The VAR Guy

During the VMware Partner Exchange conference in Orlando, Fla., the virtualization giant unveiled a range of new certifications and specializations to help channel partners march forward into the cloud. What’s new? Here’s a sampling of VMware’s channel partner certification efforts.

Security stalwart Symantec has introduced its latest specialization for partners. The idea is to provide partner differentiation and enhanced competitive advantage — a trend The VAR Guy has seen a significant increase in. Read on for the details.

Packaging software for Ubuntu might not be the most difficult task in life, but it’s not the simplest, either.  Fortunately, that’s set to change for the better, thanks to major revisions to the Ubuntu Packaging Guide, which reflect the premium Canonical is placing on attracting more developers to the Ubuntu platform. Here’s the scoop:

Netgear and Acronis are forming an extended partnership to incorporate Acronis’ backup recovery solutions into Netgear’s ReadyNAS for businesses. Partners should be happy, since the package is resellable. Read on for the product details …

Storage protection vendor FalconStor Software is providing a new level of automation for data recovery. Its latest tool, RecoverTrac, will become a standard feature of FalconStor’s Continuous Data Protector (CDP). Read on for the tech specs …

If you didn’t catch it last week, Apple and News Corp joined forces and launched The Daily, the iPad-only (for now, at least) news publication with news crafted specially and uniquely for the tablet device. And no, the full articles aren’t available anywhere else. The VAR Guy spent a few days using the app, and now wonders whether this is indeed the future of new media.

MSPmentor, The VAR Guy’s sister site, is set to unveil the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 list and report during a webcast on February 16 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. During the webcast we’ll review the MSPmentor 100 global list, as well as regional MSP leadership lists for North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. But that’s not all…

Communication is key in moving ahead, and Arrow ECS is planning on making virtual chatter a big thing for resellers. Launching the site at IBM Lotusphere 2011, Arrow ECS hopes its new “Virtual Bench” social networking site will help resellers help other resellers resell. Cute. Here are the details:

Computing giant HP may have  borrowed an idea from an Apple patent regarding a touch screen all-in-one computer. The concept itself isn’t really anything new, but it’s what HP has done with the touch computer: it has a floating hinge that brings the computer screen down to your hands for easy touch access. The picture you’re looking at is HP’s promo shot. But below is Apple’s patent picture for its yet-unreleased touchscreen iMac. The similarities are obvious.

Unified communications company Mitel is bringing its partners something special in the way of voice virtualization. Now, partners can access a unique multi-vendor program, the Mitel Technical Accreditation Program (TAP), that helps partners differentiate themselves in the channel. I spoke to Bob Anderson, VP of channel marketing programs at Mitel about the news …

Riverbed Technology has made a name for itself in the WAN optimization space by offering products that help resellers build the best networks for their customers. Now the company is providing even further visibility and management of the network through updates to its Cascade network performance manager and Riverbed Optimization Solution (RiOS), which powers its Steelhead appliances.

The VAR Guy is scratching his head in confusion. When our resident blogger’s web site officially launched in January 2008, open source was all the rage. And quite a few open source companies were building channel partner programs at the time. Fast forward to the present and it seems like some open source channel partner programs have gone silent — especially as cloud computing continues to generate so much freakin’ hype. But don’t lose hope. Here’s why.

VMware has released the latest version of Zimbra 7 to the masses and with it comes a slew of new features and tools designed to enhance the user experience and lighten the load for IT admins — two things The VAR Guy is always happy to see. And with the VMware Partner Exchange 2011 conference happening this week in Orlando, The VAR Guy also thinks the timing of the updated offering is just right. Read on for the details …

As a reseller, VAR or managed service provider (MSP), you hear from plenty of vendors that want you to promote their products. You may think that deciding which products to offer is the most important part of developing your business. In reality, the  most important point in the process of developing a successful business comes after you’ve evaluated your options and decided which partner program to join. This is when you develop and strengthen your vendor relationship and partnerships truly grow. Below are four quick tips for getting the most out of your vendor relationships.

Fresh out of Clearwater, Fla., distribution giant Tech Data is furthering its “strategic commitment” to Hewlett-Packard and its partners by creating an HP Solutions Division, which includes a single dedicated management team for all sales, marketing and tech support for HP. Read on for the details …

Fluke Networks is looking to push its network monitoring and analysis solutions deeper into the channel through Ingram Micro. With the ink still drying, Ingram Micro will serve as Fluke’s preferred master distribution partner in the United States for the entire Fluke Networks portfolio. Read on for the details …

Collaboration software vendor Fuze Box is bringing its flagship Fuze Meeting application to the Google Honeycomb (Android for tablets) OS. It’s set to make the Motorola Xoom the first Honeycomb tablet with a fully featured collaboration platform. Here’s the deal:

Blue Coat is taking to the sky with its new Cloud Partner Program and new cloud-based web-security module. The company aims to bring enterprise-level functionality down to smaller businesses while providing partners with a cloud channel solution to enhance or compliment Blue Coat‘s existing suite of products. Here’s the lowdown:

Privately, The VAR Guy is still a little depressed about his New York Jets missing a Super Bowl birth for the 42nd consecutive year. But publicly, The VAR Guy is hoping for a classic game once the kickoff occurs in a few hours. In the meantime here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending February 4, 2011.

Kaspersky Lab is setting its sights on the bronze medal in security as it gains market share and becomes more of a household name, said Eugene Buyakin, Kaspersky COO, during the company’s 2011 Americas Partner Conference, held in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Kaspersky Lab peppered the first day of its 2011 Americas Partner Conference in Riviera Maya, Mexico, with a slew of new product announcements and partner offerings as well as hints of upcoming technologies designed to strengthen its partners’ collective bottom line.

Now that the Verizon iPhone is officially available for purchase, here come the product reviews from testers who received the Verizon iPhone a little early. What’s the consensus? Overall, it’s good. It’s what you’d expect, but there are a few caveats that are to be expected on Verizon. Here’s a review roundup, and here’s what I think will happen for Verizon, now that the iPhone is here.

There is some truth to generalizations made by the solution provider community that product sales margins are on a declining trend and that it’s too hard to sell product. But, I argue if you identify and drive out the hidden costs in the product sales process, you’ll notice an upward trend of your profitability. In addition, you will recognize an increased opportunity to sell more services and bolt on your managed service offerings.