The VAR Guy

Sometimes, small deals are big indicators about where companies are heading next. Cisco’s $215 million acquisition of PostPath, for instance, speaks volumes about where John Chambers is taking the networking giant. Some folks say it’s a direct attack against Microsoft Exchange. The VAR Guy claims otherwise.

Initially, The VAR Guy was upbeat about Google Android. But the more he hears about the mobile open source environment, the more he worries that Google is starting to resemble Microsoft. Here’s why.

Gas is expensive … inflation is rising … yada, yada, yada… where should solutions providers focus their efforts amid the economic turmoil? Finally, some answers from OnForce, the online marketplace for IT service providers. OnForce has analyzed recent trends within its marketplace, and spotted some key areas of opportunity for solutions providers.

Microsoft is sending another $100 million toward Novell as part of an ongoing Windows-SUSE Linux relationship. Here are five things Novell should do with that dough.

Jimmy likes Elaine Benes, but The VAR Guy no longer loves Seinfeld. The reason: Apparently, Jerry has signed on to pitch Microsoft’s Windows Vista, reports The Wall Street Journal. Wasn’t that a Macintosh sitting on the Seinfeld apartment set for a decade? Seinfeld should keep buying relatives Wizards and stay clear of PCs.

You can almost hear the Linux faithful screaming again, this time because Microsoft is sending another $100 million in Novell’s direction. The open source crowd has been fast to criticize the Microsoft-Novell relationship. But CIOs seems to welcome the relationship (no joke). For more on the relationship, check out what Matt Asay has to say over at CNet’s Open Road blog.

Lenovo is leaping from the desktop into the server market, and will launch its first Linux and Windows servers this September, The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s why solutions providers — and rivals like Dell and Hewlett-Packard — should care.

The final numbers are in. During Installfest at this week’s LinuxWorld Expo, Untangle and its partners put Ubuntu Linux on 750 aging PCs that now run like new. The Installfest was a win for school budgets, kids and the environment. And the event proved — in a small way — that Linux can be a key tool that helps close the digital divide.

How’s this for ironic: Microsoft is actually spending some sponsorship dollars here at OSCON (Open Source Conference) 2008, but Apple is stealing the show — without spending a dime. Here’s how.

The VAR Guy smiled a bit when he read Matt Asay’s blog entry about media folks who pretend they’re unbiased. Asay says he prefers media and blogs that disclose their biases about tech products, companies, investments, etc. The VAR Guy certainly agrees. So here are some of his biases.