The VAR Guy

It’s a question we get asked all the time: Who is the VAR Guy? Unfortunately, we don’t have a firm answer for you. The true identity of our blogger does, indeed, remain a mystery to even our staff.

The iPhone isn’t a business device. The iPhone isn’t for business applications. Hogwash. The VAR Guy NEVER believed all of those crazy statements from tech pundits. He has long suspected that Cisco Systems and other companies would find ways to write unified applications for the iPhone. Today, Apple finally bowed to demand and announced a software development kit for the iPhone. The move paves the way for the iPhone to increasingly support business applications.

The folks at Cognos, one of the leading providers of business intelligence software, are in a curious position. Cognos’s rivals are getting acquired by big players like Oracle and SAP AG. And the software industry as a whole is moving toward software as a service (SaaS) — think Salesforce.com and NetSuite.com. So where does that leave Cognos? The BI software provider has to get a better feel for SaaS, managed services and the channel. Fast. Cognos’s CEO is doing exactly that. Here’s how.

You gotta love financial analysts and tech journalists. They have a way of making brave predictions based on distorted information. A case in point: Fortune is telling readers to “Pick Up Some Dell [Stock] While It’s Down.” The headline ranks among the most misleading statements The VAR Guy has read this year. Here’s why.

Novell has made yet another push into the small business market with a server and desktop suite. It’s a worthwhile effort, but The VAR Guy thinks Novell will need to bundle in more third-party solutions for the suite to gain traction for customers.

Forgive The VAR Guy for hyping the unified communications battle between Cisco and Microsoft. But it’s fun to throw two titans into a ring and let them trade blows — over and over again. This time around, a few stealth Cisco watchers point to the networking giant’s special financing programs for unified communication partners.

Okay, folks. The VAR Guy finally had some time to think about Oracle’s proposed $6.7 billion takeover of BEA Systems. Here are 10 reasons why BEA Systems should say yes to the deal.

The VAR Guy usually yawns when a research report lands in his inbox. Tech industry researchers, after all, mostly want to tell you a market is about to boom — but you’ll need to pay up to get the exclusive data. Still, AMI Partners did catch The VAR Guy’s eye with a new report on Unified Communications in the SMB market. Here’s a quick overview.

Cisco CEO John Chambers says the company eventually intends to pay a dividend. When? Nobody knows for sure. Chambers has always been the king of setting Wall Street’s expectations. Lately he’s very bullish about the unified communications opportunities heading Cisco’s way. Frankly, it would be hard to imagine Cisco paying a dividend in the near future. From where The VAR Guy sits, Cisco would be far wiser to acquire a bunch of small software companies that build out the networking giant’s unified communications strategy. Do what you do best, John: Acquire companies. Skip the dividend.

Ali vs. Frazier. Yankees vs. Red Sox (well, not this year…). Cisco vs. Microsoft. There’s nothing like a showdown between two titans who love to brawl. By now, you know Cisco and Microsoft have high hopes for the unified communications market. In fact, Microsoft will finally launch its unified products next week. But Cisco won’t be standing still.