The VAR Guy

Microsoft has declared this to be Dynamics Business Week. The software giant is hosting a series of online conversations centered around their CRM solution and the overall sales cycle. We hear from plenty of VARs that continue to profit from Microsoft Dynamics. But it seems like Microsoft also faces rising CRM and ERP competition from folks like NetSuite, Salesforce.com and SugarCRM. Here are some quick observations.

Astaro has launched their first hosted service, which happens to be cloud e-mail archiving. It works with Microsoft Exchange and is touted as having unlimited storage while making it easier to administer. Here are some quick details.

Chatter, Salesforce.com’s social platform, is launching on June 22nd, and companies like Bank of America have already jumped on board, meaning it’s grabbing attention. There’s still a lingering question, though: Will Chatter gain the allegiance of enough ISVs to develop the platform into a proper ecosystem? Here are some thoughts.

Zoho is bringing its browser-based Zoho Invoice and Zoho Creator Helpdesk cloud products to the Google Apps Marketplace, filling some enterprise gaps in the standard Google Apps package. Here’s the lowdown.

When Red Hat Summit and JBoss World kick off June 22 in Boston, The VAR Guy expects Microsoft, Cisco Systems and IBM to be on hand for conference announcements and presentations. Most of the discussions will involve virtualization. But that’s not all. Red Hat will also update investors as the company marches toward $1 billion in annual revenues. Here are the details.

First, you were addicted to Starbucks coffee. Now comes free Starbucks WiFi. But rather than setting a trend, Starbucks appears to be a laggard. From Barnes and Noble to McDonald’s, thousands of U.S. retail locations already offer free WiFi. It makes me wonder: Can VARs continue to profit from retail WiFi rollouts?

At first glance, it will be difficult for Canonical and Ubuntu to compete with Apple’s dominant iPad in the tablet market. But now that I’ve had some time to really think about the situation, I think the iPad will help to re-ignite Ubuntu’s Mobile Internet Device (MID) effort against Microsoft Windows. Here’s why.

As we wrote recently, KVM has a lot to recommend it as a virtualization solution in Ubuntu 10.04, especially in the server room.  But how ready is it for the desktop, and can it contend with applications like VirtualBox when it comes to ease-of-use?  Read on for a comparison of two of the Ubuntu world’s most popular virtualization products, and some thoughts on which one is better for desktop users.

Google’s new Android treat has been named “Froyo” after frozen yogurt, and it’s nearly every bit as sweet as it sounds. I’ve been running a leaked Android 2.2 ROM on my Droid for a week now. Here’s a few impressions and what VARs, SMBs and anyone in general using Android phones has to look forward to with the upcoming update…

The Six Million Dollar Man is back. Steve Austin? Nope. In this case, The VAR Guy is referring to Jeffrey Leventhal (not pictured). The founder and former OnForce CEO apparently has raised $6 million to build Work Market, a forthcoming B2B marketplace that will “deliver and manage labor and services.” It’s safe to say the effort will include VARs, MSPs and solutions providers. Here’s the scoop.

Once upon Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak worked at another well-known hardware maker. Seasoned veterans of Woz-lore will know he had an earlier career stint at Hewlett-Packard. That’s why Wozniak is part of a new campaign featuring Fusion-io products and HP as the OEM partner. Here’s the scoop…

For a reseller, the only thing worse than the hassle of setting up on-site product demonstrations is not making the sale. Enter CloudShare, which takes existing IT infrastructure and lets you throw it into the cloud, giving VARs a virtual environment to deliver any enterprise application as-a-service for as long as your customers need to close the deal. I spoke to CloudShare VP of Marketing Kevin Epstein on the company’s offering and their future channel moves.

The VAR Guy is busy booking travel to Red Hat Summit as well as the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (how’s that for a contrasting events?). But before our resident blogger starts building his agenda for both conferences, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t write for the week ending June 11, 2010.

From Computer Technologies (formerly CA Inc.) to NetApp, a growing list of storage and security software companies are introducing service provider pricing models for their VARs. Here’s a closer look at some of the recent moves, and the implications for VARs pursuing recurring revenue opportunities.

Perhaps AT&T was in the pool? Once upon a time, $30 a month got AT&T’s iPhone users an ‘unlimited’ data plan of up to 6GB a month. Now AT&T is squeezing that data plan down to 2GB a month, with a $5 discount. What’s the deal with the data plan shrinkage? Will it effect you? Read on…

If you use Windows software on Ubuntu 10.04, chances are you’ve encountered the new feature in Lucid Lynx that prevents .exe files from being run without the executable bit set.  This might be good and well for some users, but is it really the best approach to security?  Here are some thoughts.

A pair of updates to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform spell good news for ISVs and VARs leveraging it: Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is now integrated into the AWS management console, and the Import/Export tool to bring data into the cloud by way of portable devices has left beta and gone into general availability. Here’s the lowdown.

Dabble DB, the point-and-click browser-based database application platform, is officially on hold as they announce their parent company’s acquisition by Twitter. Here’s the scoop – and why you shouldn’t panic if you’re a customer.

Even as Dell ships millions of Windows 7 systems, the PC giant is making a bold statement on its web site. Indeed, if you look hard enough you’ll find Dell stating that “Ubuntu is safer than Microsoft Windows.” Moreover, Dell quietly says it plans to ship Ubuntu 10.04 systems in mid-2010. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

Internet monitoring software vendor Awareness Technologies (ATI) is expanding its channel presence, and has tapped veteran channel chief Ken Totura (pictured) as its first Chief Channel Officer. Totura is a SaaS channel veteran who previously developed recurring revenue partner models at MX Logic. Here’s a closer look at Totura’s new post.

AT&T was hacked, leaking out 114,000 ICC IDS (SIM card identifiers) with attached e-mail addresses. Everyone is up in arms about privacy and wondering how in the world this happened. And some media folks are attacking AT&T for downplaying the security break, which involved Apple’s iPad. But what’s the big deal, really? Here’s a reality check.

In a brief but bold statement, Dell’s U.S. website suggests that Ubuntu is safer than Microsoft Windows, especially for customers looking to avoid viruses. The statement, spotted by TheVARguy.com, also suggests that Dell will begin shipping Ubuntu 10.04 on selected U.S. systems sometime in mid-2010. Here’s an update.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, continues to reach out to hardware partners. Specifically, Canonical says it has updated its Hardware Certification Program for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and ODMs (original design manufacturers). The big question: Can Canonical attract more hardware partners to Ubuntu? Here are some clues from The VAR Guy.