The VAR Guy

As you may have heard, Psion allegedly holds a trademark on the Netbook term and is sending cease and desist letters to some IT companies. But here’s a new twist on the Netbook soap opera: Apparently, Intel owns and uses the Netbook URL (www.netbook.com), which redirects to Intel’s home page. Does a showdown loom between the two companies?

As Hewlett-Packard, Apple and other companies prepare to launch new home servers, The VAR Guy offers this concern: Do consumers really want anything branded as a “server”? Many consumers don’t understand server jargon. And those who actually understand a server’s purpose think they are complex, difficult-to-manage boxes that are locked away in a closet or data center. So, what’s the proper label for a home server?

A test release of Windows 7 spilled onto the Internet over the weekend, reports ars technica. The VAR Guy has no plans to track down and test the beta release. But as Windows 7 becomes more stable and nears release (late 2009 or early 2010), our resident blogger may lower his guard and give Windows 7 a spin. In the meantime, he seems perfectly happy with Mac OS X and Ubuntu Linux.

As Cisco Systems gears up to launch a range of consumer electronics for the home, some industry pundits think the networking giant’s consumer focus will fail miserably. GigaOm calls it a “misguided foray into the living room.” On the contrary, The VAR Guy thinks Cisco would be foolish to ignore consumers. Here’s why.

Strange: Most IT consulting blogs have overlooked or ignored Satyam’s recent meltdown. The Indian IT outsourcing firm imploded earlier this month after a botched acquisition involving company insiders. But the story doesn’t end there.

Psion (the mobile device maker that eventually fell off a cliff) may wind up haunting netbook makers. Apparently, Psion Teklogix holds a trademark on the netbook term and is sending cease and desist letters to some folks.  The story first surfaced on jkOnTheRun, a blog that covers mobile devices. So what does that mean to major PC companies that market Netbook-braded products? Hmmm…

The VAR Guy often crows about his successful predictions. But some of his blog posts — including a few about emerging open source solutions like Google Android and Ubuntu Server Edition — missed the mark badly in 2008. Time for The VAR Guy to take a break from holiday meals. Instead, he needs to eat some crow for these five open source statements that were off target in 2008.

What’s the biggest secret to Red Hat’s success in a down economy? Plenty of pundits think it’s Linux and JBoss open source middleware. But The VAR Guy has another theory: One of Red Hat’s smartest moves is promoting a particularly influential magazine article. The VAR Guy suspects the magazine article — which is updated annually — helps Red Hat to sign millions of dollars in new business every year. Here’s the scoop.

It’s the story that won’t go away: Cisco Systems plans to launch blade servers. GigaOm reported that way back in March 2008. Network World furthered the story about the so-called “Cisco California Server” on December 12 and December 16. And now CRN on December 23 is confirming the Cisco blade server strategy, though CRN did little more than quote the same Yankee Group analyst — Senior VP Zeus Kerravala — that Network World reached two weeks ago. Hmmm: great job, Scoop Brady. Next time, though: Link out to Network World and give credit where credit is due.

USA Today and other major media outlets are starting to suggest that Windows 7 — the successor to Windows Vista — could arrive in time for Christmas 2009. Frankly, that sounds like a holiday nightmare to The VAR Guy. Here’s why.

Even as some VARs begin to embrace open source applications, they must deal with a new force: The shift of open source applications into the cloud and SaaS (software as a service) models. A case in point: JumpBox has pushed a dozen open source applications into the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service. Here are the implications for VARs.

Like a steady drumbeat, Oracle seems to be hitting the right tempo with its channel program in recent months. Instead of flooding The VAR Guy with pointless “news,” the database giant checks in every few weeks with another tidbit of info. The latest example: Nearly 40 value added distributors are now backing Oracle’s products. Hmmm. Isn’t Oracle a direct sales giant?

And how was your weekend? As the image suggests, The VAR Guy has been sick since Friday. But the miracle of endless sleep combined with a few gallons of Gatorade got our resident blogger back on his feet today. Timeless (and sometimes tasteless) blogging resumes today. Happy Holidays.

The VAR Guy’s sister site — MSPmentor — offers non-stop coverage of the managed services market, where more and more VARs are generating recurring monthly revenue from customers. Here’s a look at the top 10 stories making headlines on MSPmentor this week.

Time for The VAR Guy to eat a little crow. A few days ago, he pointed out all the challenges facing Telepresence (next-generation video conferencing) and one particular vendor’s struggles (Polycom). Now, for the flip side of the story: Polycom and Alteva have an intriguing partnership that pushes TelePresence into small business. Here’s the scoop.

Compiere Inc., an open source ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) provider, is launching training courses to help strengthen the company’s customer and partner ranks. Backed by 65 channel partners, Compiere hopes more integrators will master the company’s software. Here are the details from The VAR Guy.

As the economy went off a cliff from September to December 2008, Digium says Asterisk downloads rose by 32 percent compared to the same period in 2007. But that’s not all. Digium — which promotes Asterisk, the open source IP PBX — has about 550 channel partners and resellers, up from about 170 in December 2007, The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s the scoop.

Hello again Dean Darwin, goodbye Steve Hale. Darwin (not pictured) has rejoined F5 Networks as channel chief, replacing Hale (pictured), according to The VAR Guy (not pictured). Details about the change are sketchy but here are some early details.

How bad is the economy? Novell has just canceled BrainShare, one of the IT industry’s long-standing events. Initial perspectives from Matt Asay (Blogger, The Open Road). Plus, here’s the official statement from Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon.

Novell is generating buzz this week with the December 18 launch of OpenSUSE 11.1. But The VAR Guy is looking at Novell from a slightly different perspective. The far bigger news involves senior VP Roger Levy (pictured) — who may bring order to Novell’s product lines. Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy.

During the Avnet Analyst Day in New York, Avnet Technology Solutions described its fastest growing business opportunities for VARs. But the more intriguing discussion occurred over lunch. That’s when John Paget, president of Avnet Technology Solutions, answered questions about possible hosting partnerships involving Cisco Systems Inc. Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Communications Server. Here’s the scoop.

Still skeptical about the value of Web 2.0 technology? Consider this startling fact: Dell has booked $1 million in revenue by leveraging Twitter sales alerts over the past 18 months or so. Sure, $1 million is chump change for Dell. But The VAR Guy is still impressed.

When it comes to Linux, most U.S. headlines involve Canonical, Novell or Red Hat. But another Linux distribution — from Mandriva S.A. of Paris, France — is making a name for itself in the global IT channel. Consider this: More than 2,000 IT partners have lined up to back Mandriva, up from about 1,200 in 2007, The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s the scoop.