solutions, out into the market. Being a relaunched organization means that uh we got to hold up that megaphone and let folks know that we're here. And events like this are the perfect way for us to connect with people in the channel. Perfect.

I'm so glad you're here. So I guess introducing new solutions, you're kind of new in that you've combined some different solutions together into one brand, but is there other new solutions on the roadmap that you're looking to introduce? Yeah, we have two solutions that are in our product development team. The one that I can tell you about is our telematics integration.

That's one of the things that we've heard about from clients. Our solutions manage industrial assets. And so those industrial assets typically have external devices that are tracking the usage and the health of that piece of equipment. And one of the things that we heard our clients ask for was visibility into that information directly in the application, directly in business central, so that when they're looking at a rental agreement or an asset, they can see the health of that piece of equipment real time and see if a service technician needs to be sent out or if there's a risk to their revenue.

So that app is in incubation right now. There will be a release this fall of the integration to Samsara. And then in the spring, we'll have another integration on the market. Yeah.

So are you opening that up for beta clients as well? So are you looking for customers? We are, yes. We've been serving our clients and other folks out in the market, and we've got some terrific customers that have helped provide us with those live use cases.

You know, in building a product, the thing you need is in real life scenarios that helps you see exactly what the need is so that you develop the solution that matches the client need. Yeah. Awesome. That's a great opportunity to try something as an as a client and get an opportunity to craft it to meet your needs too.

Yeah. All right. Well, any memorable, we're on day three. So any memorable conversations or moments or events that you've attended?

So last night was the BC Bash, which Rex was a co-sponsor of, and that was the absolute most fun. It was so much fun to get to spend time with clients and partners. And there's so many of our friends in the ISV channel that were there. And so a little bit remarkable that both Ben and I are up and about taking meetings this morning.

I was there too. It takes a lot to have a big fun party and then wake up the next day and quite an event. Yeah. I think that building that it was held at had a couple stories, and it was really full of fun.

Everybody seemed to have a lot of fun. So it was a great time. Thank you for being a sponsor for that. Absolutely.

So what do you hope the attendees that come to your booth, what do you hope that they walk away with? I think for us this year, our primary goal is that folks have awareness that the BC Toolbox apps are alive and well, that they're a core part of what we're bringing to market. And that for folks that have industrial assets that are part of their revenue production process, think of us. That's our goal.

Okay. So let me let me just kind of turn this a little bit. So you're a sponsor this year. So thank you for being Expo Hall sponsor.

Tell us what advice would you give to other first-time sponsors? So I have attended community summit as a consultant, as a practice lead, and now as an ISB. I think that we've gotten a tremendous amount of value by sitting down weeks ahead of summit and thinking, who are the strategic connections that we want to make? What are the conversations that we most want to have?

And then putting in the work to set those up in advance of the event. And then while you're here looking at the app and seeing who's here and making in real-time connections and setting up incremental conversations, that to me is a great way to maximize the event. Right. There's lots of great organic conversation that happens out on the show floor, but then making sure that you're getting those most meaningful connections adds that extra little bit of value.

Right. Yeah. That's a great idea, great suggestion is kind of plan ahead, make some appointments ahead. I think it's helpful that you do have a booth because then you have kind of a place they can meet up with you and talk to you and see a demo or have that conversation.

Well, just kind of wrapping this up. So thank you for dropping by and joining in the ISV Talk podcast. If you had to describe Summit in one word or one sentence, what would it be and why? Well, I have to go sentence because I don't think I can do one word.

I think one of the things that makes community summit really special is the amount of education, the number of folks that sign up to teach a class to share their knowledge. Carol, you know, I've been in a couple different ecosystems over the last few years. And that's the thing that continues to really impress me about our community is that there's so many seasoned experts that sign up and think, I want to share my knowledge and I'm going to volunteer my time. And those sessions take a long time to prepare for.

It's a big investment. Um that's the thing that just it it really sticks with me is there's so many folks that sign up. There's, you know, hundreds of sessions this week, all geared towards helping folks learn. Yeah.

And and people can come and listen and talk to other community members or attendees. So yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much, Natalie, for dropping by ISV Talks Community Summit Edition. So we appreciate you so much.

And thank you for being a sponsor here at Community Summit. And I look forward to hearing more about your experience. Thanks so much, Carol. All right, thank you.

And we'll see you on the next ISV talk. Thank you.