The VAR Guy

The big news out of the Ubuntu world this month is the radically refurbished look introduced to accompany Lucid when it’s released in April, replacing the orange-brown “Human” theme that Ubuntu users have known and loved–or not–since 2004.  Here’s a look at the new face of Ubuntu, with an attempt at abstract thoughts related to it.

Software as a service (SaaS) and cloud stocks continue to show some strength. For the week ending March 12, The VAR Guy’s SaaS 20 Stock Index — which tracks 20 SaaS and cloud stocks — rose 4.19%, and the index is now up a healthy 5.57% so far in 2010. Weekly winners included Kenexa Corp. (KNXA), Vocus Inc. (VOCS) and NetSuite (N). Here’s a closer look at the weekly leaders and laggards.

The VAR Guy has been drinking with two fists this week — Coca Cola in one hand, latte in the other. The steady diet of caffeine helped our resident blogger to drive plenty of web traffic. But The VAR Guy still couldn’t meet all of his deadlines. Here are six channel partner-related blog entries that The VAR Guy failed to write for the week ending March 12, 2010:

Elliott Associates, the hedge fund that’s seeking to acquire Novell and SUSE Linux, is denying a report that it plans to break up Novell and sell off the pieces. Hmmm… But The VAR Guy still wonders: Will Novell and Elliott Associates reach a buyout agreement in time for Novell BrainShare — a big customer and partner that starts March 21? Here’s some speculation.

All’s fair in love, war and the software market — where Microsoft is offering substantial dollars to U.S. customers that dump NetSuite for Microsoft Dynamics. The move comes only a few days after NetSuite started offering on-premises VARs (i.e., Microsoft’s partner base) new revenue incentives to promote NetSuite. Here’s a look at the ERP sparring match.

The Google Apps Marketplace cat is out of the bag, and software developers seem to be tripping over themselves to get listed. A few software companies have been shouting the reasoning behind their marketplace moves from the rooftops, calling it the herald of the emerging software as a service (SaaS) market. Here’s a roundup of what some of these companies have to say for themselves.

Citrix Systems continues to bolster its virtualization story. Sometime later this month, the company expects to ship XenApp 6, a virtualization and application “delivery product” that lets users connect to corporate applications. You can also host apps with XenApp, or stream them direct to the local user. Here are some more details.

What’s cookin’ at LogLogic? I caught up with Guy Churchward, president and CEO, and Bill Roth, chief marketing officer, to discuss LogLogic’s channel strategy, their market, and why a partner ecosystem works so well in bad (or good) economic times. Here’s a recap.

We’ve always got to hand it to Engadget; they have the most interesting sources. A new report is coming in that the attached picture is indeed an internal Verizon memo about upselling the Verizon MiFi for use with the iPad…but is that such a good idea?

RainStor, the data storage provider that works with MSPs to back up historical application information, has raised $7.5 million in Series B funding. Here’s the story. The official press release indicates that RainStor intends to use the funding to invest in product R&D, expand into new (presumably international) markets, and to grow its partner base.

It’s been less than a month since VMware officially acquired Zimbra — the open source email platform — from Yahoo. But VMware isn’t standing still. Jim Morrisroe, VP and GM of VMware’s Zimbra division, says the company is preparing software appliances that combine virtualization with Zimbra. They should arrive by Q2 2010. Plus, VMware’s channel will soon promote Zimbra offerings. But that’s not all…

It’s one of the oddest stories to sweep across the Internet this week. After nearly plunking down $300 dollars for a new shiny Intel Core i7 CPU, NewEgg customers were greeted with a fake. The box may have fooled people on the outside, but a close inspection of the “product” revealed the CPU to be a fraud. Distributors and VARs might want to perk up in case you receive any dubious ‘demo units’ of CPUs…

The VAR Guy suspects most CA employees — and most VARs — had never heard of Nimsoft before today. But CA’s $350 million buyout of Nimsoft represents a dramatic wake-up call for channel partners and big software companies (um, did somebody say Microsoft?) across the globe. Here’s why.

When CA acquired Nimsoft today for $350 million, it set the stage for some sweeping changes in the managed services market. But this is more than a technology story, folks. CA also gains a colorful executive — Nimsoft CEO Gary Read (pictured) — and a Nimsoft management team that thrives on social media and disrupting competitors. Here’s the scoop, as only The VAR Guy can spin it.

Microsoft Channel Chief Allison Watson, in a FastChat Video with The VAR Guy, explains how VARs and managed services providers can potentially profit from Microsoft’s cloud offerings. But that’s not all…

Red Hat already focuses on Linux, JBoss middleware and virtualization. But there are multiple signs the open source company will make a business intelligence move soon. And Red Hat’s move could involve either Jaspersoft or EnterpriseDB — or both. Here’s some analysis, some speculation and some potential implications for Red Hat’s channel partners.

Oh the Tablet buzz never ends. As we all know Apple’s iPad won’t support Flash anytime soon, but the HP Tablet (or Slate) will support Flash, naturally, because it’s running Windows 7. HP and Adobe intend to capitalize on that fact. In fact, Adobe showcased Flash on the HP tablet with it running AIR applications as well, and that got people thinking…

If the RSA Security Conference wasn’t enough to convince you that cloud-based security products are ready for primetime, Panda Security, which bills itself as capital-T The Cloud Security company, announced that it’s experienced 122% growth in its software-as-a-service (SaaS) endpoint protection product line. Here’s the scoop.

With spring around the corner in North America, it seemed like the right time for SpringSource to ‘spring’ into action make their big announcement. SpringSource is unleashing SpringSource Server Spring Edition as “the best place to build and run Spring applications.” There’s a free promotion involved. Plus, this is the first time SpringSource will be offered through the VMware channel. Here’s the skinny…

We knew Google had been making nice with software developers – and now we know why. The Google Apps Marketplace has just launched, giving ISVs a way to integrate their products with Google Apps and sell them to a huge-and-growing customer base. Intrigued?

ZyXEL Communications, the ‘complete solution’ guys we’ve been talking about for a while now, have another notch to put in their belt. They’ve joined the Panasonic Solution Developer Network (PSDN). The move signals networking and video surveillance further converging. Intrigued…?

Open source software companies continue to strengthen their channel partner programs. The latest example involves SugarCRM’s new Open+ Partner Program. But SugarCRM isn’t alone. The VAR Guy has a hunch that several open source partner program announcements will surface this week. Here are the details.

Wipro Technologies, the IT services arm of Indian megacorporation Wipro Limited, has announced says the company plans to actively promote Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) — which includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and other SaaS applications. The news comes less than a week after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he was betting the company on the cloud. Here’s how Wipro plans to assist Microsoft with that bet.