The VAR Guy

Is cloud computing hot or hype? Will cloud computing bolster VARs — or destroy channel partner revenue streams? Nine Lives Media Inc., creators of The VAR Guy, provides the platform for answers starting December 7.

Sponsored Guest Blog: There are 4 sensible steps VAR’s can implement today that will strengthen relationships with their existing customer base and increase their residual revenue. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

Red Hat has acquired Makara, which develops software for managing applications in the cloud. The move could strengthen Red Hat’s Cloud Foundations, platform as a service (PaaS) and virtualization strategies. And yes, there are some key implications for channel partners as well. Here’s The VAR Guy’s perspectives.

Gartner expects PC shipments to grow 15.9 percent in 2011. Sounds impressive, until you look at Gartner’s original prediction of 18.1 percent growth. What triggered the reduced growth rate? Part of the blame involves — you guessed it — rising sales of tablet computers, coupled with weaker consumer demand. And by 2014, tablet sales will displace roughly 10 percent of the PC market. Here’s the update.

The VAR Guy is heading to Huntsville, Alabama, this week to cover ADTRAN’s Connect 2010 Press and Analyst Event. The networking company delivered record quarterly sales in October 2010, and net income jumped nearly 50 percent during the quarter. So what will ADTRAN do for an encore? Here are three trends The VAR Guy plans to watch closely during this week’s gathering.

If you use Windows Home Server, you might be a big fan of Drive Extender — which is somewhat like a software-based Drobo. Is your hard drive drive filling up? Pop in another drive of any size or type, and it instantly gets assimilated into one giant drive on the Windows Home Server. Now for the potential problem: Some folks are speculating that the new Windows Home Server “Vail” will be dump the Drive Extender feature — much to users’ chagrin. Here’s the update.

Roughly 200 solutions providers are set to attend Cisco Partner Velocity, Dec. 7-9 in Barcelona, Spain. Instead of pitching Cisco products to attendees, the conference agenda is packed with marketing, social media and video sessions to help VARs and managed services providers to build closer relationships with their customers. So what exactly can partners expect to see and hear at the event? Here are five potential themes worth noting.

Still skeptical about the consumerization of IT? From Dell to VMware, numerous corporate IT vendors are promoting Cyber Monday product discounts. Sure, many of the Cyber Monday sales involve consumer PCs, notebooks and smart phones. But take a closer look and you’ll see some corporate IT solutions generating some Cyber Monday buzz as well. Plus, VMware appears to be targeting Parallels’ installed base. Here’s the update.

Speculation in recent days suggests Ubuntu plans to adopt a “rolling” release schedule, pushing out upgraded applications constantly rather than in six-month increments.  Such a policy would mean major changes in the Ubuntu experience, for both personal and commercial users.  Here are some thoughts.

Sponsored Video: Apple is now the Number Three PC maker in North America, trailing only Dell and Hewlett-Packard, according to International Data Corp. But as the Macintosh continues to gain momentum in small business, it’s time for VARs to promote better Mac security, according to Trend Micro. In this FastChat video, Trend Micro SMB Marketing Manager TJ Alldridge describes some Mac security risks and potential solutions.

Here in the US, the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend is nearly over. Time for The VAR Guy to shake off his rust, warm up the blog engine and pursue news tips. But before that happens, here are six channel partner-related blogs The VAR Guy didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Nov. 26, 2010.

Cha-ching. Big retailers apparently rang up big sales on Black Friday (Nov. 26), which is the biggest holiday shopping day in the US. But here’s an interesting twist: With a major assist from American Express, thousands of entrepreneurs are busy promoting Small Business Saturday (Nov. 27). Here are six ways VARs and managed services providers can potentially profit from the small business shopping push.

Coinciding with the holiday season, AMD says consumers are — quite frankly — confused about what they need to buy when they’re shopping for a computer. I spoke with AMD about their new initiative to help educate consumers about modern day computing needs. And I got some clues about where AMD is heading next in the corporate market (hint: It involves the Consumer Electronics Show in early 2011). Here’s the update.

Is it me, or has Apple been getting edgier lately? The latest potential example: The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple may be poaching RIM Employees to work for enterprise divisions inside Apple Inc. and claims five former RIM employees have now started working at Apple in the last couple of years. At first glance, the moves involve the iPhone. But longer term there could be an iPad enterprise story here. But is the Apple vs. RIM talent debate really a story? Read on for a little perspective.

Among the most rapidly evolving niches in the Linux enterprise market is integration with Microsoft Active Directory.  We last visited this area back in July 2010, but a lot has changed since then, with new partnerships announced and new software released.  Here are some of the highlights of these developments, with a focus on their relationship to the latest Ubuntu release, 10.10.

Apparently, the channel has another value-added service to lay on top of mailboxes. Specifically, BlueTie has launched Smartbins, a cloud-delivered Microsoft SharePoint competitor that boasts 50% margins and complete white-labeling for resellers, the company claims. Here’s how Smartbins fits into BlueTie’s partner program.

Sponsored Video: When Oracle first acquired Sun Microsystems, Mohamed Elrefai had some skepticism and plenty of questions. As VP of GTSI‘s Enterprise Solutions Group, Elrefai is a key executive within Sun’s largest federal reseller. Initially, he wondered if Oracle’s sales force would take business direct. Plus Elrefai worried Oracle’s research and development (R&D) plan was too ambitious to pull off. Fast forward to the present and it sounds like Elrefai is impressed with the Oracle-Sun business combo, particularly the Oracle Exadata storage business. Here’s the update, including a FastChat Video with Elrefai.

The VAR Guy is seeking to answer a very basic question: Where can solutions providers find funding to help enhance their cash flow, win new business deals and drive growth? The VAR Guy’s Channel Finance 25 — an annual report from our resident blogger — will help VARs and MSPs to find the key companies, organizations and financial lenders that can assist with short-term cash flow and long-term growth strategies. Here are the details.

If you’re anything like me, when you finished reading the VAR Guide to Selecting a Cloud Computing Platform, you became unnaturally attuned to all of the conversations about “the cloud” going on around you. Your IT manager may have presented a plan to “go into the cloud.” You might have heard that 35 CPU-years of cloud computing were used to find “God’s Number” when it came to solving the Rubik’s Cube. Maybe you just channel surfed to a nephology panel discussion on The Weather Channel. With the exception of that last possibility, you’ve noticed that “the cloud” is everywhere. It’s time to pin down what the cloud really entails.

Some large cloud computing companies want to sell direct into small and midsize businesses. So how can VARs and MSPs maintain SMB relationships and generate new profits? For the answer join the MSPmentor Live webcast on December 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. Here’s what we’ll cover.

Even as FalconStor Software investigates alleged wrongdoings by its former CEO, the storage software specialist continues to march forward. Only a few weeks after announcing a managed services relationship with Hewlett-Packard, FalconStor is back in this news, this time disclosing that Brendan Kinkade is now VP of channel management and global alliances. In his new role, Kinkade will be overseeing FalconStor’s relationships with resellers of their disk protection solutions as well as alliances with other companies to increase their reach. Here’s the scoop.

Apple’s iOS 4.2 is finally here for all your iOS devices, including the iPad. That means the iPad finally has the fancy multi-tasking you’ve already come to love on your iPhone 4 plus AirPrint and AirPlay for instant streaming to your new AppleTV. What’s more, Steve Jobs & Co. has now offered two previously pay-only features from Mobile.me for free, and if that wasn’t enough goodness, Apple has overhauled the iWork apps for the iPad. Here’s the simple scoop…

The VAR Guy is on vacation this week. But if he had access to WiFi, The VAR Guy would ask 11 questions about Novell’s two-part company sale for $2.2 billion. Attachmate essentially acquires Novell’s businesses while a Microsoft-led consortium purchases certain Novell intellectual property assets. How’s that for an interesting twist? Hmmm… Here are those 11 questions about the deal.