The VAR Guy

After spending all day in airports and on a plane, your humble correspondent is home from the Juniper Networks Americas Partner Conference. And now that I have a stable Internet connection again, I can share some additional perspectives on the roadmap laid out by the networking and security provider’s new channel team for the next year, spelled out by Juniper Senior Vice President for Partners-Americas Frank Vitagliano, Vice President of Worldwide Partner Marketing Luanne Tierney and VP Americas Marketing Peter Finter. Here’s the scoop:

The VAR Guy can’t help but enjoy the Apple rumor mill. Sometimes he hears whispers coming from inside Apple, and sometimes he hears from his sources on the outside. But the latest rumor — that there may not be an iPhone 5 in 2011 — has our resident blogger thinking hard about the implications. Read on for the details and what The VAR Guy thinks is going to happen …

ADTRAN reported increased sales and earnings for its first quarter of 2011 — good news for the Huntsville, Ala.-based networking vendor and its channel partners. Read on for the financials the future outlook for the company:

Symantec is launching another update to its massive suite of products. Symantec Messaging Gateway 9.5, powered by Brightmail, sets up Symantec to not just filter unwanted e-mail, but to also “personalize” the level of protection on a individual basis. Read on for the details …

If it’s not storage making waves in the channel, it’s virtual storage, and Gluster is the latest vendor to show its love for the space. The company announced its Virtual Storage Appliances now support KVM and Xen. Read on for a little about how the cloud-focused company is dipping its toes into the virtualization pool …

There is something special about technology that allows people to collaborate more easily, more effectively, and at a higher level of personal engagement. But what are the latest collaboration opportunities awaiting VARs, MSPs and channel partners? The answer involves visual collaboration. Here are some timely perspectives.

The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor, hosts its next webcast today (Wednesday, April 13) at 2:00 p.m. ET. The topic: Maximizing Partnerships to Build a Better Business. We’ll explore how MSPs are working with one another, peer groups and associations to speed business decisions and win new customer engagements. We’ll answer attendee questions throughout the webcast. Here’s a look at our guest speakers and some more background on the event…

The theme of this week’s Juniper Networks Americas Partner Conference may be, “It’s Time For a New Network,” but what was really on display wasn’t product but rather commitment to the channel. This event marked the first time many Juniper partners got to see the company’s new channel team in action. Since the new hires have had, at most, only a few months in their positions, it’s understandable the conference would be short on earth-shaking announcements. But what Juniper did have were promises to continue responding to partner needs – especially when it comes to marketing. Here’s the scoop:

EMC is shaking up its channel partner program to help its partners make the best of their sales situations. New incentives, new deal registration bonuses and more upfront discounts are just part of the plan. I had a quick chat with EMC’s Gregg Ambulos, Senior VP of Global Channel Operations And Americas Channel Sales, about the updates to EMC’s Velocity Solution Provider Partner program. Here are the details …

The VAR Guy is always on the lookout for ways VARs can differentiate themselves, be it by services, specializations or anything that gives them that edge — especially with newer technologies. Blending virtualization, Windows 7 migration and value-added services is one example, and The VAR Guy has found a company that offers just that. Read on to find out about Prowess Corp.

Tablets, like any other technology, is subject to increasing consumer demands for devices that push the envelope. Intel’s new Atom CPU, designed specifically for mobile tablet devices, offers “smaller, thinner, fanless” technology, according to the company, as well as some new integrated goodies. Read on for the details.

Looking to shift its focus back to its core enterprise expertise, Cisco Systems has announced it is shuttering its Flip camcorder business and — for the most part — exiting the consumer market. The company is calling its move a “comprehensive plan to align its operations;” in other words, Cisco is scaling back to what it does best. What does that mean for its channel partners, its consumer products as a whole, and the industry at large? Read on for our unique perspective.

Apple is quietly partnering with OnForce to build a nationwide IT support network for small business customers, The VAR Guy has learned. The Apple-OnForce relationship could create new opportunities for certified Apple professionals, while potentially disrupting some established Apple channel partners, The VAR Guy believes. Here’s the scoop.

A little more than a year after Polycom launched its Choice partner program for VARs, solution providers and distributors, the company is reworking Choice to reward those partners who focus on video solutions.

Lenovo is launching its Cloud Ready Client technology for Enterprises that work with the Lenovo Secure Cloud Access, a delivery method to improve cloud-based interaction between devices. What is a Cloud Ready Client, and what implications could it have for the channel? Read on for the details.

There’s no doubt storage continues to be a sure thing in the channel — everybody needs a place to store their stuff, right? Avnet’s Rorke Data feels the same way, too, and has released the Galaxy Aurora 36-Bay RAID storage solution, specifically designed to hit a low price-per-gigabyte and a high performance benchmark. Read on for scoop …

We wrote not long ago about some of the bigger-picture items that set Quest apart within the Active Directory-Unix integration channel. But Quest’s position in that channel can’t be fully understood without an investigation of the individual products by which it seeks to distinguish itself. With that fact in mind, keep reading for a look at some of the specific tools that help Quest stand out …

Cisco Systems has revamped its partner program to better align its channel partners with the company’s three major areas of focus and shift them beyond technology solutions into architecture-based solutions.

Channel pros are converging in Phoenix this week for the Juniper Networks Americas Partner Conference, where the networking and security provider will reach out to its reseller base with announcements, strategies and, perhaps most importantly, free food. But the real stories here should be the chatter around the challenges facing Cisco Systems and Juniper’s recent channel hires. Here’s some perspective on the lead-up to the event:

There’s an untapped niche emerging in the IT world — the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. The VAR Guy hasn’t covered it extensively, but there have been signs of the inevitable move. Network security vendor Fortinet, for one, is looking to help companies make the switch as painlessly as possible, and is welcoming resellers to help. The VAR Guy spoke to Fortinet VP Patrick Bedwell about what Fortinet can provide and why the move to IPv6 isn’t as simple as initially perceived …

We’ve previously discussed Google’s play into the enterprise with Chrome OS and the differences between Android and Chrome in the mobile world. Android will exist on tablets, while Chrome will exist on netbooks — at least, that’s what we thought. But the mobile arena is far from predictable. New technology causes disruptions that upset marketplace predictions. Another case in point: Google is now positioning Chrome OS to be tablet-friendly. What does this mean for the channel? Read on for some perspective …

Earlier in March 2011, our sister site MSPmentor took a look at network security company Network Box and its DLP solutions. Recently, I had a chance to talk to Network Box CTO Pierluigi Stella to get a better understanding of the technology as well as the company’s channel opportunities and growth. Read on for the details.

Recently we covered news of Tech Data’s and Brightstar’s joint venture dubbed ActivateIT. But what is it, really, and what will it do for the channel? Tech Data VP Greg Parsonson offered a deep dive on just how resellers will work with ActivateIT and its branded service, TDMobility. Read on for all the details …