The VAR Guy

Ah, The VAR Guy isn’t a big fan of “agent” oriented partner programs, where VARs and managed service providers earn a minimal fee for reselling somebody else’s service. Still, Dell’s new ProManage-Managed Services offering includes some new twists on the old agent models. And Dell is working overtime to make sure VARs don’t consider the new nationwide (US) program a direct sales move. You can get the facts and anlysis over on The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor.

If you’re a solutions provider trying to understand how to potentially profit from Amazon Web Services, the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) or Amazon Simple Storage Services (S3), then please join us for The VAR Guy Live, a webcast scheduled for April 15 at 2:00pm eastern. Here are the details.

For traditional Microsoft VARs and solutions providers, the new Open Source Channel Alliance includes a lengthy list of application providers that are just getting started in the IT channel. Who exactly are the Open Source Channel Alliance members, and what are their individual channel strategies? Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy.

As Red Hat, Synnex and nearly a dozen open source application providers today launch the Open Source Channel Alliance, The VAR Guy offered equal time to Red Hat rivals Novell (SUSE Linux) and Canonical (Ubuntu). Our resident blogger reached out to Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon (pictured) and Canonical for their respective thoughts on distribution. Here’s the scoop.

Call it D-day for open source channel distribution. Synnex, Red Hat and nearly a dozen open source application providers — from Alfresco to Zmanda — have launched the Open Source Channel Alliance. The effort represents a tipping point for open source in the channel, reaching a potential 15,000 Synnex resellers. Here’s who’s in the Open Source Channel Alliance, who’s missing and what it all means to VARs and solutions providers.

For a “dead” market, the break-fix IT channel looks pretty darn healthy, according to the OnForce Services Marketplace Index (OSMI) for 1Q 2009. Here’s the scoop, including perspectives from OnForce CEO Peter Cannone.

At first glance, they aren’t dating and they aren’t getting married. But Sun Microsystems and IBM will be shacking up at the MySQL Conference & Expo (April 20-23, Santa Clara). IBM is sponsoring the event, which focuses on Sun’s open source database. Hmmm. The VAR Guy must say: IBM and Sun need to sneak away from the MySQL event and get back to the negotiating table. Here’s why.

The next version of Ubuntu, ‘Jaunty Jackalope’, offers several new features in the server edition.  Below, we take a look at what the latest release of Ubuntu, set to become stable on April 23, will mean for server administrators, IT departments and service providers.

Sometimes when you compete in a marathon, you forget the basics — such as tying your shoes. That’s the case at Digium, which faces fierce competition in the IP PBX market — and is only now introducing Fax for Asterisk. Why did it take Digium so long to bring this solution to market? If you’re distracted by that question you’re missing the bigger picture: Fax for Asterisk is another sign that Digium is growing up.

The John Thompson era is over at Symantec, and new CEO Enrique Salem (pictured) is striving to give channel partners peace of mind as Symantec marches forward. With that goal in mind, Salem has dispatched a letter to partners. The letter contains trusted IT advisor jargon — verbiage The VAR Guy typically avoids. But, let’s give Salem credit here. He is wise to show some love to Symantec’s channel. Take a look.

It has been a few weeks since Google Voice began generating some buzz on the Web. So The VAR Guy dialed back to Google to see if or when the free service could potentially help VARs and managed service providers. Here is some perspective from a Google representative.

Barton George caught up with Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth in this podcast to discuss Ubuntu and cloud computing. George is a Sun Microsystems veteran who now works at Lombardi Software and also maintains his own blog, BartonGeorge.net.

After a depressing 2008, software as a service stocks continue to rally in 2009. The latest example: Our SaaS 20 Stock Index rose 3.45 percent for the week ending April 10, and the index is up 8.68 percent since the start of 2009. Here’s a quick look at the SaaS industry’s year-to-date winners and losers.

Here’s a look at the top 10 managed services stories making headlines on MSPmentor (The VAR Guy’s sister site) this week.

1. Managed Services Software Mergers: Who Will Fire the First Shot?
2. Contegix: Managed Services Built On Open Source
3. Kaseya, N-able Continue Australia Managed Services Expansion
4. More MSPs March Toward SAS 70
5. Zenith Infotech, Everon CEO Planning Partnership
6. How to Re-brand Yourself
7. Verizon Business SLAs: Novell Provides the Secret Sauce
8. Windows 7: MSPs Weigh In
9. Level Platforms: No Sign of Managed Services Slowdown
10. Recession Begins to Impact Managed Services Growth

Keep hanging out with The VAR Guy (he loves the company). But our resident blogger won’t be insulted if you occasionally stop by MSPmentor as well.

The VAR Guy loves cat fights as much as the next guy. Jennifer Aniston vs. Angelina Jolie? Classic but a bit dated. Canonical vs. Microsoft? Not quite as sexy, but certainly timely and just as much fun. The latest spat involves Canonical dismissing Microsoft’s claims in the netbook market. But the feud ignores the bigger netbook problem.

A quick update involving PlumChoice (a remote tech support provider) and Intel’s vPro. In an email to The VAR Guy, PlumChoice claims the company’s SAFElink platform leverages Intel vPro’s out-of-band capabilities. The result: Even if a computer is completely crippled, VARs can allegedly offer SMB customers remote technical services. Sounds great. Does it work? The VAR Guy hasn’t tested it, so solutions providers should draw their own conclusions.

The writing is on the wall. The buzz is building. Yada, yada, yada: Open source companies are finally getting serious about building their IT channels. The VAR Guy is gagged and his hands are tied. He’s trying to spill the beans but he can’t. Stay tuned, folks. Everything changes in a few days.

The VAR Guy loves cat fights as much as the next guy. Jennifer Aniston vs. Angelina Jolie? Classic but a bit dated. Canonical vs. Microsoft? Not quite as sexy, but certainly timely and just as much fun. The latest spat involves Canonical dismissing Microsoft’s claims in the netbook market.

When Mark Shuttleworth announced the future Ubuntu 9.10 release, Karmic Koala, the goals he outlined for the server version were all to do with cloud computing but you might be asking ‘What is cloud computing ?’ I answer this question and investigate what it can do for Ubuntu?

Can solutions providers profit from Amazon Web Services? The VAR Guy found the answer by spending some more time with Levementum, a solutions provider that integrates multiple open source applications (such as SugarCRM and Compiere ERP) into Amazon’s cloud for customers. Here’s a bit about Levementum’s strategy and future direction.

Now that Microsoft has launched Windows Server Foundation it begs the question: Which Microsoft server option is the most ideal fit for your small business? Here are some key decision points to consider.

Microsoft’s Small Business Server (SBS) has a new little brother. It’s called Windows Server Foundation, and it targets small businesses with up to 15 users. Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have already vowed to support the operating system. Here’s why Microsoft launched Windows Server Foundation, and here’s where it may fit into a VAR’s business strategy.

After successful tours of duty at Dell, Maxtor and Snap Appliance, Jillian Mansolf was bored of the storage market. Until she discovered Data Robotics Inc., maker of the Drobo storage appliance. Now, Mansolf is using viral video and search engine optimization to launch the DroboPro appliance (designed for small and midsize businesses) into the channel.