The VAR Guy

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…

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.