The VAR Guy

Just spotted this interview with Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth, who spoke with Lifehacker.com about Ubuntu’s productivity benefits. Shuttleworth notes that he’s already running Gutsy Gibbon, the next version of Ubuntu slated to be released in October. He also praises Thunderbird, the email system. I’m still on an email client who’s name I’d rather not mention. Might be time to make the move to Thunderbird.

Microsoft has finally confirmed plans for the first Windows Vista Service Pack in 1Q 2008. That’s nice. But The VAR Guy isn’t going to take the Vista bait anytime soon. Here’s why.

It’s still a niche technology, but The VAR Guy expects TelePresence to generate healthy margins for years to come. A few dozen U.S. VARs already specialize in TelePresence — the next-generation video conferencing technology — but more VARs will likely take the plunge as more vendors focus on the market. A case in point: A TelePresence showdown between Hewlett-Packard and Cisco appears to be looming.

Well, yet another company (Hewlett-Packard) is rallying around the “2.0″ brand. HP today launched a massive “Print 2.0″ marketing campaign. Seems like everybody wants a piece of the 2.0 action — Cisco insiders are chatting about Wireless Mesh 2.0; Autotask’s CEO is evangelizing Managed Services 2.0. And there’s more to come…

I’m as guilty as the next guy of creating Top 10 Lists just to grab a few eyeballs on the Web. But the following list, highlighting 10 reasons Ubuntu beats Windows Vista, seems like a stretch in some areas. What’s your reaction.

The next release of Ubuntu, code-named Gutsy Gibbon, is expected to be released in October. What will it include? Here’s a look at the latest details, from the UK’s Inquirer.

Bummer. An Ubuntu Developer Summit is scheduled for Oct. 27 thru Nov. 2 in Cambridge, Mass. I’ll be tied up at a small business summit in Florida that week. But I’ll be sure to cover the Ubuntu event from afar. Here’s more info for those who want to attend the developer summit.

As we’ve reported, Canonical is working with Intel on a mobile version of Ubuntu. You can expect it to land on tablets and other mobile devices. Care to learn more? Here’s a timely interview with Canonical’s CTO.

Ok, this blog entry isn’t about Ubuntu. But it does focus on revenue opportunities in the open source market. Sure, Red Hat is the rare open source company that has launched a successful IPO and generated healthy profits. But at least two other open source software companies are on my radar for eventual IPOs.

In the shortest phone briefing ever, Ingram Micro just spent about five minutes telling The VAR Guy about a new leasing program. The program should allow solutions providers to more easily offer hardware as a service (HaaS) to their customers.

Avnet is speaking The VAR Guy’s language. The distributor has launched a blog for Hewlett-Packard partners. The blog, apparently in beta mode, could provide a quick, easy way for Avnet to interact more closely with HP VARs. Curious? You can find the blog here.

OK, folks. The VAR Guy has been spending a ton of time writing about SugarCRM, the open source application provider. And for good reason: Annual revenue will hit $15 million this year, cash flow is now positive and company insiders are focused on a longer-term plan, The VAR Guy hears.

The VAR Guy blogged about Cisco Systems’ secret rival back in November 2006. Nearly a year later, that not-so-secret rival is growing up fast.

The VAR Guy hears Acer plans to acquire Gateway. Hmmm. Acer enjoys considerable momentum worldwide, but Gateway hasn’t been a channel force since … um…

Boy, sometimes The VAR Guy is ahead of his time. During a conference in Colorado Springs earlier this week, The VAR Guy asked Sun officials when the company was going to dump its current ticker symbol (“SUNW”). Workstations (the “W”) haven’t been Sun’s primary focus for more than a decade. The VAR Guy figured a change was in order. How right he was. Sun today announced plans to change its stock symbol to “JAVA” on August 27. Smart move. Or was it?

It’s nice to partner with one rich uncle. But two rich uncles? OnForce pulled off that rare feat this week, launching a new learning and certification initiative with Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. The effort will initially focus on Windows Vista and small business solutions.

Still skeptical about Dell’s commitment to the channel? Well, now you’ll have the opportunity to hear directly from Dell’s channel chief — Greg Davis, VP, Americas Channel Business. Davis is scheduled to speak at a channel event in Chicago this September.

The VAR Guy spent August 22 and 23 in Colorado Springs at the Avnet New Frontiers conference. He wasn’t alone. Roughly 250 Sun partners converged on the event to discuss key opportunities across several vertical markets. So, what are Avnet Technology Solutions’ key messages to Sun partners? Here’s a look.

Ever hear of Angry Trout? Neither had The VAR Guy until last night. While dining with Avnet representatives and members of the media in Colorado Springs, The VAR Guy spotted Angry Trout on the menu. It sounded interesting … but dangerous. The VAR Guy was curious but he wasn’t ready to bite. So he dared an International Data Corp. analyst to give it a try…

Profitable growth. Those two words sum up Sun Microsystems’ goals for the next two years. The company — which recently began its fiscal year 2008 — is striving to more than double its Americas channel sales to $7 billion by 2010, according to Tom Wagner, VP for partner sales, Americas at Sun.

The VAR Guy has spent considerable time discussing voice-over-IP this week during conferences in New York and Colorado Springs. Here are five key moves VoIP solution providers need to make, based on separate chats with executives from Avnet, SugarCRM and Sun Microsystems, among other companies.

I’m out in Colorado Springs this week for an Avnet/Sun Microsystems partner conference. Although I’m blogging away from my MacBook Pro, I was pleased to see dozens of attendees using Sun Ray 270 thin clients. Sun donated the systems for the event’s cyber cafe. Each thin client includes the Thunderbird e-mail client, StarOffice 8 and Firefox. Sun would be wise to show these thin clients — and their open source components — at additional events across the country. Most users don’t even realize they’re on a thin client rather than a PC.