The VAR Guy

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.

The SugarCRM summit in Manhattan continues to deliver surprises. The latest example: A major integrator and distributor from Moscow is attending, seeking potential solutions in the CRM space.

The VAR Guy is heading to Colorado later today, attending an Avnet conference for Sun Microsystems partners. It should be a lively event. Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz has stabilized the company. And his focus on open source applications for Solaris has impressed The VAR Guy.

This may be the most shameless blog post The VAR Guy has ever submitted. In fact, he didn’t even write it. He lifted the words directly from someone who’s attending Cisco’s Global Sales Meeting in Las Vegas.

Google vs. Microsoft is always a fun topic. Throw in open source software and Sun Microsystems, and the discussion gets even more fun. Apparently, Google is quietly offering Sun’s StarOffice to customers. That’s suite … er, sweet! StarOffice, the big brother to OpenOffice, will certainly benefit from the Google exposure. And in my experience, OpenOffice is a great, free, reliable replacement for about 95 percent of all Microsoft Office users.

Cisco CEO John Chambers and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plan to participate in a chat session with Charlie Rose on August 20, The VAR Guy hears. Hmmm. So what’s the upshot?

You know about the iPhone. You know it has integrated WiFi. But Apple’s wireless work doesn’t end there. In fact, a different Apple device could help legitimize migrations to the next generation WiFi standard, dubbed 802.11n.

VARs working with VARs to serve more customers. That’s a compelling concept. And everybody from OnForce to Ingram Micro has introduced market places to develop so-called partner ecosystems. Now Avnet Technology Solutions is joining the party, with a new managed ecosystem called OneTech Connect.

The VAR Guy loves lists. And he loves to invest (pennies at a time…). During this time of need — when financial markets are worried about the US housing market — The VAR Guy is ready to show you his secret list of 10 can’t-miss stock investments. Take a look.

In some areas of the world, Hewlett-Packard is winning business selling custom PCs with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. But now, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth is on record stating that HP and Canonical are not — I repeat, not — discussing any deals to preinstall Ubuntu on HP systems. Bummer.

Ah, at last: The VAR Guy is impressed with a Novell acquisition. Sure, our resident blogger has been hard on Novell in recent years. But Novell deserves some kudos for acquiring a small — but strategic — maker of endpoint security solutions. Here’s why.

Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian is calling for a standardized way to develop Linux applications across multiple distributions (Novell, Red Hat, etc.). Hmmm. Hovsepian’s motivations are easy to understand — Novell badly trails Red Hat when it comes to Linux application support. But will anybody answer his call for help?

The following is either an expensive publicity stunt or a true vote of confidence in Nortel Networks’ rebound. Company CEO Mike Zafirovski purchased about $1 million worth of Nortel stock on the open market earlier this week, according to Reuters. So why is he so bullish on the company? Read on.

It’s decision time again. The VAR Guy has a MacBook Pro at work and a Dell PC running Ubuntu Linux at home. He loves both systems. But now he needs another home computer for his family. Which platform will he choose? The answer just presented itself…

Greetings from Massachusetts. I’m at a staff conference but noticed some big developments for desktop Linux this week.

Still skeptical about the managed services market? Sure, the transition from reseller to MSP can be difficult. But a look at Kaseya’s recent momentum suggests that plenty of VARs are making the move.

At last, the mystery is over. A Forbes editor, responding to inquiries from The New York Times, confirms he’s the mystery blogger behind the wildly popular Fake Steve Jobs web site. Fortunately, The VAR Guy’s identity remains a mystery — mostly because he can’t match the web traffic and appeal of the Fake Steve Jobs (as well as the real one).

The VAR Guy has a confession. He owns a few shares of Dell stock. Total value: less than $3,500. So maybe he’s biased. Maybe he’s rooting for a turnaround at Dell. With those facts now known, here’s another key disclosure from The VAR Guy: He’s tired of reading the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) other channel publications are spreading about Dell.

SAS Institute has a new channel chief and is pushing back the date for the company’s Alliance Summit, which had been tentatively scheduled for August. Update: The date change was not related to the recent departure of former channel chief Miles Mahoney, according to a SAS spokeswoman.