The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy had a bit of an attitude this week. Spam. Meetings. Bad fast food. Hmmm… the distractions, the phone calls and the heart burn never seemed to stop. Alas, here are six channel party blog entries that The VAR Guy was too busy — or too lazy — to write for the week ending March 19, 2010.

We’d previously reported that hosted Internet telephony automation service provider Ifbyphone had acquired VoIP application development environment Cloudvox, but now it looks like the acquisition is yielding its first fruit. Cloudvox has announced a pay-as-you-go rate of $0.03/minute and some new features for developers. Here’s the scoop.

For the second time in recent weeks, hosted unified communications is earning some headlines. But this time, the news involves an open source initiative between Open-Xchange (an open source email company) and 4PSA (a VoIP and cloud unified communications specialist). Here are the implications for VARs and managed services providers.

We knew Google had been making nice with software developers – and now we know why. The Google Apps Marketplace has just launched, giving ISVs a way to integrate their products with Google Apps and sell them to a huge-and-growing customer base. Intrigued?

Digium Asterisk, the open source IP PBX platform, just received a major vote of confidence from a key channel partner. Synnex Corp., a distributor that supplies more than 15,000 resellers in North America, has agreed to promote Digium’s Switchvox to channel partners. Here are the implications for the unified communications market and the emerging open source IT channel.

Headset and Bluetooth device manufacturer Plantronics is expanding its channel program to include solution providers that offer unified communications solutions, hoping to share in a market that is expected to grow exponentially over the next few years

At the Intermedia Partner Summit, the hosted Exchange provider told dozens of MSPs and VARs that they can potentially generate more profits from hosted unified communications. Intermedia’s pitch sounds accurate. But a few attendees raised questions about  getting into the hosted Unified Communications market. Here’s why.

The VAR Guy is listening for clues about the hosted Exchange industry. Are VARs embracing hosted Exchange opportunities and how are those efforts going so far? Bob Leibholz, VP of sales and business development at Intermedia, provided some key reality checks during the Intermedia Partner Summit this morning in Silicon Valley. Here are some details.

Cbeyond makes communications and IT solutions; ADTRAN makes networking and communication solutions. A match made in heaven? Maybe. ADTRAN has joined up with the Cbeyond PBX Platform Partner Program at the ‘Platinum’ Tier. Honors and mentions aside, here’s what it means for you, dear reader…

Cisco TelePresence: It’s nifty technology, but not everyone can afford it. But that’s where  Starwood Hotels and Resorts steps in. They’ve unveiled their first in-hotel Cisco TelePresence meeting suites. That means they’re ‘public’ to the extent that you’d like to rent one. The flagship hotels?  The W Chicago City Center in Illinois and the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Australia. But more are coming, and soon. Here’s the scoop about the new plan and partnerships…

As they partner up in the hosted Unified Communication market, Unison Technologies and Intermedia issued a warning for VARs and managed service providers: Don’t surrender to Microsoft Online and Google Apps. The warning, issued at the Parallels Summit in Miami, comes at a key time for VARs that specialize in traditional Exchange Server options. Here are the details.

Alteva claims to be the largest provider of enterprise hosted voice-over-IP (VoIP) providers in North America, so it’s no wonder that the company’s newly-announced porting capabilities for international numbers is rolling out in Canada first. But thanks to a strategic partnership with Microsoft, phone calls are only part of the hosted telephony solution they can offer VARs. Here’s the deal.

It has been about a month since Digium launched the Asterisk Exchange — an online marketplace to help VARs and customers piece together telephony solutions based upon the open source IP PBX. It’s an intriguing concept — similar to Red Hat’s failed Red Hat Exchange efforts. So can Digium succeed where Red Hat failed? Yes. Here’s why.

Unified communications vendor Polycom is thinking small with its latest telepresence system — small environments and a small price tag.

Intermec Technologies has announced a partnership with HealthWyse and Data Capture Solutions. The goal? Proliferate technology in the hands of health care professions so they can reliably access electronic health records on the go. VARs might be interested in this unique partnership, especially if you’re working in the heath care vertical.

It’s a thing of beauty when two major vendors collaborate to offer a solution that actually provides such value that it can practically sell itself. In theory, Polycom and Microsoft just may have done exactly that. The UC vendor and software behemoth have joined forces to offer Polycom Conferencing for Outlook, a unified communications service that integrates with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to incorporate voice and video conferencing into meetings. Here are the details.

Here’s the short story: Open-Xchange, providers of the namesake line of open source-based collaboration tools, now offers a dedicated e-mail appliance. The long story is that it’s a major play by a company that’s proving that open-source doesn’t have to mean unprofitable. Here’s the story.

Bomgar, with an assist from Intel’s Remote PC Assist Technology (RPAT), hopes to help VARs and MSPs improve remote PC support. Here are the details, along with perspectives from adopter PlumChoice, which specializes in remote services for homes and small businesses.

Siemens Enterprise Networks (SEN) has released the latest version of its OpenScape unified communications platform, with added features that could make it an even more attractive offering for solution providers.

Unison Communications made headlines in 2008 for launching a free, advertising-based unified communications system. The trade press cheered. Open source fans applauded because Unison supported Ubuntu Linux. But whatever happened to Unison? The VAR Guy thinks the company is preparing an encore. Here’s the speculation.

Parallels has launched a Cloud Services Certification Program to “help its Partners become more profitable.” The news arrives roughly two weeks before the Parallels Summit 2010 kicks off in Miami, Fla. What should partners expect in Miami? Here are some clues — involving some SaaS upstarts and some technology industry giants.

Polycom has partnered with VoIP software app vendor BroadSoft to build a hosted solution that enables solution providers to offer unified communication (UC) services in the cloud. It’s the latest in a string of Polycom partner moves. Here are the details.

For roughly a year, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard have been locked in a war on multiple fronts — from data centers to servers to networks. The duo will even host rival partner conferences the same week in April 2010. Now here’s the twist: Plenty of VARs continue to build mixed networks leveraging Cisco and HP gear. With those solutions providers in mind, ClassOnDemand.net has launched training for mixed Cisco-HP networks. Intrigued?