The VAR Guy

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.

Talk about smart product placement. Sun Microsystems has donated a few dozen Sun Ray 270 thin clients for attendees to use at a major Avnet partner conference in Colorado Springs. The VAR Guy took one of the thin clients for a spin this morning. Not bad.

Seinfeld succeeded with a show about nothing. Now, Avaya wants to reward VARs with a partner program about nothing (well, almost nothing). Confused? Don’t be. Avaya has an intriguing program that pays “sales influencers” a 5 percent commission even if they don’t actually sell Avaya products. Here’s how it works.

Sun Microsystems is falling for CNBC’s Jim Cramer. During a conference in Colorado Springs today, Sun noted that the press is beginning to write positive stories about the company. So, where’s all that positive coverage? A glowing cover story in Fortune? Nope. A nice interview in BusinessWeek? Not quite. Instead, Sun points to Jim Cramer’s blog. So much for old media, folks.

After spending recent years opening up its software and embracing x86 hardware, Sun executives say the company is back. The VAR Guy remains skeptical, but here are five reasons why the company could attract stronger interest from partners and customers.

After several flight delays, The VAR Guy has finally arrived in Colorado Springs for a conference hosted by Avnet. Key companies here include Sun Microsystems, Symantec and Avaya. But before we get to the work at hand, check out the view from The VAR Guy’s room at the Broadmoor. Sweet. Too bad The VAR Guy doesn’t golf. Lots of event coverage to follow later today.