The VAR Guy

His face is generic. His hair is nondescript. He neither smiles nor frowns. He doesn’t know what the two women are saying behind his back. He squints slightly for no apparent reason. And his image somehow appears on dozens of channel-related websites across the world. He is the IT Channel’s most uninteresting man.

Congratulations: You’ve survived scores of channel partner conferences in 2011. But before you celebrate, it’s time to start planning your 2012 calendar. To help you get started here’s a look at the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences for 2011. And here’s the twist: The VAR Guy needs your help nailing down the dates and locations for a few of the events, which are designed for VARs, MSPs, IT service providers and cloud services providers.

I’ve always respected Bill Gates for leaping beyond the desktop into the server software market in the 1990s, where customers craved alternatives to Unix (expensive) and NetWare (aging). But like many folks, I also viewed Gates as desktop monopolist, who once had the power to stop PC makers from adjusting even a single icon on the Windows desktop. Fast forward to the present and my views on Gates have changed for the better.

The VAR Guy is rubbing elbows this week with the folks from ADTRAN at the company’s annual Connect press and analyst event. Day one so far has been a whirlwind of presentations and meetings designed to both illuminate and educate. So what’s on ADTRAN’s mind? The resale channel. Read on for the details …

For fans of VMTurbo, here’s some good news: Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners have secured $10 million of B-round funding for the virtualization upstart. So what’s on the menu with all this freshly injected capital? Read on for the details…

Centrify, the company behind the cross-platform Active Directory management suite, is at it again with an update to its line of management products for Mac OS X. This time, DirectControl is getting an overhaul and making life a little bit easier for IT admins working with Macs. Read on for the new features Centrify is bringing to the table …

Apple can’t keep everything a secret, as much as it would like to. This time, the secrets are leaking from its very own code. iOS 5.1 beta has been released to developers and inside it are references to some interesting devices Apple has in the pipeline. Here’s the quick rundown …

Kudos to Forrester Research for stating the obvious: Windows 8 tablets will face an uphill battle when they arrive in 2012 or so. Many research firms don’t have the guts to publicly question Microsoft. Still, it’s far too early to dismiss Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet strategy. And Microsoft still has plenty of opportunity to prove Forrester wrong. Here’s why.

The dust has finally settled and the world’s largest technology event, better known as Oracle OpenWorld, has come and gone. Although thoughts of this colossal undertaking may have dwindled for some, three buzzwords used to reflect Oracle’s pioneering vision at the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Forum still remain fresh in my mind: Innovation, Engineering and Execution.

Citrix would like to introduce its channel partners to Mike Fouts, the new channel chief for Citrix’s Americas Channel. On Citrix’s channel blog, Fouts has laid out his three-point plan for aligning Citrix’s channel priorities to new emerging virtualization opportunities. Here’s what you should know …

It looks as though Sprint is taking its unlimited data plan to the chopping block, which means the last of the true all-you-can-eat data providers in the United States will be going the way of the dodo. But why? Details coming right now …

It’s the holiday season, and that means lots of new gadgets and gizmos for your loved ones (or yourself). But Cisco Systems is offering up some useful advice for those with a wireless router: If you don’t have wireless N technology, all those nifty new gadgets are as good as coal in your stocking. And yeah, there are channel implications …

Walter Isaacson, author of the Steve Jobs biography, said it will take two people to truly replace Apple’s late CEO. Isaacson’s first pick is an obvious one: Tim Cook, the man who ultimately succeeded Jobs as Apple CEO. But while Cook is the business side of Jobs’ brain, Apple still needs the artistic side of Jobs. That role falls to Apple Senior VP of Industrial Design Jonathan “Jony” Ive, Isaacson said. The VAR Guy isn’t surprised. Here’s why.

Hewlett-Packard is facing a difficult time in the server market. Indeed, IBM is gaining momentum amid HP’s missteps with Itanium, the latest Gartner research suggests. Now, HP is trying to save face with a server initiative code-named Odyssey. But here’s the big twist: Odyssey’s biggest potential winner is Red Hat. Here’s why.

I’m not sure many people become Ubuntu users because of its accessibility features. But that doesn’t mean Linux developers ignore this issue; on the contrary, as Canonical employee and “Ubuntu Community Manager” Jono Bacon noted recently, accessibility technologies are a key focus of the upcoming 12.04 release. Here’s a look at what to expect.

Dell says it’s ready to attack HP’s Proliant blade servers with a new line of PowerEdge blade servers that are optimized for better power consumption and performance, thanks to AMD’s CPUs. If saving rack space and the environment at the same time are top of mind for you, The VAR Guy has some details about Dell’s new servers. Read on …

Lenovo is continuing its tradition of inspiring PC designs with the IdeaCentre Q180, which, according to Lenovo, is the the “world’s smallest fully functional desktop PC.” In reality, the Q180 is just a very compact nettop, but what does it have to offer? Here are some thoughts …

How many people enjoy installing an operating system? The answer is probably none, especially when it comes to installing Windows. But Microsoft is working to get rid of its famous multistep-installation mayhem in Windows 8, and the Building Windows 8 blog revealed what Microsoft is doing to making upgrading to Windows 8 as easy as possible. Read on for the details …

The VAR Guy spent too much time eating turkey and too little time chasing down news tips in recent days. In fact, here are five technology news tips The VAR Guy failed to pursue and confirm for the week ending Nov. 25, 2011.

The VAR Guy thinks mobile device management is shaping up to be the trend of 2011 and likely the dominant force in 2012. Confirming that suspicion is Aruba Networks’ intention to acquire Avenda Systems. The reason? Aruba Networks wants to bolster its bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution for businesses. Details follow …

Not too long ago we reported on some industry buzz regarding the increase in the iPad 3 supply chain and the decrease in iPad 2 screen suppliers. That dubious report has been confirmed, according to one analyst. And not only will the iPad3 include the much-rumored retina display, there also may be a smaller one in the works.

Uh oh. It looks as though VMware made a huge mistake in letting users virtualize older client versions of Mac OS X on Mac OS X Lion. Turns out, Apple’s EULA really only allows “server” versions of older versions of Mac OS X to be virtualized. The result? VMware is launching a fix. Read on for the details …

As 2011 nears its end, there’s a very real question that needs to be addressed: Have we entered the era when we may legitimately see the death of the traditional PC and laptop as we know it? I asked this question in June 2010, but as we roll into 2012, has this idea become reality?