The VAR Guy

The Oracle vs. SAP battle has spilled over into social media, where the two software giants are taking decidedly different approaches to engaging channel partners. Here’s a look at each strategy and key milestones so far.

Microsoft Channel Chief Allison Watson, in a FastChat Video with The VAR Guy, explains how VARs and managed services providers can potentially profit from Microsoft’s cloud offerings. But that’s not all…

Isilon Systems, which specializes in scalable storage, network-attached storage, archiving solutions and storage virtualization, is making some channel partner moves. I spoke with Leonard Iventosch, the channel VP who is building Isilon’s partner program. Here’s his strategy.

Sophos Channel Chief Chris Doggett returns for his latest FastChat video conversation. This month’s discussion focuses on security software partner programs. Doggett explains how VARs and solutions providers can look beyond marketing hype to measure the success (and profitability) of various security software partner engagements. Here are the details.

At the SAP Partner Summit in Las Vegas, Senior VP Pat Hume and VP Kevin Gilroy stepped to the stage and addressed more than 1,000 solutions providers that work within the SAP PartnerEdge partner program. Roughly 52 percent of SAP’s small and midsize enterprise sales currently involve partners. Looking ahead, Hume wants to push that SME figure to 100% partner centric — as SAP balances on-premises and SaaS strategies. Here are the details, plus 12 key takeaways from today’s kick-off keynote.

Picking the right hosting partner for your business can be critical to your success. It’s a given that you want a partner with high quality data centers, a low latency network and quality servers.  At The Planet, we can offer you all that.  But you may also want to select a provider with a la carte services that allow you to meet a broad range of customer service needs, without beginning your search anew.

For the second consecutive quarter, Wall Street wasn’t impressed with Dell’s financial performance, but the hardware giant seems to be making continued progress with channel partners. Dell Channel Chief Greg Davis and other team members gave The VAR Guy a few updates today. Take a look.

So much for competing and cooperating. Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard are officially full-time competitors. According to a blog entry and video post from Cisco Channel Chief Keith Goodwin, Cisco “recently notified HP that we will not renew its System Integrator contract when it expires on April 30, 2010, resulting in HP no longer being a Cisco Certified Channel or Global Service Alliance partner.” Here’s the scoop.

For the second time in recent weeks, an Alfresco veteran is making an open source career move. The latest news involves Andrew P. King jumping from Alfresco to rival Magnolia International as its new U.S. director of business development — essentially becoming Magnolia’s U.S. channel chief. Never heard of Magnolia? Year-over-year U.S. sales reportedly are surging 60 percent. Here’s a bit more about Magnolia, King and the company’s partner program.

I had the chance to talk with Websense’s recently appointed channel chief Matt Hynes, who’s taking the position amid fierce competition in the security market. Here’s what Hynes had to say about himself, the channel, and the timing of his appointment.

Oracle is suffering from a case of Groundhog Day. And that’s a good thing. Whether you follow Oracle’s Twitter feeds or Channel Chief Judson Althoff’s personal blog, the messages are strikingly similar each day: Oracle is striving to rally partners around the Oracle PartnerNetwork  (OPN) Specialized program. Smart move. Here’s why.

Visit Kaspersky Lab’s web site and you’ll notice the top header reads “Home Computer Security.” The VAR Guy expects that to change under Nancy Reynolds, Kaspersky’s new senior VP of corporate sales. Reynolds, a well-known channel veteran, left Dell and joined Kaspersky (the fast-growing anti-virus specialist) earlier this week. In this FastChat video, Reynolds offers some thoughts on where she plans to take Kaspersky’s channel program…

Zimbra, one of the best-known providers of open source email, may soon have a new owner. Rumors are swirling that Yahoo plans to sell Zimbra to VMware. If true, here are the implications for VARs and managed service providers — particularly in the SaaS (software as a service) market.

As Cisco Systems gears up for its April 2010 partner summit, The VAR Guy has noticed a rather interesting development: Rival Juniper Networks appears to have scheduled its J-Partner Summit for the exact same week. Was that a glaring error — or a subtle sign that Juniper isn’t afraid to face Cisco’s Partner Summit head-on? Here’s some speculation from The VAR Guy.

Juniper Networks sees a bright 2010 for its channel partners as the company continues its emphasis on solutions selling and better marketing efforts, said Frank Vitagliano (pictured), Juniper’s channel chief. Here’s a quick interview with Vitagliano, exploring where Juniper is heading in 2010.

Avaya’s channel VP sees 2010 as a turning point for the channel. How so? Carol Neslund, VP of Avaya’s North American Channel, offers some quick thoughts here.

Bob Bruce, long a fixture in the technology space, has been tapped to lead Aruba Networks’ channel sales efforts. He’s a bit on Bruce’s background, which includes tours of duty at Cisco Systems, Juniper and Meru Networks.

When Novell announced a reorganization this week, The VAR Guy took some time to digest the news. He sipped his latte and mulled Novell’s stated direction. Now, our resident blogger is ready to weigh in with an opinion. Specifically, keep an eye on Novell Senior VP Joe Wagner. His partner ecosystem moves in 2010 will define whether Novell’s latest business strategy succeeds or fails. Here’s why.

During a chilly Friday in New York, The VAR Guy sat down for a warm bowl of soup — and a conversation with Brocade Channel Chief Barbara Spicek (pictured). Yes, soup was the meal. And the conversation was good. Here’s a recap.

Novell announced quarterly results on December 3. So how are the company’s individual solutions groups performing — particularly the SUSE Linux solutions group? And what’s the latest with Novell’s partner program? The VAR Guy got some perspectives from Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon. Here’s a recap.

Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff (pictured), as expected, launched the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program on December 2. Big surprises? Nope. Big implications? Yes. Here’s a look at Oracle’s latest partner program and potential implications for solutions providers.

So much for relaxing on Thanksgiving. Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff (pictured) and his team are preparing to launch Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized during a virtual event on Dec. 2. Here are some quick details.

When Sophos introduced free data loss prevention (DLP) security software in October 2009, The VAR Guy promised to poke around and get some competitive reactions. Well, our resident blogger is finally back with thoughts from Symantec CEO Enrique Salem and Channel Chief Randy Cochran. Here are their perspectives.