The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy spent September 12 in Dublin, Ireland, locked away with Cisco Systems at the Guinness Brewery. And yes, he actually got some work done. Here are eight key takeaways from the event.

Cisco is launching an Industry Solutions Partner Network (ISPN), but don’t believe everything you read about the social network. For the next few weeks, many editors will likely compare ISPN to rival online systems that allow VARs to work with VARs. In reality, ISPN has a far more strategic mission. Hint: It involves Microsoft.

The VAR Guy loved Michael Jackon’s old Moonwalk. The red leather jacket. The white glove. The dance move no mortal could emulate. Ah, forgive the flashback to the 1980s. The VAR Guy couldn’t resist bringing up the King of Pop when he heard about Moonwalk Inc., an Australian software developer that’s bolstering its U.S. channel presence.

Cisco Systems is continuing its talent initiative to help VARs attract and develop talent, according to Celia Harper-Guerra, senior director for worldwide channels at Cisco. Here’s some background.

Cisco Systems plans to roll out a worldwide managed services program in October, according to Keith Goodwin, the company’s worldwide channel chief. Goodwin made the statement during a press briefing in Dublin, Ireland, today.

How do you invest in multiple areas and grow profitably? That was the key question raised by Cisco Channel Chief Keith Goodwin during a session with press today in Dublin, Ireland.

So, Cisco is interested in Social Networks … as well as virtual conversations. The company will make at least one announcement in those areas later today. In the meantime, check out the Virtual Trade Show video clip in this New York Times article. It gives you a hint where Cisco is heading next.

The VAR Guy is shocked and impressed. During several meetings with Cisco over the past year, the company made little — if any — mention of open source. But the company is finally waking up to the open source community, or at least the software community.

During an ongoing press meeting in Dublin, Ireland, Edison Peres, VP for advanced and core technologies at Cisco Systems, said the company is tracking 50 key trends that may empower solutions providers.

During a chat with press here in Dublin, Ireland, Cisco’s Edison Peres indicated that the company would announce the Cisco Industry Solutions Partner Network later today. Sounds a bit like a social network where Cisco partners will be able to work with one another. Still, that’s only a guess from The VAR Guy. Stay tuned for more details later today.

In a private conversation with a small group of journalists at the Partner Engage conference here at the Del Coronado Hotel near San Diego, Symantec CEO John Thompson responded to a range of questions about the company’s services plans and competition. He talked extensively about the former, but dodged questions about the latter–with one exception.

The VAR Guy just watched the big opening event at Symantec’s partner conference in San Diego, Calif. Impressive. Now it’s time to catch a cab to the Guinness brewery in Dublin, Ireland, for a Cisco partner reception. Hmmm. Blogging live from two continents on the same day? Sounds like The VAR Guy has already sipped a few too many pints of Guinness. Updates to follow.

Sure, true fanatics are familiar with Asterisk — the open source IP telephony platform. But there are some clear signs that Asterisk is pushing beyond the open source crowd and gaining momentum within small and midsize businesses. Here are several announcements and events The VAR Guy is tracking. He thinks it’s time for solutions providers to jump in.

Over 300 Symantec partners filed into the Grand Ballroom of the Del Coronado Hotel near San Diego, to the sound of “California Dreaming” piped over the sound system. (The VAR Guy would only date himself if he said he remembered when the song was first released. At least he outlived most of that band.) Nice start to the big Symantec partner event. Now let’s get down to the details.

You might recall that I’ve got both a MacBook Pro (running Mac OS) and a Dell PC (running Ubuntu). I’m in the market for another PC, and just received a friendly reminder from the PR folks at Parallels — the company that makes virtualization software for Mac hardware. One of my PR sources at Parallels tells me that the company has sold 650,000 licenses for the virtualization software over the past year. And as I work at trade shows and conferences, I can’t help but notice all the Mac users who leverage Parallels for Windows and Linux virtualization.As I weigh my next PC purchase, I’m leaning toward an iMac for my kids — though the Dell/Ubuntu system will remain my personal productivity PC at home. Will Ubuntu also land on my forthcoming iMac? Not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I actually make the iMac purchase and get the new system home.

While everyone keeps hyping Web 2.0 technologies, The VAR Guy thinks Symantec 3.0 will debut today at a partner conference in San Diego. But don’t go looking for an official “3.0″ announcement from the storage and security company. The VAR Guy — rather than Symantec itself — is using the 3.0 moniker to describe the current state of Symantec. Here’s why.

As you may have read, The VAR Guy is mulling another PC purchase. He’s trying to decide between an iMac and a Dell PC running Ubuntu. Yes, he knows about Parallels — the virtualization software that allows Macs to run Mac OS, Windows and Linux on the same system. But he had no idea how popular Parallels had become.

Here’s an interesting post from PCMechanic, describing how to easily install Ubuntu. But I’ve got to be honest: Ease-of-install isn’t going to make-or-break Ubuntu. We need to see Dell and other PC vendors start to put a few marketing dollars behind Ubuntu, promoting the fact that you can get systems with Ubuntu pre-installed. Dell’s decision to pre-install Ubuntu was the tipping point that made me leave Windows.

It will be at least another year or two before some MSP platform providers attempt to launch initial public offerings, The VAR Guy predicts. But private investors continue to show strong faith in the MSP model. One prime example: Autotask has quietly received another round of funding, our resident blogger hears.

The VAR Guy loves a good rumor, and constantly listens to the grape vine. Most of the best pieces of info tend to hit his New York inbox around midnight. One of the latest involves Synnex bolstering its VAR marketing programs and potentially launching a VAR partner community. Hmmm. Sounds like the perfect place for The VAR Guy to hang out… assuming he gets invited.

This is a bit of a shameless plug, but I wanted to spread the word: I’m hosting a Webcast on Thursday, September 6, that will feature guest speakers from a range of technology backgrounds. One of the speakers is Gerry Carr, a marketing manager from Canonical. Instead of giving a sales pitch, Gerry will describe key trends he’s witnessing with desktop Linux, and the emergence of Ubuntu as a potential solution for VARs and resellers.

What’s the fastest way to learn about one new Ubuntu application every day? Check out The Daily Ubuntu blog. It’s a nifty blog highlighting at least one Ubuntu/Linux application each day. It’s a fast way to quickly get up to speed on your Ubuntu application options. And screen shots give you a quick idea of the “look and feel” you can expect from the applications.

Sure, Dell Inc. sells desktop and mobile PCs with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. But will the company actually advertise those systems? Such a move would stun Microsoft Corp., which had expected 2007 to be the year of Windows Vista. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that Dell is taking a look at a potential Ubuntu ad campaign.