The VAR Guy

Numerous VARs tell us they’re developing cloud strategies for customer applications. What we hadn’t heard of before, however, is a cloud development environment for Apple Mac OS X — but that’s just what WaveMaker has released. Here’s the scoop.

Avaya is one step closer to officially buying Nortel Enterprise Solutions. The reason: The Canadian Minister of Industry has approved Avaya’s buyout of Nortel Enterprise Solutions. Next up, Avaya expects the deal to close by the end of December. But will unified communications VARs welcome the wedding?

The VAR Guy will host a webcast on December 16. The topic: How VARs and managed service providers can secure Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) for fun and profit. The discussion will focus on business models and security solutions for VARs and MSPs that want to make recurring revenue from SBS. Here’s how to join the webcast.

Initially, critics blamed Microsoft for a Black Screen of Death (BSOD) issue that has plagued Windows 7, Vista and XP in recent weeks. But Microsoft points to malware as the potential cause of the problem. Here’s the blow-by-blow.

You read it here first. On November 24th The VAR guy speculated Apple might be making a leap into the POS (point of sale) device arena. Call it an educated hunch, based on recent trends in the Apple Stores. But it turns out, Apple might be turning around and trying to make a buck off their in-house POS R&D. Here’s the update.

Amazon Web Services, proprietors of the EC2 cloud, has entered into a partnership with relatively unknown Danish firm ComArchive to provide e-mail archiving in the cloud. The alleged selling point: The solution can be installed, configured, and made ready to go in 10 minutes, ComArchive asserts. Now, for the key questions facing VARs and customers.

Most VARs have already cashed in on security basics like anti-virus software. So what hidden up-sell opportunities can VARs still uncover? Trend Micro’s T.J. Alldridge offers seven up-sell security tips for VARs and managed service providers in this podcast. Here’s a look at the minute-by-minute conversation:

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This is part two of WorksWithU’s podcast with Ken Drachnik, Landscape manager at Canonical. This discussion specifically covers Landscape Dedicated Server Edition — which runs on-premise and allows IT administrators to manage Ubuntu systems. Here’s a minute-by-minute list describing the conversation…

The VAR Guy is feeling a little run down this week. Lack of Latte will do that to you… If our resident blogger had more energy he would have written the following six blog entries for the week ending Dec. 4, 2009.

Ubuntu 10.04, which will appear next April 2010 as Canonical’s long-anticipated third LTS (Long Term Support) release, will feature substantial changes in the lineup of applications installed by default.  Here’s a look at the biggest ones, with some thoughts.

Coming on the heels of the campaign announced last summer to fix 100 “papercuts” in Ubuntu before the 9.10 release, a new round of usability bugs have recently been targeted for Ubuntu 10.04.  Here’s a look at some of the most notable ones slated to be fixed in coming weeks.

Will virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) kill traditional operating environments like Windows? Not if you ask DynTek. The $85 million solutions provider, working closely with Microsoft and Citrix Systems, is out talking to customers in New York and Michigan this week.  The topic at hand: How businesses can leverage Windows 7 and VDI. The VAR Guy is intrigued. Here’s why.

Novell announced quarterly results on December 3. So how are the company’s individual solutions groups performing — particularly the SUSE Linux solutions group? And what’s the latest with Novell’s partner program? The VAR Guy got some perspectives from Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon. Here’s a recap.

Intermedia, which specializes in hosted Exchange and other SaaS applications, has launched a white label partner program for Hosted Exchange 2010. The move comes as many VARs and MSPs (managed service providers) are mulling their software as a service (SaaS) options. Here’s a look at Intermedia’s strategy.

Imagine taking videoconferencing out of the boardroom and into the lunchroom. Or the employee lounge. Or just about anywhere else there’s a flat wall and a captive audience. Tandberg is making that idea a reality with its latest offering, the Telepresence T3 Custom Edition, a fully customizable solution that offers a level of flexibility traditional videoconferencing systems don’t offer. Here are the implications for VARs.

We at The VAR Guy are hearing it more and more: Companies can no longer afford to scrap their hardware every two years and start fresh. This is bad news if you’re purely a reseller, but it’s a potential gold mine if you deal in maintenance. ServiceKey, the a so-called Master Independent Services Maintenance Organization (ISMO), aims to help VARs tap this potential by taking care of all their maintenance obligations for them. Here’s their story.

Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff (pictured), as expected, launched the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program on December 2. Big surprises? Nope. Big implications? Yes. Here’s a look at Oracle’s latest partner program and potential implications for solutions providers.

It takes guts to go against Google Apps but that’s what the ZOHO Corp. has been doing with its Zoho Office Suite of SaaS online applications. But does Zoho have a channel strategy? And where is Zoho heading next? Here are some answers.

Two separate invites arrived within hours of one another. Adtran and Digium — two networking companies in Huntsville, Alabama — invited The VAR Guy and other members of the media to swing by for separate updates and briefings this week. Alas, The VAR Guy couldn’t make the trip. But the Adtran and Digium stories are worth sharing from afar. Here’s why.

At first glance all is well at Red Hat. The open source and Linux darling continues to gain momentum with channel partners. But The VAR Guy wonders: Should Red Hat be worried about Microsoft’s Windows Azure — and the growing list of open source applications set to run in Microsoft’s cloud?

Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom has acquired Dune Networks in its effort to make some serious inroads in the data center and cloud computing space. Here’s a look at the deal, and the implications for VARs.

If you’ve made the decision to offer cloud computing services like hosted applications, you must next decide how to go about establishing and maintaining this new line of business. As I have previously mentioned, the first and foremost decision VARs will have to make along these lines is whether to become a reseller for an existing service provider or to develop and manage a hosted offering themselves. Here are some key options worth considering.

The VAR Guy will host a webcast on December 16. The topic: How VARs and managed service providers can secure Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) for fun and profit. The discussion will focus on business models and security solutions for VARs and MSPs that want to make recurring revenue from SBS. Here’s how to join the webcast.