The VAR Guy

During a phone chat today, a Web developer asked The VAR Guy if the US financial crisis would send more corporate customers running out to buy low-cost open source solutions. The VAR Guy’s surprising answer: No. Here’s why.

Stocks are tanking. Banks are closing. The polar ice cap is melting. The world is ending. In this time of crisis, Apple finally has a message for corporate CIOs: Buy some Macs. In fact, Apple is hosting online seminars to promote the Mac as the most secure desktop for today’s enterprises.

General crankiness with technology appears to be on the rise. Is it because of the stress in the US financial marketplace, are people in general just overworked? Are they getting what they were promised?  Were they promised something and didn’t get what was asked for? Here are five ways to prevent customer crankiness from spoiling your revenue stream.

The VAR Guy is an Apple fanboy. But that doesn’t mean he owns AAPL stock. Consider this: Apple stock has fallen from $179.32 on Aug. 14 to $128.24 today. Hmmm. That’s nearly a 30% drop in a scant six weeks. Financial analysts say there’s nothing wrong with Apple — other than major doubts that the company can maintain its torrid growth rate.

Julie Parrish does, indeed, plan to attend Symantec Partner Engage in Washington, D.C., this October, according to a company spokeswoman. Our resident blogger was curious yesterday when he noticed that Parrish wasn’t on the event agenda. But the spokeswoman assured The VAR Guy that Parrish, VP of Symantec’s Global Channel Office, will be in the house, and meeting with press during the event.

The VAR Guy intends to keep a close eye on Symantec Partner Engage — a channel event scheduled for Oct. 15 to 17 in Washington, D.C. The conference is an ideal setting for Symantec to break bread with any partners that are worried about the company’s channel commitment. However, here’s something curious: Julie Parrish, VP of Symantec’s Global Channel Office, is not listed as a guest speaker on the agenda.

Microsoft expects to share Windows 7 alpha code during its Professional Developers Conference in October. That got The VAR Guy thinking: Does the old closed-source model of bug chasing and alpha, beta and gold product development releases still work?

A new research report sponsored by, ahem, Microsoft says Windows and Linux offer the same total cost of ownership in emerging markets. The VAR Guy wonders: Are emerging markets somehow getting a break from Microsoft pricing and security software costs that the rest of us don’t receive?

Kudos, Red Hat: You beat financial estimates for your current quarter. Wall Street was impressed. And customers are falling all over each other to sign long-term business deals with you. Still, The VAR Guy was disappointed will one key data point you shared this week.

A year ago, 15 percent of Alfresco’s sales involved channel partners. This year, the open source content management company will drive 60 percent of its sales through channel partners, The VAR Guy has learned. So, what can other open source companies learn from Alfresco’s channel strategy? Take a look.