The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy spends ample time bashing a few Microsoft offerings (chiefly Windows Vista). But in this blog entry, he needs to tip his hat to the software giant. A small announcement between Microsoft and ShoreTel provides some big ideas for partners moving into the unified communications market. Here’s why.

The VAR Guy is starting to sound like a broken record (or a scratched CD, for those of you who don’t remember vinyl). Here’s the scoop: Avaya is the latest company to embrace the iPhone as a business device. Yes, a business device. Within the next year or so, as loyal readers here know, The VAR Guy expects the iPhone to emerge as major device for unified business communications.

Seinfeld succeeded with a show about nothing. Now, Avaya wants to reward VARs with a partner program about nothing (well, almost nothing). Confused? Don’t be. Avaya has an intriguing program that pays “sales influencers” a 5 percent commission even if they don’t actually sell Avaya products. Here’s how it works.