The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy is packing his bags for another business trip — this time he’s heading to CompTIA Breakaway (Aug. 1-4, Washington, D.C.). But before The VAR Guy surfaces somewhere at the channel conference, here are six entries our resident blogger didn’t have time to write for the week ending July 29, 2011.

7. Big Numbers: In the past six months, Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized partners have developed 83 new solutions. The Oracle Accelerate program has also gained 41 more partners over the past nine months, including 25 new partners in Europe. Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff sounded particularly upbeat during a sit-down with The VAR Guy in June 2011.

6. Loose Lips: In a blog post, Symantec North America Channel Chief Randy Cochran revealed that Symantec plans to integrate with Kaseya‘s managed services software. The VAR Guy didn’t have time to analyze the Symantec-Kaseya relationship. But MSPmentor sure did.

5. Time to Hit Redial: Multiple smartphone makers plan to deliver new Windows Phone devices in September 2011. The devices will be based on Mango, Microsoft’s latest Windows phone platform. How many people will open their wallets for Mango devices? Hmmm… The VAR Guy wonders if the answer to that question will influence Windows 8′s tile interface design.

4. Windows 8 Release Date: Speaking of Windows 8, there’s growing speculation that Microsoft will release that operating system upgrade in April 2012. The VAR Guy wonders: What’s the rush? Millions of PCs are still ripe for upgrades from Windows XP to and Windows Vista to Windows 7. Will a rapid Windows 8 release confuse the upgrade conversation for Microsoft Partner Network VARs? Hmmm…

3. Developing A Voice: Lang Tibbils seems to be settling into his position as senior director of worldwide channels marketing at McAfee. A weekly blog from Tibbils recaps key McAfee milestones — it’s light reading (and effective communication) that even The VAR Guy can comprehend.

2. Who’s Attending CompTIA Breakaway?: The VAR Guy doesn’t know how many people CompTIA Breakaway (Aug. 1-4, Washington, D.C.) will attract. But one thing is for sure: The crowd should contain plenty of managed services experts. It seems like most of the major RMM (remote monitoring and management), PSA (professional service automation), online backup and SaaS security vendors focused on the channel plan to attend.

1. Check the Headline: Once again, this remains a top-six list. So there is no Number One — which allows The VAR Guy to sneak out the door a minute or two earlier each week. And in the world of blogging … every minute counts.

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