CompTIA Breakaway, held in Orlando, Florida, this week, was a successful conference for hundreds of VARs and managed service providers. Foolishly, open source companies that need channel strategies skipped the show. Here’s why The VAR Guy was alarmed.
In recent weeks, The VAR Guy has highlighted the convergence of open source with the IT channel. Red Hat now drives roughly $330 million in annual sales through the channel, our resident blogger estimates. And there are at least eight obvious ways for VARs to profit from Linux and open source.
Meanwhile, CompTIA Breakaway was filled with start-up companies, established midsized firms and even large IT vendors targeting the channel. Cisco Systems and Dell, for instance, were two welcome additions to the event this year.
Now for the problem. The open source industry generally ignored the event. That was a foolish move. More than 1,200 people — mostly VARs and managed service providers — registered to attend CompTIA Breakaway, The VAR Guy hears.
Open source companies will need to reach that audience if they intend to drive sales higher.
Tags: CompTIA Breakaway Orlando 2008 | managed service providers | MSP | Novell SuSE Linux | Open Source | Red Hat Linux
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Wow, totally shocked especially since Microsoft is blowing their tires and have a limited spare with their online solution as well.
The Penguin missed the boat by the sounds of things.
Stuart R. Crawford
Calgary, AB
http://www.stuartcrawford.com
CompTIA is an aggressive Microsoft lobbying arm. it hardly matter what it sayd about FOSS.
Roy: Not entirely true, notes The VAR Guy. CompTIA and MSFT work closely together. But remember — industry associations like CompTIA are going to evolve to where ever their members want to go. Novell, for instance, has done some great work with CompTIA. So too should Red Hat, SugarCRM, etc.
Okay, other than the two typos (”matters what it says”), I probably ought to less impulsively back this with examples. Firstly, Microsoft funds CompTIA, which then participated in the abuse of ISO and push for OOXML. Van Der Beld now lobbies at CompTIA for Microsoft’s interests and he used to be at ECMA where he did the same thing (on Microsoft’s payroll pretty much). CompTIA did a lot more for OOXML, it attacked Stallman, attacked the GPL, and did so many other things over the years. It even praised Internet Explorer, believe it or not…
COmpTIA is money driven. Microsoft feeds it. The same goes for ACT.
CompTIA has actively lobbied against OpenSource in the past few years.
They have had nothing good to say about Open Source.
http://news.cnet.com/CompTIA-IE-voted-most-influential-tech-product/2100-1032_3-6199876.html
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FOSS_Open_Standards/Annexure
They have consistently spewed Microsoft talking points and propaganda and are in lock step with Microsoft’s positions in the marketplace.
Roy: CompTIA also puts out the Linux+ certification, which is very necessary for many it jobs in OSS/heterogenous IT jobs. By open source representatives not showing up, they tend to lose the voice to push how this certification should be handled and what it should cover.
Roy: CompTIA giving Internet Explorer a big award (yes, The VAR Guy recalls that) was pretty lame. However, do you honestly think CompTIA would block Red Hat, MySQL, SugarCRM, Novell, Canonical and other companies from sponsoring the conference?
In this case, it’s far more likely that open source software companies don’t yet understand that they need to market to VARs and integrators at big, successful events like Breakaway.
My, my, The VAR GUY really cares about CompTIA. I can’t recall seeing such a high ratio of the number of messages from the original author and
his commenters. Or is it the flagging fortunes of Microsoft that he cares
about? To those of us in the peanut gallery, we should remember that
CompTIA is a bought-off front group for Microsoft, a company unrepentant
in its unrestrained amorality and avarice. Don’t be fooled, that leopard
will never really change its spots. The FOSS people are responding
appropriately: Ignore Microsoft, CompTIA, and their fellow travelers
whenever possible. When it isn’t possible, respond with the truth.
Torpedo8: Sounds like you don’t follow The VAR Guy much. He runs Mac OS X and Ubuntu Linux, and he’s heading home right now from LinuxWorld Expo San Francisco. Does that sound like a blogger who cares about Microsoft’s fortunes?
Rather, The VAR Guy cares about a major disconnect between FOSS companies and the IT channel. Oh, and he also cares enough to respond frequently to reader comments posted on this site.
Var Guy, I’ve put together some interesting recent readings for you. I hope it helps.
Embrace the Reality and Logic of Choice
,—-[ Quote ]
| Another neo-colonialist press release from Microsoft’s CompTIA lobbying arm,
| this time inveighing against South Africa’s adoption of ODF as a national
| standard. One way to point out the absurdity of their logic is to replace the
| reference to ODF with references to any other useful standard that a
| government might adopt, like electrical standards.
`—-
http://www.robweir.com/blog/2008/04/embrace-reality-and-logic-of-choice.html
Multiple Standards according to ECMA
,—-[ Quote ]
| On a Microsoft event in Portugal, called TechDays 2008, ex-ECMA and now
| CompTIA (Microsoft lobbyst group) member, Jan van den Beld explains how
| multiple standards come to be on ECMA
|
| […]
|
| What does Jan van den Beld - former Secretary General of ECMA - have to say
| about multiple standards? He seems to be puzzled himself!
|
| Quote from his presentation:
|
| Q: Why do you want to have 5 [DVD related] formats? Do you still call that
| standardization?
| A: You are well paid. Shut up
|
| Check out the video at 4:10 and amaze yourself!
|
| This was on Microsoft Techdays 2008, in Portugal.
`—-
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-49659/multiple-standards-according-to-ecma
The commercial value of ISO privileged access
,—-[ Quote ]
| Jan van den Beld ’sents love letters’ to the ISO system and leaches out
| against parties who want to appeal.
`—-
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-50865/the-commercial-value-of-iso-privileged-access
Return of the Living Dead - Brainless Attack on MoSTI - Part Deux!!!
,—-[ Quote ]
| I dont know what the attraction is, but somehow we all love the morbid
| fascination of Zombies in action. First, Microsoft^H^H^H^H^HCompTIA hires Mr
| Jan van der Beld, Ex-Ecma Secretary General, to fly all the way here in KL,
| for an event supposedly about “good multiple standards”. There he challenges
| us to find a better way to Fast Track large, immature vendor dependent
| specifications. The answer is of course: “Don’t do it.” Later on that same
| day, like a man possessed, he turns up at a PIKOM meeting only to rant and
| thump tables.
|
| Then today, in our fantastic broadsheet turned tabloid “The New Straits
| Times” features a “Comment” by our so called “cooler head” Datuk Dr Mohd
| Ariffin Aton entitled “Walking the Talk on neutrality policy”. If you’ve
| forgotten about him, you may be forgiven, but he is or rather WAS the CEO if
| SIRIM Bhd.
`—-
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/return-of-the-l.html
Torpedo8: This is really lame. First The VAR Guy ares for Linux very much. This whole post is about how to increase awareness of Linux and how to better market it. Why should he care about it, if he were a MS fanboy.
And even if CompTIA is a MS-buyed association there is still nothing wrong about targeting resellers on their show. Indeed it would be a nice irony to get customers on an MS-sponsored event of an MS-loyal association. _I_ would like that. For that reason I think this post was valid. And a blogger defending his post and trying to convince others of his ideas is normal and shows that he cares.
CompTIA has to offer Linux+, look at what CompTIA was designed for. Linux+ is simply a side effect. All other courses from Network+, Security+ have an MS tilt.
…in the VAR Guy’s defense I see where he’s coming from. The convention should’ve been OVERLOADED w/ FOSS-based enterprises from Novell to Canonical to Alfresco to whatever leaving MS with no support for product or platform.
I think FOSS made the right choice. FOSS is a grass roots effort. It has been using _sort of_ a viral marketing campaign to offer its products. There are many people in the FOSS community that like the low-profile approach. For them, it’s most important that people know they have a choice. Since MS has polluted the marketing channels with infected forms of FOSS, the FOSS community is probably more inclined to avoid this type of event.
And I whole-heartedly agree with that (if my speculation is sound). Better that FOSS continue using its own events (eg, LinuxWorld, the regional LinuxFests, and Lindependence 2008, etc). This also sends a very clear message that the fundamental philosophy of FOSS is a distinct departure from the world of the Redmond Borg. It’s not about lock-in and greed; it’s about freedom and sharing.
Events like the Installfest at the recent LinuxWorld are real successes. First, because it helps the environment, and second, because it makes a very clear point within the educational market. Just as Apple had the educational market at one time which helped to secure their product offering, FOSS on Linux is beginning to penetrate it now.
It’s also important to note that efforts like Lindependence 2008 in Felton, CA are being made and with some degree of success. Maybe not as many installs, but the importance of the effort is really about raising awareness. People have a choice.
You can be sensible and environmentally responsible, or you can turn the earth into a trash heap by throwing away your current computer so you can install more m$ malware.
DOH! My real feelings are showing through again. Must… learn… to… repress. Time… for… med… ication.
Paul: Did you attend LinuxWorld this week? Attendance is shrinking. The VAR Guy heard that specific statement during ALL of his vendor visits. It’s fine for open source folks to talk among themselves… but they also have to get out to other events.
Targeted IT events like CompTIA Breakaway and various managed services summits are GROWING because VARs are looking for new, higher-margin alternatives to the IT establishment (Cisco, MSFT, etc.). Big mistake for FOSS folks to assume they should keep a low profile and ignore non-FOSS events.
On another tack, Microsoft was highly visible at OSCON. Shouldn’t FOSS solution providers return the favor at MS-centric events?
The VAR Guy:
As a matter of fact, this particular writer both attended LinuxWorld and was simultaneously aware of CompTIA Breakaway. As another matter of fact, LW attendance at non-”vendor” areas seemed to be probably just the same as in previous years (thinking specifically here of the .org pavilion).
And I _MYSELF_ heard that the perceived decreased attendance at the LW “vendor” areas was attributed to Silicon Valley IT personnel actually having the need to work during this time(really???)…. and apparently working as part of the nearby Silicon Valley commercial businesses that are so rapidly increasing their uses of FOSS and its services(!)
Does the increasing success of community FOSS efforts such as the LW Installfest possibly alarm you??
Your and Paul’s statements certainly share one key point: Raising the awareness (a.k.a., mindshare) of FOSS.
You yourself are heavily advocating this concept via “FOSS folks” bringing awareness of their benefits directly to targeted IT events like CompTIA Breakaway and various managed services summits. Ergo, your remonstrative article.
Paul heavily advocates “FOSS folks” to raise awareness of Open Source primarily via available communication channels OTHER THAN those most heavily influenced and skewed by Microsoft and its partners.
While you both share this mindshare endgoal, you (The VAR Guy) manage to conveniently ignore much of what Paul writes and describes that FOSS is all about:
Having real choice(s), avoiding hidden vendor lock-in, avoiding pollution of the marketing channels with infected forms of FOSS, and avoiding the encumbrances continually placed by “the Redmond Borg” upon freedom and sharing of all types.
It may indeed make little sense at this particular time (if ever?) for the proverbial “sheep to walk in the lion’s den”. Among other plausible interpretations of this, this means that it becomes detrimental for the most active contingent of innovating and creative FOSS companies to attend such a CompTIA Microsoft-focused event as the Breakaway.
Bosoxsux: If you would spend some time reading The VAR Guy’s site rather than defending your position you’d realize we’re on the same side of the fence in many ways. In fact, The VAR Guy actively promoted Installfest ahead of the event and was the the FIRST blogger to actually report on the outcome of Installfest. Or did you miss that, too?
Wow, some definite passion here, but a lot of incorrect facts as they relate to CompTIA and Microsoft. I would encourage those of you that have posted that Microsoft funds CompTIA and that CompTIA is a front for Microsoft to do some fact checking. You couldn’t be more wrong. CompTIA is a vendor neutral trade association. As such, what you suggest takes place would be illegal and by way of disclaimer and fairness, I have just completed a term on the Board of Directors of CompTIA and I can tell you that CompTIA takes this responsibility very seriously and has turned away from many opportunities that would jeopardize this. I would suggest that you keep open minds and make smart business decisions about what conferences you attend and groups your engage with. Your posts are coming across as zealous and based in emotion rather than in fact. I commend the VAR Guy for exposing himself to all areas of our industry and reporting on them from a position of fact rather than emotion. Our industry has been hampered by these types of fruitless debates. I wish we would all remain focussed on the positives and how we can collectively raise the level of integrity of our industry for the benefit of our customers, which are often mutual.
MJ: Thanks for being the voice of reason. Most FOSS folks realize (A) Microsoft doesn’t secretly influence all software matters and (B) FOSS companies, at some point, will need VARs to assist their own efforts to achieve profits. But alas, portions of the FOSS community continue to see Microsoft-driven conspiracies where they don’t exist.
MJ Shoer: Integrity & MS does not equate.
Vole2: Put aside your feelings on MSFT for the moment. CompTIA has integrity. Period.
Sure is much strong assertion and passionate claims for reason on BOTH sides of the issue of CompTIA’s true integrity, eh what??
The irrelevant fact remains that com does come after the .Period. in both comptia.com and microsoft.com, so the issue continues
Tolerance and an open mind is the sign of maturity. Both sides can flourish and are needed. One of my companies is driven by Microsoft, the other company we just founded relies heavily on open source. As a newly elected CompTIA board member, my 2 companies have been welcomed with open arms. As a matter of fact the incredible amount of leads and potential customers garnered at our booth (company with open source) at CompTIA Breakaway gives credence to the VAR Guys statement: “Open source companies will need to reach that audience if they intend to drive sales higher.”
varguy: You spun my post out of context; but if the slipper fits, you’re more than welcome to wear it to the msft ball.
varguy, in all fairness, just why did YOU YOURSELF attend this Linux event instead of going to the CompTIA Breakaway event you so
enthusiastically promote here ??
Hey, the more reactionary you get, the more this gets thrown back on you.
and more on this tailing topic, anybody care to comment on claims of CompTIA’s integrity vis a vis MS here, OTHER THAN those directly associated with CompTIA past and present ??
(hope that someone more neutral has the nerve to speak up here ………..pleaze :} )
Mssrsoulin: In fact, The VAR Guy attended CompTIA Breakaway Monday through Wednesday in Florida, and then flew across the country on his own dime to attend LinuxWorld Expo on Thursday. He was at BOTH events. So he has a feel for the energy and chatter at both events.
VG: Re attendance at LinuxWorld. How about the cost of fuel, air travel? I know I’m not doing much traveling and there are lots of other people I know that have made the same choice for the same reason. I also know that according to federal gov’t estimates, people have traveled 30 billion fewer miles in the last six months. So there might be another influence at work there.
Re the discussion:
MS’s rep has been established. If you’re not aware of that (as a MS competitor), you’re being either incredibly naive or simply reckless. They have used the EEE strategy more than a few times in their history. They have been proven guilty of abusing their monopoly power. I don’t see how that can be ignored. These are not people that you just cozy up with in a business partnership. And clearly, they are trying everything they can think of to get some of the FOSS aura to rub off on them. Roy Schestowitz’s latest blog points that out very effectively.
My personal feeling is that they are the typical large, wounded predator. I’m not about to feel sympathy for them or think that now they must really, really want to play nice. And I know many people share that feeling. I’m sorry. That’s just that way it is. It’s not like we encouraged the suspicion based on some imagined events.
So the burden of proof is on them. That’s also why it’s important that MS make some genuine effort to demonstrate their sincerity.
There’s your real “voice of reason.”
Personally, I’d like to see Ballmer admit that the patent threat is not valid and that it was a poor choice for marketing strategy. That by making the threat, he realizes that he alienated the FOSS community and regrets the mistake. And to show his sincere intentions, they (ie, MS) publicly promise not to pursue any legal actions against GNU/Linux re the 200+ patents.
Yah! That’ll happen. I think I’ve over-medicated.
The point is, sometimes an old-fashioned apology can go a long way toward repairing a damaged relationship. Anybody who’s dated should know that.
Roy: CompTIA also puts out the Linux+ certification, which is very
necessary for many it jobs in OSS/heterogenous IT jobs. By open
source representatives not showing up, they tend to lose the voice
to push how this certification should be handled and what it
should cover.
>
>
All this means is that CompTIA’s Linux+ certification isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. If CompTIA is running around misleading people that they have *ANY* expertise whtsoever concering Linux, they are going to be in world of legal hurt. Fraud is a federal offense.
Rick, your first section of your comment basically repeats the comment that #5 meis said above.
If anything, a noted competitor in the open-source certification area is the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certificate.
Companies in IT continue to benefit from the technical merits of persons with the LPICs just as much as or to a greater extent than that of CompTIA’s Linux+ certification.
And even true for the lowest-level LPIC 1 within mixed environments.
Heck, even CompTIA knows the high value of the LPI, to the benefit of the LPI and to those who hold the very marketable LPI certification.
Maybe even Microsoft knows this fact as well, from the companies it partners with who use open-source solutions that is.
So, perhaps there is less and less incentive on the sole merits of influencing CompTIA’s A+ offering, for open source representatives to approach your CompTIA folks at events like Breakaway.
If anything, CompTIA folks may have increasing incentives to approach open source representatives on this rather than the reverse.
Last paragraph corrected to:
So, perhaps there is less and less incentive on the sole merits of influencing CompTIA’s Linux+ offering, for open source representatives to approach your CompTIA folks at events like Breakaway.
If anything, CompTIA folks may have increasing incentives to approach open source representatives on this rather than the reverse.
Well said, bosoxsux. So again, by being selective about commercial associations, the FOSS community can more effectively maintain/protect its fundamental operational philosophy of sharing and giving back for the benefit of all who participate.
And again, this is why MS is throwing everything they’ve got at the FOSS community. Just for review, they’ve used EEE on a regular basis whenever there was even the slightest competitive threat. They’ve lobbied, paid off, and bullied whenever necessary for their end goal. They are a convicted monopolist. So if a company has cozied up with them, DO NOT expect to be regarded without some suspicion. If the company for whom you work has aligned itself with MS, don’t give the FOSS community the big eyes of surprise and say, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
The damage has been done. Now it’s up to MS to prove that they’ve changed. And with a doorknob like Ballmer at the helm, that won’t happen.
I think we’re done here.
VAR Guy: If the IT channel, as you put it, wants to connect with FOSS,
then they can do so without CompTIA and Microsoft. Does VAR Guy insist
that FOSS interact with the IT channel on terms prescribed by Microsoft?
Rittmey: So, I’m “Really lame”? No, I won’t accept your invitation
make judgements on VAR Guy’s motives. (If I did, I would likely be
named a paranoid.) So, I’ll take what he says at face value. It’s still not pretty.
As for participating with Microsoft in anything, how many people or
groups have come to regret such an action? Doesn’t anyone remember
that Bob Metcalfe, inventor of the Ethernet, was told by a Microsoft
executive that “You made a fatal error, you trusted us”? IT is littered with the corpses of those who have trusted Microsoft. There
is no reason to believe that Microsoft’s war on the Ballmer-described
“cancer” Linux and by extension FOSS, has ended. CompTIA and Novell
have chosen sides by aligning with and defending Microsoft and so there
is no benefit in FOSS interacting with either of them.
MJ Shoer: You say that “CompTIA is vendor neutral trade association”.
Surely you jest! Last year, the Register had an article entitled:
“Microsoft sets spinners on court verdict”. Most of the article
quoted the CompTIA counsel’s criticisms of the EU antitrust verdict
in the most extreme apocalyptic terms. You’d think that the end
of the world was upon us! Soon after, another CompTIA counsel was
in the European Court of First Instance asking for suspension of
Microsoft remedies. Vendor neutral indeed! LOL!
torpedo8, I was wrong! Obviously we’re not done here.
I’ve come to respect Roy Schestowitz’s info re vendors’ associations. Roy knows his stuff. He also knows when he’s dealing with someone that has been drinking the koolaid. And there’s no point in discussing anything further.
I’m negligent re the fact that #4 Andydread included some nice links to add a bit of background re CompTIA’s pro-MS behavior.
And now, I guess CompTIA has just been torpedoed.
MJ, maybe while you were serving on the board, you weren’t really aware of everything that was going on around you. And believe me, my friend, you wouldn’t be the first. And trust me, I sincerely don’t imply that you were negligent. Anyone that gets within reach of MS becomes an expendable resource; IOW, a victim.
Sorry, but the suspicions remain. If people are interested in FOSS, see it where there aren’t a bunch of FUD makers around where you can think in your own terms and assess your own needs.
Guys,
I knew all about the certification from CompTIA. Trust me (and trust others like Slashdot and Groklaw) who have watched CompTIA for _years_.
VAR Guy, why did you delete/not approve my long comment that details many recent examples where CompTIA does Microsoft’s legwork against national interests?
BTW, I wonder how many of the comments above are from CompTIA employees.
Roy: Um, The VAR Guy has been traveling non-stop this week. He’s checking the system now to see if your comment got caught in our spam filter. If it contained multiple URLs, it certainly got caught there. And by the way: You know The VAR Guy well enough to know he supports open communications and welcomes ALL comments, pro and con. He’s not out to censor anyone.
vole2: integrity is incorruptibility, honesty. There is no for-profit organization in existence that fills that description.
VAR guy: integrity is not a certification it’s a way of life. The objective of FOSS developers is freedom of expression not “market share”.
P Cole: For many FOSS developers, freedom of expression is the top priority. Completely agreed and The VAR Guy respects that.
But, companies like Red Hat, Novell and Sun are publicly held. They need to generate profits. And a lot of businesses can win along the way. Isn’t it smart for Red Hat, Novell, Sun and other companies to evangelize their open source solutions to VARs so that SMBs have true choice and alternatives from Microsoft?
Not-for-profit FOSS is a noble way of life. But the for-profit folks are also helping the industry in a big way … and it’s time for VARs to understand that through events like Breakaway.
Thanks, Var Guy. Sorry if that seemed crude or blunt.
VAR guy: I do understand some business sense (I help support, as one of the senior members, very large, FC-storage only data centers). Red Hat is smart; they may not be making quick stab for the market share, but they’re not losing money, much to the point-they’re honest, Novell-Xandros are not. Canonical, based off one of the most proliferating distributions (Debian), is also doing a pretty good job of “evangelization”. How many sub-distros are based on Ubuntu?
IBM has been dipping their foot in FOSS for a while, although they do not completely agree. SUN is just starting to dip its toes in the FOSS waters-we’ll know how serious they are when they open source ZFS, until then is just lip-service. Look at the splash AMD is making opening their code to FOSS.
As stated before, FOSS is a philosophical way of life-freedom of expression and choice without being vilified for it. People are quietly watching and some are vociferous.
Take a ooxml, the sabotaging of OLPC, the shameless lobbying and media buying efforts, they’re many more incidents Roy Schestowitz can point out, with proof. Anytime MS walks into the room you have to open the windows.
Roy: No need to apologize. The VAR Guy appreciates the fact that you have strong beliefs and clear opinions — which are always welcome on this site.
Remember that most time and money are spent maintaining a PC, so the notion that free__dom__ contradicts with profit (I see it above) is imposed by those who take away that freedom. It’s a myth.
Source code and free soda? Not the same thing.
Comptia was certainly under the influence of Microsoft when I was employed there. That being said, the legacy C level leadership that condoned and fed upon that relationship is “investigating careers outside of CompTIA” and the new leadership and board appear to be dedicated to membership value and channel enablement. Time to move on. CompTIA can and will be a valuable resource to the entire channel eco-system now that the appropriate leadership has been put in place.
Open source companies most definitely need to embrace the VARs and managed services providers,as you stated because they are going to be the easiest entry point into the market. Many people not familiar with open source alternatives may decide to try them out if given the option (and reductions in cost) when picking up new equipment.
Of course it comes down to education, and sales and marketing people properly evangelizing the platform(s). Perception is reality and if people think they can get something just as good (if not better) for less money, they’ll at least try it out.
CompTIA: Good to see you on The VAR Guy’s site. Stay tuned for some rather interesting developments in the open source channel this December. Today, it’s challenging for VARs to find open source startups. Soon, that won’t be the case (hint, hint…).
Stay tuned.