The VAR Guy

Canonical is diversifying how it delivers Landscape — a remote management tool for Ubuntu servers, desktops and mobile devices. The forthcoming Canonical moves have clear implications for Ubuntu customers, resellers and managed service providers. Here’s some analysis.

The VAR Guy’s FastChat Video Center contains several new videos — including interviews with Google Apps Channels Director Stephen Cho, Red Hat North America Channel Chief Roger Egan, and Motorola Channel Chief Janet Schijns (who’s preparing a managed services strategy). Plus, Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie and Level Platforms CEO Peter Sandiford describe managed services in the cloud. Each interview contains three questions and answers. Short, sweet and to the point.

The VAR Guy has been suffering from withdrawal for the past 24 hours or so. The Twitter denial-of-service attack left our resident blogger feeling deaf, dumb and blind. Here’s why.

It’s another small step for open source in the IT channel. Specifically, Hewlett-Packard and the Open Source Channel Alliance (led by Synnex and Red Hat) have launched the Open Source Jump-Start Appliance. Here’s what HP’s move means to VARs and their customers.

Canonical’s Ubuntu Server Edition is finally showing some ISV (independent software vendor) momentum. The latest two examples involve Openbravo and Alfresco. Here’s the news and a bigger picture look at Canonical’s attempt to compete against Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell SUSE Linux on the server.

Red Hat within the next few weeks — and possibly before Red Hat Summit (Sept. 1-4, Chicago) — plans to make major enhancements to the company’s channel partner program. Heading up to the announcement, Red Hat continues to work more closely with the Open Source Channel Alliance. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

Still wondering if Google is serious about the IT channel? The search giant plans to more closely integrate the Google Apps Reseller and Postini partner programs, The VAR Guy hears. But that’s not all: New Google tools are helping VARs to migrate Lotus Notes and Exchange Server customers to Gmail. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

One of the timeless challenges of open-source development is keeping software as up-to-date as possible while also maximizing stability.  With this difficulty in mind, Ubuntu’s developers recently discussed the operating system’s policy on updates.  Here’s the story, with some thoughts.

Symantec CEO Enrique Salem has been talking up Symantec’s Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy in recent months. But the man who will ultimately make-or-break Symantec’s SaaS efforts is Adrian Chamberlain. Here’s the scoop.

Our sister site, MSPmentor, will host its next webcast on Aug. 19 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. During the discussion, we’ll cover six ways for MSPs (managed service providers) and VARs  find and win new business. The format will be interactive. We’ll spend roughly 10 minutes on each business and sales tip.

At a time when Cisco Systems has aggressively reduced its face-to-face event spending and travel budget, the networking giant has signed on to become a visionary sponsor for the Red Hat Summit (Sept. 1-4, Chicago). And Cisco isn’t alone. IBM, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are also getting cozy with Red Hat at the summit. Here’s why.

Two separate WorksWithU reader polls reveal an interesting look at competition and cooperation between Ubuntu and Google. According to one set of poll results, Google has emerged as Ubuntu’s second-biggest rival. But according to the second poll results, buzz about Google Chrome OS could ultimately help Ubuntu. Here’s a look at the anecdotal data.

Hey Monty, who made key channel partner program deals for the week ending July 31, 2009? Here’s a look at new alliances, reseller agreements and partner program initiatives, as tracked by The VAR Guy.