The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy was distracted by the usual stuff this week. Deadlines. Meetings. Vendor calls. And classic arcade games. Here are six blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Jan. 29, 2010.

Polycom has partnered with VoIP software app vendor BroadSoft to build a hosted solution that enables solution providers to offer unified communication (UC) services in the cloud. It’s the latest in a string of Polycom partner moves. Here are the details.

No doubt, Microsoft and Google are waging a software as a service (SaaS) war. But the latest shot fired comes from a surprising source: LTech, an enterprise cloud service provider, is helping customers automate document migrations from Microsoft SharePoint to Google Apps. Here’s how.

You might never have heard of Astaro, so let me give you a quick rundown. They’re a relatively small company (less than 200 employees) with headquarters in Germany. But 60% of their business is outside Germany. Part of that strategy involves a free Software or VM Firewall image appliance based on Linux. They’re also doing some interesting innovation. VARs might want to take note of this quiet little company that’s starting to make some noise. Here’s why.

Is Microsoft ready to hedge its smart phone bets? As Windows Mobile struggles to match the iPhone, Blackberry and Android hype, there are signs Microsoft may take a new direction in the smart phone market. The chatter involves a potential Zune smart phone. The question: Would Zune smart phones really strengthen Microsoft’s position in the consumer and/or corporate markets? Hmmm…

Sophos Channel Chief Chris Doggett isn’t resting on his laurels. Only days after being promoted to VP of global channels, Doggett is flying from the U.S. to Australia as part of an international partner push. Before taking flight, Doggett sat down for a FastChat video interview to discuss the Sophos partner program, small business security initiatives, data loss prevention (DLP), and a forthcoming channel effort for managed service providers (MSPs). Here’s the scoop.

Each day, the drumbeat for Ubuntu Server Edition is getting slightly louder. In recent weeks, a growing list of ISVs (independent software vendors) has vowed to support Canonical’s Linux server operating system. The latest example involves Mailspect launching antispam and email archiving solutions for Ubuntu Server.

Here’s some short but sweet (and lucrative) news involving money in the open source industry. Opengear, provider of an open source console server, scored its first $1 million deal in December 2009. Next up, Opengear has won a deal involving Linode, a cloud and VPS (virtual private server) hosting company. Hmmm…. are solutions providers waking up to these niche open source opportunities?

Changes appear imminent within Dell’s channel partner program, and they’ll take effect on February 1. The two-part question: Are they super-small, isolated tweaks? Or is something bigger going on? Alas, The VAR Guy is having a difficult time finding answers. But here’s the chatter so far.

The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor, will unveil the third-annual MSPmentor 100 results during a February 10 MSPmentor live webcast. The research identifies 100 of the most progressive, most successful MSPs across the globe. What are some key business trends among those companies? Here are three quick trends culled from the research data.

McKesson and HP have joined forces to focus on electronic health records. But they’re not just focusing on the big-hospital types you’d expect. They’re actually looking into making the process something affordable and easy for  independent physician. VARs working the health care vertical — particularly Tech Data solutions providers — might find new pockets of business in small practices, so listen up…

Back in November, I got an Amazon Kindle from my parents as a birthday gift. I love this thing — it’s a device built from the ground up to read books, and it does its job admirably. If I throw it into my bag with my Nintendo DS, since I can’t be away from my games too long, and my iPod touch, for music, messaging and just about anything else I need it for, I’m ready for anything. I suppose that’s my issue with Apple’s new iPad: I don’t want to carry it around, and I don’t know what it’s for.

Dear Apple, I love you. It’s true. There’s a deep seeded unabashed, unconditional, unrestricted outpouring of adoration and I don’t care who knows it. Today, you showed me how much you love me. You gave me the iPad. And I have yet another reason to take a savory bite from the tasty tree-ovum that you are.

Cisco, NetApp, and VMWare have joined forces. And what births forth from this trifecta? An effort to improve virtualization security. Dubbed “secure multi-tenancy design architecture,” its basic job is to show clients how to pinpoint applications that use the same physical network, server and storage resources in huge networks and adjust resources correctly. Here’s a little more info…

Oracle spent most of January 27 describing its vision for Sun Microsystems. Channel Chief Judson Althoff participated in multiple Oracle briefings and a media Q&A. The VAR Guy heard plenty of answers… but he still has four questions about Oracle’s Sun strategy. Here they are.

On the one hand, Oracle President Charles Phillips says the company will hire 2,000 sales professionals to more directly engage enterprise customers. But on the other hand, Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff is assuring partners that the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized strategy continues to gain momentum. Can Oracle have it both ways?

Oracle and Apple are technology giants that have little in common. Oh, except these two items… First, today is a rather critical day for both companies. Oracle is set to discuss its Sun strategy. And Apple will allegedly unveil its Tablet computer. Second, Oracle’s CEO considered buying Apple in the mid 1990s. Here’s a look back… and a look ahead.

Microsoft is seeking feedback as it prepares to officially launch the Windows Azure cloud on February 1. Specifically, the software giant has launched MyGreatWindowsAzureIdea.com as a forum for user, developer and partner feedback. Hardly surprising: Ideas are flowing into the forum fast. And some of the top submissions involve Azure pricing. Here are some details.

Novell turned some heads in 2009 with SUSE Studio — a tool for building SUSE Linux application appliances. Now, Novell is back for an encore — this time with SUSE Appliance Toolkit, which is designed to help ease the development, deployment and management of software appliances. Here are the implications for solutions providers.

For roughly a year, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard have been locked in a war on multiple fronts — from data centers to servers to networks. The duo will even host rival partner conferences the same week in April 2010. Now here’s the twist: Plenty of VARs continue to build mixed networks leveraging Cisco and HP gear. With those solutions providers in mind, ClassOnDemand.net has launched training for mixed Cisco-HP networks. Intrigued?

In a  Hewlett-Packard video traveling fast across the Internet, HP’s CTO Phil McKinney demonstrates and explains the features of the HP Slate while talking up the history of its creation. It was 5 years in the making, something that McKinney stresses since HP wants people to know that they in no way wanted to take a page out of the Apple playbook. The slate will be running Windows 7, so how does that position itself against confirmation that Apple’s Tablet will be running something iPhone-esque? Here’s the deal…

Riverbed, known for its  WAN optimization hardware, is launching new partnerships with US Distributors and networking with global resellers. Here are some quick details.

Microsoft VP Cindy Bates surfaced on the Fort Worth Business Press web site yesterday. In an editorial piece, Bates describes how solutions providers and small business owners can benefit from software plus services and Microsoft Cloud Services. The piece was super-basic. Maybe that’s why it was on the mark.