Over the past decade, I’ve had the benefit of managing (or at the very least, occupying a front-row seat to) more than 100 marketing automation implementations for B2B software companies. Those implementations have included HubSpot, Eloqua, Pardot, Marketo, and everything in between, going all the way back to Vtrenz (before it was acquired by Silverpop). At this point, it’s safe to say I’ve seen and learned my fair share along the way. I’ve seen what makes implementations successful, and I’ve seen what causes them to fail. 

Blackhawk Network announced the completion of its acquisition of Achievers Corp. in a press release today. Blackhawk Network CFO Jerry Ulrich commented, "The purchase price of $110 million equates to approximately two times Achievers' calendar 2014 adjusted operating revenues."

Earlier this week, I tried to make sense of just what the hell happened with the ADP and Zenefits kerfuffle. On the surface, the primary issue is about security and employee data privacy. This is a big issue, but when you step back, there are a number of lessons for HR technology customers and vendors alike to learn from this feud.