The VAR Guy

There’s a lot of opportunity in the MPS space, The VAR Guy is learning at the Photizo’s Managed Print Conference this week in Orlando. Yet only about 20 percent of MSPs in the MSPmentor 100 (tallied by The VAR Guy’s sister site MSPmentor) provide managed print services. But why? Read on for The VAR Guy’s perspective …

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. At least, that’s what it looks like Blackberry company RIM is doing. But whether the company is hedging its bets or genuinely focused on the future, RIM has acknowledged iOS and Android as key players in the mobile workforce. The next version of Blackberry Enterprise Server will now support iOS and Android management. Read on for the details and channel implications …

The buzz around SIP has permeated the IT networking space to the point where VARs no longer can ignore it – especially those who are moving into VoIP or other convergence technologies. Westcon Group is hoping its latest educational offering can help.

Networking company Enterasys is bringing its channel partners to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for its annual Americas Partner Conference May 2-4. But the company hopes its partners come away from the event with more than just a great tan; Enterasys wants its partners to know it’s growing.

At Red Hat Summit this week, CEO Jim Whitehurst will attempt to turn a rare triple play. Indeed, Whitehurst and the Red Hat team will strive to more clearly connect the dots between Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) and Cloud Foundations — a set of educational tools that can help channel partners get started with cloud computing. Here’s the update.

The VAR Guy has always been a big proponent of managed services as a way for VARs to transition their business or simply add an incremental revenue stream. Most MSPs, however, focus their business on managing and monitoring networks and ignore other myriad areas of opportunity. Others find much success in niche managed offerings such as managed print services. The VAR Guy is intrigued enough in this potential revenue stream to once again pack his bags and schlep down to Orlando, Fla., to the Managed Print Services Conference. Read on for what our resident blogger hopes to learn …

A recently released survey from The Business Journals once again proves the trend of consumerization of IT isn’t fading anytime soon. Apparently, more and more employees are leaving laptops at home as tablets become more versatile. The survey conducted was completed by “bosses” of small-businesses companies (those with between five and 499 employees). Read on for some results and some channel analysis …

Taiwan-based networking company D-Link posted its Q1 2011 results this past week, showing a slight dip year over year, but after adjustment and exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the New Taiwan dollar, D-Link actually posted a slight gain. Read on for the breakdown …

The Twitter rumors were true.

The VAR Guy is packing his bags and preparing to attend multiple channel partner conferences the week of May 1. But before our resident blogger hits the road, here are six channel partner blogs The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending April 29, 2011.