The VAR Guy

Vyatta, the open source networking company, has grown is channel partner network to more than 325 companies — up from about 180 companies in 2008. But are Vyatta’s partners generating sales? Apparently yes. Here are the details.

Pentaho, the open source business intelligence specialist, expects its bookings to grow roughly 100 percent in 2010, according to CEO Richard Daley (pictured). No surprise, channel partners will drive a lot of Pentaho’s growth, Daley asserts. Here’s a look at Pentaho’s business strategy, and the implications for solutions providers.

Microsoft has its head in the clouds again. This time, the news involves a small business version of BPOS — Business Productivity Online Suite. The original BPOS lineup includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and other hosted applications. Now comes word that Microsoft is planning some sort of BPOS Lite offering for small businesses. The question: Will VARs be involved in the effort? The early buzz says “Yes.”

Talk about a change of heart. As we look at the MSPmentor 100 survey results, we’ve discovered an interesting trend: Many of today’s top performing managed services providers are finding revenue from an unlikely source. Customers that previously said no to sales pitches in 2008 are now signing up for ongoing services. Want more sales and business tips from The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor? Then join the next MSPmentor live webcast. Here’s what we’ll cover.

Generally speaking, numerous unified threat management (UTM) solutions are designed for big enterprises with big IT budgets. But Netgear wants VARs to push UTM solutions into smaller businesses. How? The answer potentially involves the ProSecure UTM 5 appliance. Here are some details.

Let’s clarify that headline a little: Windows Azure has been available through an extended technology preview for several months. Today, though, Microsoft’s new cloud computing platform debuts as a full, paid service. Here’s what VARs need to know.