ISV Talks
ISV Talks
ISV Talks Summit Edition – Rockton Software
Community Summit NA 2025 was a blast. In this ISV Talks Summit Edition, Carol Livingston sits down with Blake and Mark Rockwell from Rockton Software to get their perspective on the event. Mark has attended every Community Summit since its inception, and both guests share what it means to participate as long‑time sponsors within the Dynamics Communities. They discuss the value of showcasing their solutions for Dynamics ERPs and what they hope attendees will take away from their Summit experience.
We talk through the reality of pricing inside manufacturers and distributors: tribal knowledge hidden in a salesperson’s head, fragile spreadsheets, too many price lists, and customizations that break at the worst time. Rockton Pricing Management flips that script with a rules-based system that centralizes logic across Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, Business Central, CRM, and GP. Think tariffs applied in minutes, rebates booked to the right GL segments, layered discounts that reflect real negotiations, and clean audit trails that finance can trust. No more guesswork, no more hunting through Excel. Just consistent outcomes that turn complexity into margin.
What makes this conversation different is how practical it gets. We share the on-the-fly booth demo that ran 45 minutes and answered each curveball with a yes, we can—and then showed how. We dig into how RPM evolves: start with a scripting escape hatch for rare edge cases, then fold proven patterns into the product so upgrades stay smooth. You’ll hear why community matters as much as code—clear messaging at the booth, candid referrals to other ISVs when they’re the better fit, and the kind of trust that speeds decisions faster than any search result.
If you run Dynamics and pricing work eats your week, you’ll leave with a clear path to simplify. Subscribe, share this with your ops or finance lead, and tell us: which pricing rule do you want automated first?
Well, welcome to this episode of ISV Talks. I'm Carol Livingston of ISV Talks and Dynamics Connections. So we're here at Community Summit, and I'm visiting with Mark and Blake from Rock Tend Software. Welcome, guys.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Thank you, Carol.
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah. So I want to ask you about your experience. You guys have been a long time community sponsor and supporter. Thank you for joining me today to share about your experiences here at Summit. So first, give me an introduction of yourselves.
SPEAKER_01:So first off, we're both Rockwells, and that's uh, you may wonder, are we related? And the answer is yes, Blake is my brother. Actually, no, he's my son. And Rockton software comes from a combination of Kelly Sexton, who is my life partner and my business partner as well, along with so we took Sexton and Rockwell, and we combined those together because we thought Rocton was a better name because nobody's looking for accounting software at Sexwell.com. Of course. And of course, we figured that in order to get great developers or great team members, that we decided to grow them because you know it was hard to hire them. So that's why where Blake came along.
SPEAKER_02:It's all in the family, so that's good.
SPEAKER_00:We're all about homegrown solutions.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, right. All right, and Blake, tell me about yourself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, hey, so I'm Blake Rockwell. I'm the little Mark here. And yeah, I've been with Rockton Software for three years now, and I'm the sales guy now. So I'm taking over slowly one bit at a time for Mark here. He's just now on the uh development side of things, and then I'm more customer-facing here.
SPEAKER_02:Well, tell me, so you've been in the business for three years, it sounds like working with Rocten. But how many times have you been at Summit?
SPEAKER_00:My third summit, so three years, and then also in the channel for three years. So yeah, triple three is there for me.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm proud to say that uh Rockden has been at every community summit in its different iterations since 2006. It's initial that was in Redmond. Uh, we were one of the first sponsors, and we've been a sponsor every year since then. And I'm not sure that any other company has. I don't know. They I mean it's been so long. Because that makes us this 20. This is 20 years then this year.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Okay. Every summit we went. Well, what inspired your company to come to Summit this year?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I would say that this is such a great collection of all the the Microsoft dynamics, different platforms. So our products integrate with all of the dynamics product of F and O, CRM, uh, GP, and BC. And so it's nice to have a concentrated effort on the Microsoft platform.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, tell me what your product does. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Tell us what it is. Yeah, absolutely. So we actually transform pricing problems into profit with ease, especially with manufacturing distributors. So we're basically a fancy calculator. You know, you set up your rule system for how you want prices calculated, and we do all the hard work behind the scenes. So you don't actually have to have a full team of price managers. You never have to open Excel. You don't have to have multiple price lists and be updating those and checking those. And when tariffs come, you figure out which items have tariffs. And when your salesperson leaves, you have to redo everything because you don't know what was going on in his head and all that stuff. So we take all of that and we're also handing the implementation of that. So we also do the consulting part. So you tell us what you want to do and we make that into reality.
SPEAKER_01:And that's all done with Rockton Pricing Management. So Rockton Pricing Management is the core focus of what we work on. It integrates with all the uh dynamics platforms. And of course, uh historically, we've been a GP partner for you know 26 years. We've been in business for 26 years, and uh, we still have carry a great legacy of great products on the Dynamics GP. We're here to support that for decades to come. But Rockton Pricing Management is where we're definitely focused now.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so next question. So, what's been the most rewarding part or engagement that you've had with attendees? Question.
SPEAKER_01:I'll go. Yeah, yeah. So it it's fun, one to see old faces. I've been in this community for so many, you know, decades now to catch up with people and just see how their lives are evolving and how we're all turning a little grayer together is is fun to see. But the other is just the delight on people's faces to see, you know, oh, I didn't know that you solved this type of problem. I have this problem, and to see them light up and is very rewarding because you know, we we spend every day of every uh of the year, you know, working on pricing problems. And to it's very rewarding to see people recognize our hard work. It's like, oh, I can actually use that. That's that's super rewarding.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I guess for me, we have some of the greatest members of our community here today. And so you have it's like a meeting of the minds, some of the greatest businesses and business owners, and really everyone you see around that hall is an expert at something. And I don't think you could have a bad conversation with anyone you run into, whether it's a stranger in the drink line or stopping at a booth. There's just so many experts with so much expertise, and there's just a lot out there, and you can't get enough information while you're here. So it's just it's just great to soak it all in.
SPEAKER_01:And one of the funnier things that happened is last night we had the reception, and and a couple came to our to our booth and wanted to know more about Rockton pricing management. And so we we told them, they're like, Well, can you do a demo? And I'm like, well, we're not really set up for that, but I get like maybe tomorrow. And of course, we we have actually learned over the years that doing demos in the booth isn't really valuable. I mean, you can explain what's going on, and people are like, Yeah, show me a demo later. Like, we want to see a demo. So we hauled out the monitor and Blake brought his laptop day. They were in our booth for like 45 minutes today doing this detailed demo. It was crazy. And they're just like, Well, can it do this? I'm like, yeah, we can do this. Let's set it up here. We can do this. Like everything they asked, we're like, Yep, let me show you how I can do that. Well, I'm gonna have to take a few minutes to set that up because I wasn't ready to demo that, but hey, boom, you know, five minutes later, and we're showing them how, yeah, all these rebates and calculations uh track to the general ledger all.
SPEAKER_00:And you can see it in the you can see it in front of their face, and the the gears are turning and you can see it all clicking for them. They're like, wow, like the magic is real. It's really, it really exists. They're not just salesmen, they they actually have a solution to back it up.
SPEAKER_01:And and it's so fun to have every question they ask be answered with yes, we can.
SPEAKER_02:Right, and you can show them, right? Yeah, kind of proof of concept on demand. Wow. Props to you guys for doing that. So, you know, I guess another question a little bit different take is just how does Summit align with your mission and goals and how does that help you fulfill that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, great question. You had a Yeah, I can answer that one. So at Rockton Software, our goal is to help companies work simpler and easier. And I think there is no simpler and easier way than dynamics communities. I mean, when you come here, you have every single ISV, every single partner, everyone in the community is here, all the solutions, and it's in such a digestible format. You can just walk up to a booth and ask them, what do you do? And they're happy to tell you all about it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And, you know, it's a great place to meet and talk to everyone. And if you don't know the answer, there's someone here that can, right? Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the referrals, yeah, it's so many different people have different expertise. And because, like, I've been in the channel a lot, I usually know somebody who knows how to solve that problem or has an answer to that question. And they're like, uh, and we've had people walk into the booth, you know, do you know like document management? I don't do document management. No, but I know four different ISVs do. You want to check out this people, these people, these people, these people, and send them along. And so there's that referral.
SPEAKER_02:Hopefully, they're doing the same for everyone else. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think there's a great that's again part of the community.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Whereas alternative is obviously getting on Google. Everyone's done that and just go, and it's such a it's it's not the same. You want that human-to-human touch. So there's no simpler and easier way, honestly, than actually just getting here and talking to people.
SPEAKER_01:And the people who know me know that I will give them a candid answer about uh everything. About what I think about certain things.
SPEAKER_00:We might even sing you a song if you're like, right.
SPEAKER_02:I know, right. So, what new solutions or innovations are you showcasing in your booth?
SPEAKER_00:Great question. Well, all our focus these days is focused on rocked in pricing management. And so we've got a demo if you want to see that. But basically, what we do at a high level is transform pricing problems into profit with ease. And so, especially manufacturers or distributors, or anyone who has a lot of customers or items, and of course, it's very rare that every customer pays the same price for every item. It's probably different. And so, what we're able to do is take that logic that you've created that's probably very complicated and make it into a digestible, simple, easy solution to manage, and so that all that's automated. And now you don't have to have a team of pricers, you don't have to be in Excel, you don't have to use price sheets and price lists in BC. You just use our system and you have us, our team of experts, who actually handle the implementation too. You just tell us what you want to do, and we turn that magic into reality. And so you are hands-off, we are gonna be your pricing, the the truth of your pricing for as long as your company's in business.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and one of the one of the cool parts about evolving this, we Rockton Pricing Management has been in. I actually looked it up, I didn't realize it's five or six years old now, is that we keep innovating as we have with all of the products that we've had over the last time.
SPEAKER_02:There's new business issues like tariffs, for example.
SPEAKER_01:Like when tariffs came up, it's like, yeah, we handle tariffs like that. We our product was ready to go. As soon as you have a tariff problem, boom, we're able within two minutes, you can set up a calculation that handles your tariffs with specific items as you want to go.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:One of the other things that we built into our product was a custom SQL scripting capability. So if somebody comes along and has a really complex business problem, in about an hour's time, we can script that and still make that work with the core product. And then what we do over time is we take that complex problem or this weird thing that, because people come up with some weird pricing stuff. But what we do is we figure out how to build that into the product so that it can be handled through the front end, and then we eliminate that custom script versus customizing your whole entire pricing system. Really, really bad idea. So we're constantly evolving things like that. And then little things like we recently entered a GL recoder. So if you're booking a rebate to certain to certain GL accounts, if the item changes, you can change like a segment of the actual GL code based on the item or based on the customer and other information. So it can get really super detailed. Little things like that really be a pro make a profound difference in what people are doing with their pricing problems.
SPEAKER_02:So it sounds like a lot of the innovation actually comes from solving customers' problems.
SPEAKER_00:Yesterday's problems are tomorrow's solutions. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Great. So while you've been at Summit, any memorable conversations? I know you talk, I kind of already talked about the hour-long demo that you guys already had.
SPEAKER_01:Uh actually, the well, the ones I remember most are just are actually catching up with friends.
SPEAKER_02:Like we're at in live chat. Yeah, it really is.
SPEAKER_01:And like, you know, the the kids have grown and you know, different things are happening. Those have been really fun. But the the memorable ones, of course, are the aha moments of like, oh, I didn't know your product did that. That is amazing. And the which is also really kind of this difficult thing to manage because we've been in the channel for 26 years. Everybody knows Rockton software is the GP people that solve GP problems. And now we have Rockton pricing management. And so, and this happens with pretty much all it's a common thing with ISVs, is that the the community thinks that you do just this one thing. It's like, no, we innovate, we all do. And so taking another look at these ISVs and just saying, what do you got that's new? Because everybody has something's new because every business is constantly creating new stuff. So don't take these old timers that have been around a long time at you know, for for just being stuck in this one little thing. Almost every actually, every ISP I've run into has always got something new going on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. That's a really good thing for people that have been here several times, maybe go back, revisit. Hey, what's new? Tell me what's what what's coming in the product, what's what's new? Show it to me. So great advice. What do you hope that attendees will walk away when they come to your booth?
SPEAKER_00:What do I want them to walk away with? For me, I just want them to walk away knowing that a solution exists. I think Rockton Pricing Management is really unique in that it solves a problem that a lot of companies have, that there isn't a true solution from besides customizing. And a lot of people are customizing the same thing. And then the customization is hard to maintain and it just doesn't make sense. And so to know that there's an solution that we will implement and make work for you, that you don't have to do that custom code, as long as they know that we exist, I'm happy because I think that there might be another way that you can get around it or do something else or simplify things, sure. But a lot of people just don't know we exist and they think what they want to do isn't possible. And so just to know that the impossible is possible, you just need rocked in pricing management. And let me show you how it's done. And just to see the expression on people's face when they realize everything's like, wow, that that why have I been spending a hundred hours in Excel every week when I could have spent five minutes making one calculation in Rockton Pricing Management, hit save, there is a possibility beyond what you're doing today.
SPEAKER_01:And what I think is fun is taking that to the next level is that there are a ton of ISV products out there. Is that any problem that you have, if you tell me what it is, I can tell you one of the ISVs can solve it. There it's very rare to have run into run into a problem that an ISV hasn't solved.
SPEAKER_02:It's kind of a win if you can help them solve a problem, and even if it's not your solution. Absolutely. It's still it's still a happy moment, definitely. Just what kind of circling back to the experience. So if you recommended something to a first-time sponsor or ISV or partner that's gonna attend here, what what would you recommend? Yeah, Mark's been doing it since the beginning, so he's he knows.
SPEAKER_01:I got a real passionate pet peeve of mine. Uh I walk around the trade show floor every year, and I'm surprised it's still it's a roughly 50% of the of the boost. Do not tell you what they do. In one sentence, we do this, and there's generic things like we solve business problems. What does that even mean? Yeah, or or you know, uh, there's one out there on the floor, something along the lines of we're your new partner. In what? In what? Like marriage, you know? Are you a marriage partner? Marriage partner, are we talking about? Yeah, exactly. Like, what kind of partner are you? And so just that simple statement of on you on your backdrop, I should say, what do we do in the general concept so that people can decide do I need to stop or not stop? I think that's that's really important. And then the second thing is to have an engaging way to interact. And we've we have something new, we've tried lots of things over the years. We we have been back in the convergence days. If anybody remembers convergence, we've dressed up in like Ellis Presley, we've dressed up like prisoners.
SPEAKER_02:Gilligan's Island based in Gilligan's, I remember.
SPEAKER_01:Vikings, yeah, we've done all the all those fun things. Uh so that's been engaging. But and then this year we brought in a money cash machine. It's like a booth or a plexiglass box that has cash flowing through it in the air. You reach your hand and you try to grab money. It's just it's engaging and fun. That's fun.
SPEAKER_02:So, kind of, I guess, kind of wrapping it up, guys. You know, if you had to describe Summit experience and maybe one sentence or word, what would that be and why?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think for me, transformative. I think it is so cool to come here and see all of the people, all the faces, all the business. There is just so there's so much expertise here, and just to see all the support that is behind these Microsoft products that day in and day out your business rely on.
SPEAKER_01:Mark? My word would be invigorated. I I am invigorated to see old friends, of course, and to see the new faces of people who are looking for solutions. And of course, that it's it's rewarding to see that yes, we solve your problems. That's that's just a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Making connections and reconnecting with absolutely old friends. Well, thank you guys for joining our episode of ISV Talks at Summit. And we'll see you friends on the next episode. Bye bye.