The VAR Guy

That headline might go a little far, but Microsoft has announced plans to hold workshops across the United States to educate VARs and other IT pros about what Windows Azure is, what it can do, and how best to deploy it.  It seems like the closer we get to the February 1 grand opening of Azure, the more eager Microsoft is to push their new cloud platform.

Ifbyphone, which provides hosted Internet telephony automation solutions, has acquired Cloudvox. The move gives Ifbyphone a voice application developer platform that alledgedly “changes the face of cloud telephony.” That sounds like hype. But we’re intrigued. Here’s why VARs should pay attention.

Microsoft and Intuit nearly exchanged wedding vows in 1994. Fast forward to the present, and the two software giants are infatuated with each other again. This time their mutual admiration involves shifting small businesses to cloud computing, Windows Azure and Intuit’s App Center. Here’s where VARs fit in.

It isn’t easy being green, but it’s worth the effort when you lower your power bill. Resellers should keep that in mind when they hear that storage solution provider Nexsan has partnered with data protection specialist FalconStor to provide an energy-efficient, high-availability deduplication and disaster recovery solution. Here’s the scoop.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is pretty darn confident the European Union will soon approve Oracle’s takeover of Sun Microsystems. Still skeptical? Tune in for a big Oracle-Sun webcast set for January 27. Here are the details

As Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) nears its April 2010 launch, Canonical is taking steps to make Ubuntu Linux more attractive to business customers. The efforts include new support pricing plus closer relationships with application developers. Here’s some analysis from The VAR Guy.

The VAR Guy is scratching his head and climbing up on his soap box. The reason: Our resident blogger can’t understand why most PC makers continue to ignore the managed services market, and the emerging MSP channel. Here’s where PC makers are stumbling with managed services — plus a few examples of PC makers that are getting it right.

At this week’s AsteriskWorld conference, Digium will officially launched Asterisk Exchange — an online marketplace that allows customers and channel partners to piece together solutions involving Asterisk (the open source IP PBX). If successful, Asterisk Exchange could expand the ecosystem for alternative VoIP and unified communication solutions. Here’s the scoop, including a FastChat video with Digium CEO Danny Windham.

Oracle is suffering from a case of Groundhog Day. And that’s a good thing. Whether you follow Oracle’s Twitter feeds or Channel Chief Judson Althoff’s personal blog, the messages are strikingly similar each day: Oracle is striving to rally partners around the Oracle PartnerNetwork  (OPN) Specialized program. Smart move. Here’s why.

How many managed service providers can push beyond $10 million in annual recurring revenue? Is there a well-defined path to such success? The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor, will offer some answers during a webcast today (January 20). Our guest speakers — representing three top managed service providers and Nimsoft — will cover key questions for growth-oriented small, midsize and large MSPs. Here’s a closer look at the webcast.

One of the little gizmos floating around CES 2010 this year was the Dell Mini 5. It’s not a netbook like the Mini 9, but a touch-screen tablet, of sorts. While 5  inches seems a little small for the tablet, it’s got some interesting potential. Read on to see how Dell is adapting to some new trends in the Linux world — even as the PC giant balances its Windows 7 relationship with Microsoft.

SmartSource, which has been in the IT staffing business since 1996, has launched TecDirect, a self-service online directory of VARs, certified technicians, and other technical professionals. Like entrenched competitor OnForce, TecDirect is aimed at helping solutions providers connect with qualified field staff. Where the two differ is that TecDirect is free for solutions providers. Here’s some perspective.

CompTIA — a large association serving the IT channel — has longstanding relationships with Microsoft and the traditional software industry. But one of CompTIA’s new board members could help to drive open source solutions across the IT channel. Here’s the scoop.

At first glance, Red Hat’s biggest rival is Microsoft. But take a closer look and Red Hat seems to be equally concerned about two other fierce rivals. They are (1) Free Linux and (2) so-called low-cost Linux support offerings from Novell and Oracle. Here’s the story.

Avaya spent much of today sharing details about its plans for the recently acquired Nortel Enterprise business unit. The complementary nature of Nortel’s communications technology with Avaya’s product offerings made the acquisition and transition much easier, Avaya officials claim. And here’s an ironic bonus: Buying a division of a bankrupt company streamlined Avaya’s planning process considerably.

Panda Security — a 20-year-old anti-virus company — wants to make a run at the U.S. market. To do so, the company has launched a so-called Win-Win program that allows successful channel partners to take over Panda Security’s existing direct sales engagements. Here’s the scoop.

The wait is over for Avaya and former Nortel-turned-Avaya partners. Indeed, Avaya has formally unveiled its new product roadmap — one that strives to integrate the best of Nortel Enterprise Solutions technology into the Avaya product set.

The image on the right hit a few privileged email inboxes yesterday. It’s part of an Apple invitation to a January 27, 2010 event. Is Steve Jobs finally ready to unveil the long-rumored Apple Tablet? Here are some educated guesses.

An interesting story has been floating around the ‘net about an unfortunate Linux user and his Best Buy experience. If you’re a Linux aficionado and looking for something to rage about, read on. This one’s a doozie.

After a hot start to 2010, software as a service stocks slipped about 2.05 percent for the week ending January 15, according to The VAR Guy’s SaaS 20 Stock Index. Still, several index members enjoyed a strong showing. Here’s a look at the weekly winners and losers.

Meow. Microsoft and IBM have resumed their 15-year-old email cat fight — only days before IBM kicks off Lotusphere 2010. Microsoft is promoting free training and three key channel partners — Binary Tree, CASAHL Technologies and Quest Software — to help customers migrate from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint. Here’s the scoop.

Alas, The VAR Guy abandoned his New Year’s resolutions this week. Our resident blogger is drinking Latte again. Lots of it. But all that extra caffeine didn’t help The VAR Guy to meet his daily deadlines. Here are six channel blog entries our resident blogger didn’t write for the week ending January 15, 2010.

The Google Apps team has taken its sales pitch directly to chief information officers. Earlier today, The VAR Guy spotted a Google Apps direct mail piece that shows CIOs how much money they can allegedly save by switching to Google Apps. This is part of Google’s broader 2010 enterprise push, The VAR Guy believes. Here’s the scoop.