The VAR Guy

Mobile World Congress 2011, which takes place in Barcelona, is set for Feb. 14-17, and The VAR Guy is getting revved for the nifty technology innovation that always comes from the show. VARs and MSPs — and pretty much anyone out there whose productivity is tied to the usefulness of their mobile devices — might want to pay close attention to the raft of new stuff expected to be demoed at the annual mobile confab. Looking to upgrade? Our resident blogger urges you to hold off a few months. Here’s why.

Intel is aiming to be part of the cloud frontier with its new free unified networking technology that will enable data center traffic to run over one single cable. Translation? Consolidation of cable equipment and infrastructure. Read on for some implications for MSPs and VARs managing their data centers …

Staring into an LCD screen for hours while hacking open-source code ranks pretty low on the human intimacy scale. If leading members of the Ubuntu community have their way, however, the process of contributing to Ubuntu is set to become more “personal.” Here’s their plan, and how it fits into the bigger picture.

Sure, The VAR Guy is tardy with this blog entry. But cut our resident blogger some slack. The VAR Guy has been working overtime on several pieces of big news — including a multi-part interview with Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff, who revealed some surprises in a Jan. 27 interview. Still, The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write the following six channel partner blog entries for the week ending January 28, 2011.

Apparently, the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized effort is taking hold with channel partners. Indeed, Oracle now has 1,000 specialized channel partners, and that figure will surpass 2,000 specialized partners by the time Oracle wraps up its fiscal year 2011 in May, predicts Channel Chief Judson Althoff. But that’s not all. During a lengthy interview with The VAR Guy yesterday, Althoff provided clues about an aggressive ISV (independent software vendor) strategy that will surface in Fiscal 2012. Plus, Oracle plans to reward specialized partners with a new match-maker portal that helps customers find specialized partners. Here’s the multi-part scoooooop.

Confession: The VAR Guy loves Skype. He uses it all the time. He also happens to use a Mac, so the prospect of group video chat coming to the Mac was an exciting one. But now that Skype 5 for Mac has officially gone gold, The VAR Guy’s plans have hit a snag: Group video chat isn’t free, and it isn’t cheap, either. Here’s the low-down on the update.

We’re four weeks into the New Year. Chances are you’ve already broken a few of your New Year’s resolutions. But here’s one you can’t afford to break: As a solutions provider, you’ve got to find and engage line of business owners within your customer accounts. Indeed, success for the rest of 2011 will have everything to do with the right relationships with the right people. We all understand the value of relationship selling. However, what is also important is to understand the changing nature of who we should be building those relationships with.

VMware Go Pro — VMware’s cloud service than can help with IT management — is now generally available. VMware says it will boost users’ productivity and give SMBs the technology to dip their toes into virtualization with vSphere. Here’s the scoop:

VARs in the virtualization space and educational environment have another tool in their arsenal, if they team up with NComputing. The company is trying to make it as simple as possible to deploy a virtualized desktop, be it for a tiny one-room lab or an entire school district. I spoke to Jim McHugh senior VP of global marketing at NComputing, and Daniel Raskin, head of product marketing, about their new VAR-centric program. Here’s what they had to say:

In November 2010, I wrote about how Apple could potentially change the media world the way it did music with a news app delivered in tandem with News Corp. called The Daily.  Now, it’s officially coming to light on Feb. 2, 2011, just slightly later than its initially speculated January release. The official invite (pictured) has been sent out to a select lucky journalists. Here’s what we know, and what we’re hoping for …

Sponsored Video: In recent years, GFI Software has been in acquisition mode. Major areas of focus include the GFI MAX family of hosted solutions for MSPs and VARs in the SMB market. The GFI MAX portfolio has grown to include GFI MAX RemoteManagement, GFI MAX MailProtection and GFI MAX MailEdge. But how exactly is GFI MAX working with MSPs and solutions providers? Alistair Forbes, general manager of GFI MAX, shares some answers in this MSPmentor FastChat Video.

The VAR Guy somehow found a back door into Oracle’s headquarters today. Our resident blogger is writing this post from a cubicle — two doors down from Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff‘s office. Hmmm… What exactly is Althoff up to these days? And how will the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized channel effort evolve in the months ahead? Here are five questions The VAR Guy plans to pose to Althoff within the next hour — assuming Oracle security doesn’t escort our resident blogger out of the building.

No soothsaying required: Healthcare IT is the future and it’s growing. That’s why VMware is pushing desktop virtualization as a way healthcare professionals can access their EMR systems and patient records faster. Read on to learn how the company plans to push its virtualization solutions into this expanding vertical:

On Jan. 26, 2011, Apple accidentally posted Verizon’s iPhone rates on its website. The company realized its mistake and pulled them down, but once on the web, always on the web. Read on for the scoop on the leaked plans …

Ingram Micro and Hewlett-Packard are teaming up to push HP’s Visual Collaboration videoconferencing solutions, for which Ingram Micro will be the first authorized distributor. VARs working with Ingram now also are able to go to “boot camp” for training on the new products. Here’s the scoop …

I’ve railed against Windows 7 based tablets in the past, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think they don’t have their uses. Take Motion Computing’s offerings, for example: its tablets are super-light and super-rugged, perfect for healthcare and point-of-sale (POS) environments, where partner opportunities abound. Read on for the details.

Cisco Systems keeps growing, this time inorganically as it looks to acquire privately held Pari Networks, a company that specializes in network configuration and change management (NCCM) and compliance management solutions. The reason? Cisco thinks Pari’s technology will complement its smart service capabilities. Here are the details…

During a recent MSP University Boot Camp in Orlando, Fla., I met with more than 125 IT solution providers. They were in various stages of business, running the gamut of industry business models. From box pushers to pure service providers, from break fix to managed service providers and one-stop solution providers. Quite a few were just starting out, some have been in business over 20 years, and everything else in between. And they are all looking to build a managed services practice or validate where their practice or business stands, and discover the next steps they should take to grow their business.

Back in November 2010, when Brocade announced it was changing its Alliance Partner Program to reward channel partners on expertise rather than volume, channel chief Barbara Spicek (pictured) promised there would be additions to the program that would enable partners to earn greater back-end rebates. She and the company have made good on that promise, debuting a set of educational programs, specializations and certifications around virtualization technologies.

Why’d she do it? That’s the question The VAR Guy has been asking ever since Luanne Tierney, former VP of marketing for Cisco’s Worldwide Partner Organization, decided to join Juniper Networks, effective February 7, 2011. At last, The VAR Guy has found the answer to the riddle. And it comes straight from Tierney.

This story isn’t a reprint from 1991. Or from 1994. It’s not even a reprint from 2010. Microsoft has once again publicly called out the dwindling market share of IBM Lotus Notes, rekindling a decades-old feud ahead of Lotusphere 2011. Is The VAR Guy surprised? Not really. But this time, Microsoft isn’t teasing IBM by offering free training or promoting its channel partners; rather, it’s going in with both guns blazing, armed with market share statistics and highlighting enterprises that have made the switch to Microsoft Exchange from Lotus Notes. Here’s the scoop:

Many of us within Cisco are increasingly being asked, “How will Cloud computing impact our partner models?”  Our answer is, it will vary by the practice capabilities and the role each partner wishes to play in helping their end customers begin to transition from premises-based IT investments to virtualized “IT as a Service” spend.