The VAR Guy

If you have any doubt about Apple’s continued momentum, check out the company’s unit Mac sales for May — which jumped more than 50 percent. Somebody call Mel Brooks. Apple’s momentum has accelerated passed Ludicrous speed. Steve Jobs has gone to Plaid. Here’s why.

On June 25 at 2pm eastern, our sister site will host our next MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange Webcast. Unlike traditional Webcasts, we typically answer dozens of attendee questions throughout the event. Our goal is to interact with managed service providers, and address your most pressing questions.

New Cisco Systems Chief Technology Officer Padmasree Warrior is preparing to take center stage at Cisco Live, a massive customer event that starts June 22 in Orlando, Fla. This is the first time Warrior will grab the spotlight at a big Cisco event. Here’s what to expect, along with five key anticipated trends at the conference.

The single most important success factor for entrepreneurs is choosing the right business. Many entrepreneurs make their choice based on what they have done successfully in the past or what they are naturally good at. Those are important considerations but there’s one thing that’s much more critical.

An old friend sent The VAR Guy a rather interesting YouTube link today (see above). In it, Google describes its software as a service (SaaS) strategy to VARs, IT consultants and managed service providers. Yes, folks. There’s a channel play for Google Apps. Here’s a look at the video. And a big thank you to Virus Woman for sending along the link.

The VAR Guy has a headache. He was just getting used to the shift from gigabytes to terabytes … and now Cisco Systems is talking about zettabytes (otherwise known as 1,000 exabytes). So, what exactly is a zettabyte? And can The VAR Guy get that on his thumb drive? Here are some answers…

The VAR Guy is trying his best to attend both OSCON (July 21-25, Portland, Oregon) and LinuxWorld Expo (August 4-7, San Francisco). In particular, he wants to learn more about the emerging Ubuntu Linux community. But if he only had the time and money to attend one of the events, which should it be?

The VAR Guy’s heart has a soft spot for dead companies. During the 1990s, he covered dozens of high-tech firms that died and/or had their organs donated to other needy tech companies. But here’s the one former company he misses most.

Pardon me for briefly interrupting The VAR Guy. I hope you’ll join me at 2pm eastern today (Thursday, June 12) for MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange. When we began planning this managed services webcast, we made a conscious decision to avoid vendor hype and product pitches. Instead, we’re going to explore how you can maximize your managed services revenue — without necessarily adding headcount to your company.

There’s nothing like a good, fake cuss word to get you through the day — and help you avoid censorship. Battlestar Galactic had “Frak.” But The VAR Guy prefers his own, home-grown cuss: Frag. It’s inspired by Diskeeper Corp. Here’s why.

In a single day, legacy channel publication Computer Reseller News posted two glowing stories about Dell’s progress in the laptop and government markets, respectively. Has hell frozen over? Is Dell that hot — or has CRN finally put the deep freeze on all the negative Dell coverage?

Okay, the headline is a bit over the top. But fans of The VAR Guy have come to expect some pumped-up drama on this site. So here we go. A few days ago, The VAR Guy openly wondered if Novell (based in Waltham, Mass.) would have any marketing surprises in store for Red Hat Summit, which runs June 18-20 in Boston. Well, The VAR Guy finally has some answers.

There’s still time to register for MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange, scheduled for this Thursday, June 12 at 2pm eastern. During the interactive Webcast, hosted by The VAR Guy’s sister site, you’ll have the chance to ask top managed service provider CEOs your most pressing questions.

When Red Hat kicks off its big customer summit June 18 in Boston, the open source giant will bring along a rather large — and surprising — date: Cisco Systems Inc. Why does Cisco plan to hang out at one of the open source industry’s largest events? The VAR Guy has a few hunches.

Imagine if the Los Angeles Lakers held a fan rally in Boston, right in the Celtics’ back yard. That’s the situation facing the open source industry, where the Red Hat Summit starts June 18 right in Boston — roughly 15 miles from Novell’s corporate headquarters. So, should Novell defend its home turf and march on Red Hat’s parade? The VAR Guy certainly would. Here’s how.

Regardless of when oil hits the $200 per barrel figure, it is time to start preparing for the realities of the energy crunch. As such, solutions providers and information technology departments must start preparing to support remote workers.

According to Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, the company has been approached “by a number of OEM’s who want to sell netbooks (small, low-cost laptops with an emphasis on the web) based on Ubuntu.” That’s impressive. Here’s some more analysis on of the news.

The VAR Guy likes simple messages that cut right to the point. So when Trend Micro launched its new “Worry-Free” security software brand, he was intrigued. What exactly is Worry-Free, and what does it mean to solutions providers? Here are some thoughts from our resident blogger.

Apple has found an intriguing way to train thousands of kids on Macintoshes this summer. The strategy involves free “camps” hosted at Apple Stores across the country. Thousands of kids — including The VAR Guy’s own sons — are signing up. Here’s why.

Canonical has finally “branded” its Internet-centric device strategy for Ubuntu. The company says “Ubuntu Netbook Remix” devices will emerge as affordable, power-efficient, small screen devices driven by Intel’s Atom processor. But which PC companies and device makers will back Ubuntu on netbooks? Here are some thoughts, plus four key questions facing Canonical’s netbook strategy.

In our “winner take all” society, The VAR Guy is starting to wonder: Can open source companies like Concursive, Compiere and EnterpriseDB ever escape from the shadows of their larger and more successful rivals (SugarCRM and MySQL)? Before you answer, consider these lessons.

It’s far too early to press the panic button. But anecdotal evidence is mounting that Canonical’s server push hasn’t gained much momentum.

Sometimes, software companies make The VAR Guy’s job too easy. Symantec, for instance, sent across this point-by-point list of apparent improvements that the company has made to its Opportunity Registration program for VARs.