The VAR Guy

According to recent January 2011 reports on the Android Developer site, Android may not be as fragmented as initially thought. The stats show that 87.4 percent of users are at least on an Android version 2.1 or higher, which means legacy devices may not be a support or fragmentation issue. What are the implications? Read on…

There’s a lot of noise in the managed services market. Some MSPs are hitting a scalability wall because they chose software tools that don’t match their business needs. How can you get back on track? Join MSPmentor, The VAR Guy’s sister site, for our January 26 Webcast — which will cover six business questions you must ask yourself before switching out your RMM (remote monitoring and management) software. Here’s a closer look at the anticipated discussion.

Ipswitch, known for its WhatsUp Gold Suite of IT management solutions, has launched the latest version of its WhatsConnected software. WhatsConnected 3.0, aimed at the mid-to-large enterprises, brings with it Layer 2/3 discovery tools. Keep reading for the details …

PC maker Lenovo is focusing on bringing consumer products into the business arena with its new Mobile Internet Business Group. Focusing on tablets, smartphones and smart TVs, the new business group will help focus and develop services around these emerging technologies — at least that’s Lenovo’s hope. Here’s some perspective…

HP and Microsoft have inked a deal to provide four new business appliances in 2011. They’ve announced the first two  — the HP Business Decision Appliance and the HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange Server. Both appliances are part of a growing portfolio to provide database consolidation, reduced IT complexity, messaging and more, according to the companies. Read on for the details  …

If you’re looking for that elusive multivendor virtualization support, ManageEngine might have the solution for you. The company is now providing Hyper-V support for its Applications Manager monitoring solution. Ashish Kuriakose, communications manager at ManageEngine, and Arun Balachandran, marketing manager of APM solutions at ManageEngine, provided the details …

Think about how many times you swipe your credit card or debit card in the course of a day. Now think about how many of those transactions ran over a wireless network – all those ones and zeros floating around for wardrivers and hackers to grab. Wouldn’t it be great if your credit card transactions were as secure over wireless networks as they are over wired connections?

Amid the news that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has again taken a medical leave, this time for an undetermined length of time, signs so far point to Jobs likely making a return to Apple sooner rather than later. But if that didn’t happen, could Apple function without a Steve Jobs? Before you panic and start selling your Apple stock, here’s some perspective …

Even though Nov. 20, 2010, marked Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6′s entry into the world, there’s still plenty going on with RHEL 5. Red Hat has made available RHEL 5.6, which builds upon RHEL 5′s base and continues to support customers who are using RHEL 5 through its anticipated 2014 lifecycle. Here’s what’s new…

IBM and ARM have decided to extend their existing collaboration for CPU development. The goal is to provide the “next generation” of mobile CPUs that are smaller, more dense and more powerful system on a chip (SoC) designs. With Microsoft announcing at CES 2011 that it will support ARM CPUs and SoCs in the future, should Intel be worried?

IP telecommunications vendor ShoreTel has signed on with ScanSource to work with its reseller channel partners and distribute its full line of IP-based business communications offerings, incorporating a two-step model in North America that has worked well for the company outside the United States and Canada.

An Apple Media Advisory issued today, January 17, disclosed that CEO Steve Jobs has taken another leave of absence Apple, and Tim Cook is now responsible for Apple’s day to day operations. Jobs, who has battled pancreatic cancer, did not indicate a potential return date to the company. Naturally, some investors are concerned — Apple shares plunged in Franfort on the news, The LA Times reported, though U.S. markets are closed for the Martin Luther King Junior holiday.

AsteriskExchange, an online marketplace for the open source IP PBX, has attracted more than 50 partner offerings since Digium launched the exchange in January 2010. In a quick Q&A, Digium Community Director Bryan Johns offers some updates on AsteriskExchange and some partner trends involving hardware providers, ISVs (independent software vendors) and VARs. Here’s what Johns told The VAR Guy.

In the past, I’ve avoided the temptation to speculate too much about Apple’s future plans. After all, I was wrong about the iPhone coming to Verizon in the CDMA format. Now, chatter and speculation about the iPad 2, iOS 4.3 and iPhone 5 are growing louder and louder. So I can’t avoid the temptation to weigh in with my own thoughts. Here’s where I think Apple is heading for the rest of 2011…

We already know that February 9th 2011 will be a big HP webOS day. But here’s the twist: Most people think HP will position WebOS — acquired in the Palm buyout — for tablet computers vs. Apple iPad. But there are strong signs HP will also promote webOS on netbooks. Indeed, leaked pictures from HP “webOS 101″ training videos have surfaced and it looks like webOS might be coming to a netbook near you…

The VAR Guy is feeling a bit stung this evening. Maybe it’s the cold weather. Maybe it’s lack of sleep. Either way, our resident blogger is in catch-up mode. So here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending January 14, 2011.

Well, who didn’t see this coming? With AT&T no longer being the sole purveyor of the iPhone, those who complained about abysmal AT&T service now have options. Research company ChangeWave took a look at the state of the mobile market in the United States and discovered that 26 percent of AT&T iPhone users plan on switching to Verizon. Ouch.

Canonical underlined its focus on attracting partners and commercial software developers to the Ubuntu platform when it announced the creation of a “developer relations advocate” position. Here’s the scoop, and what it says about Ubuntu and Canonical in the long term.

Sponsored Video: Repeat after me: Oracle channel partners are pushing beyond software into hardware, and former Sun partners are embracing the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized partner program. Skeptical? All you need to do is connect the dots between Oracle Group VP Tom Wagner and channel partners like Avnet Technology Solutions and GTSI.

Answer: It’s the first computer of its kind to understand natural human language and will prove it in a three-day competition on the quiz show “Jeopardy!” Question: What is IBM Watson? Now, the details.

SAP insiders praise former Channel Chief Pat Hume. But instead of mourning Hume’s recent resignation, SAP’s channel team seems to be in a celebratory mood. Why’s that? Most channel team members are now focused on record quarterly software sales, continued channel growth, cloud milestones, and new channel hires — including Dell veteran Jim Reilly, who apparently joins the SAP channel team effective today. Here’s the update.

In the open-source world, attracting new users to your product is hard enough. The ultimate challenge, however, is enticing third-party developers to build on top of your platform. Recognizing this fact, the team behind Ubuntu is preparing a “Developer Manual” to encourage contributions. Here’s a look at the endeavor so far.

Westcon Group is expanding its distribution presence in the world with the addition of Cisco IronPort e-mail and web security to its lineup of offerings in Canada. These solutions will be offered to resellers and partners in Canada through Comstor, Westcon’s Cisco-dedicated business unit. Read on for some more details …