The VAR Guy

Ubuntu One, Canonical’s file-sharing service that has until now been little more than a Dropbox copycat, has evolved for Maverick Meerkat in ways that finally help set it apart from its competitors.  Here’s a look at some of the updates to the service, and what they infer about Canonical’s longterm plans.

If the rumors are correct, Novell will soon be sold off in two parts. The alleged buyers are VMware and Attachmate, which has private equity backing. The big question: Does VMware really intend to acquire Novell’s SUSE Linux business? The VAR Guy doubted it a few months ago. But now, The VAR Guy has come around to the idea, assuming pricing and terms can be worked out. Here are five reasons VMware would pursue such a deal.

Sure, Cisco Systems and Oracle both offer servers and storage. But Cisco CEO John Chambers (pictured) is downplaying potential competition with Oracle. Instead, Chambers is re-directing the competitive heat onto IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. Here are the details, and potential implications for channel partners.

Oracle OpenWorld is approaching. So is a key deadline for Sun’s legacy partners. Not by coincidence, ServiceKey is reaching out to Sun’s current and former channel partners. The pitch: Partner up with ServiceKey and you can continue to generate maintenance revenue from your installed base of Sun customers. Here’s how, according to ServiceKey Co-founder and VP Angela Vines (pictured).

The VAR Guy is packing his bags for Oracle OpenWorld (Sept. 19-23, San Francisco). Most folks will be watching and listening closely when former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd steps onto the stage as Oracle’s co-president. But let’s tune out the Mark Hurd fanfare for a moment and focus in on Oracle’s channel partner strategy. Specifically, here are seven key questions The VAR Guy plans to raise during Oracle OpenWorld.

Qualcomm, the wireless chip specialist, appears to be a poster child for Red Hat’s enterprise software strategy. Indeed, Qualcomm plans to leverage both Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) to increase production workloads. Qualcomm’s move comes as most large enterprises try to choose between VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix virtualization. Here are some details.

Brocade Communications Systems is turning over the keys to the service and support kingdom to its channel partners as it seeks to move those tasks off its plate. Specifically, Brocade has revamped its Professional Services Partner program and its Support Delivery Partner program to push the services and support functions down to its channel. Here’s how.

Here comes another tablet computer. But it isn’t from a PC vendor… Avaya has raised the bar on portable unified communications systems with the release of the Avaya Flare Experience (pictured), a UC solution delivered via a touch-screen tablet device.

Good news for anyone using iPads or iPhones in the work environment; wireless printing is coming in iOS 4.2. And while that might be a bit of old-news for those who’ve been following Apple closely, some new news is the fact that HP is jumping on board with AirPrint. Read on for details…

Westcon Group, the value-added distributor, is focusing even more aggressively on the security market. Two prime examples: Andrew Warren is now VP of the Westcon Security group, and Westcon has agreed to distribute Palo Alto Networks’ portfolio of solutions. Here’s a closer look at each move.

V.i. Labs has built its business around helping ISVs get insight into how their software is getting used — and misused. With this week’s launch of CodeArmor Intelligence 3.0, V.i. Labs takes that concept and gives it greater scalability and deeper detection. And they’re integrating it with the Salesforce Force.com platform. Here are the details.

MarkLogic, developer of the eponymous “award-winning” database, has announced that systems integrator Flatirons Solutions will be its first North American distributor. But it raises a question — does the market really need another database?

It sounds like Novell is nearing a deal to sell itself. Newspaper and wire report rumors suggest VMware is bidding to buy Novell’s SUSE Linux business, with another buyer to potentially acquire Novell’s other businesses. Here’s the speculation plus insights from The VAR Guy.

Palo Alto Networks has a concise message for channel partners: The security company was cash-flow positive in its most recent quarter, and is looking to double its business in the year ahead. To assist with that effort, Palo Alto Networks has recruited roughly 150 channel partners and is now working with two distributors: Westcon Group and Computerlinks. The longer-term goal, financial markets permitting, is an IPO. Here’s the story.

Earlier today, Cisco Systems’ channel team finally launched a FaceBook fan page. What took so long? Instead of criticizing the networking giant, it’s time for The VAR Guy to take a closer look at channel-related vendor blogs and social media efforts. Some are growing up and thriving. But others seem to be dying off. Here’s a five-point reality check.

Late last month, the GNU Gnash project released version 0.8.8 of its open-source flash player, which touts much better compatibility than its predecessors with popular Flash-centric sites, like YouTube.  But how well does Gnash 0.8.8 actually work on Ubuntu?  We botched up a virtual machine in order to find out.

It’s been a while since we last took a look at Unity, the new version of Ubuntu customized for netbooks.  A lot has changed since then, however, so it’s time for some updates on how the desktop environment is evolving.

Would you like an app store with your netbook? That seems to be part of Intel’s plan, as they publicly open the AppUp app store for Windows and MeeGo systems, along with new Atom CPUs. Here are some details.

Even Google knows that people are impatient when it comes to search — and that goes double if you’re looking for just the right SaaS application to meet your needs. That’s where Rackspace AppMatcher comes in: a channel-focused offering designed to hook SaaS vendors up with their ideal subscriber and vice versa. Here’s the story.

Consilium1, which specializes in information technology consulting services, has earned their Infrastructure Virtualization solution competency from VMware. At the same time, there are anecdotal indicates that VMware certification continues to pay dividends for IT pros. Here’s why.

Open-Xchange, which positions itself in the IT channel as an open source Microsoft Exchange competitor, has announced that it’s signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Next IT to sell its groupware products in Japan for the first time. Here’s the lowdown.

VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop for Mac constantly are at odds with each other, fighting over feature sets, price point and ease of use. I’ve used both Parallels and VMware Fusion and find them to be almost on part on par with each other every time. But VMware’s latest strike against Parallels isn’t a feature war, it’s a price war. Read on and find out…

Robert Fuller (pictured), VP of worldwide channels at Rackspace, will spend considerable time in front of partners and customers this October. Indeed, Fuller is prepared to outline Rackspace’s channel partner strategy during the second annual Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit (October 5-6) and  the inaugural Rackspace SaaS Summit (October 7), both of which will be hosted in San Antonio. Among the event highlights: A new SaaS effort called AppMatcher. Here are the details.