The VAR Guy

Apple’s Q1 2012 financial results, released today, were insanely great. Apple posted record profits, record revenues and rapid growth. For a company that does a relatively small number of things, this is kind of a big deal. Here are the numbers.

Oracle‘s stock (ORCL) fell roughly 8 percent in after-hours trading this evening. The hardware and software giant today announced fiscal Q2 2012 results that disappointed investors, despite rising sales of Exadata and Exalogic systems. Here’s the bigger question: Is Oracle facing unique challenges on its own, or do Oracle’s weak results foreshadow larger problems for the IT industry?

Talk about a market disconnect: Most technology company stocks are climbing today, but Red Hat (RHT) shares are falling. Hmmm… has something gone wrong at the Linux and open source leader? Not exactly. But Wall Street insiders seem to be a little concerned about Red Hat’s latest quarterly results. Should partners worry, too? Here’s some insight from The VAR Guy.

HP is giving its channel an early holiday present with a number of changes to PartnerONE and other programs designed to make HP even more relevant to its networking partners.

How are top MSPs adjusting their managed services and cloud services business models for 2012? Find out today (Wed., Oct. 19 at 2:00 p.m. eastern) during our next webcast. Two MSPmentor 100 companies — Kevin Crowe from Long View Systems and Tim Hebert from Atrion — will describe how they maximized their recurring revenues in 2011, and where their respective cloud and MSP strategies are heading in 2012. Instead of writing your 2012 business plan from scratch, borrow some great ideas from two top MSPmentor 100 companies. Bonus: Nimsoft CEO Chris O’Malley will join in to answer your questions live.

Surprise surprise, Apple is doing extremely well. For Q4 2011, Apple has broken a few new records, including number of Macs sold and iPads sold. What’s more, Apple’s astronomical growth isn’t just happening here in the United States — overseas sales are becoming the majority of Apple’s revenue stream. Despite this, Apple missed its revenue and iPhone goals. Does this portend slower growth for the technology behemoth? The VAR Guy has your answer …

When Hewlett-Packard’s earnings arrived today, they included big surprises. The company is cutting its full-year sales and earnings forecasts. But the real bombshell involves CEO Leo Apotheker’s attempt to reshape HP by acquiring Autonomy Corp. for $10 billion; potentially selling off HP’s $41 billion PC business; and killing WebOS tablet development. Now, Apotheker claims he has a three-point plan to get HP growing in higher-margin areas.

In a series of stunning decisions, Hewlett-Packard has confirmed that it’s trying to sell off its PC business, the HP Personal Systems Group (HP PSG). Plus, HP has killed the WebOS device business –  TouchPad and webOS phones are dead, though the webOS software remains alive. Also, HP  is in discussions to buy Autonomy Corp., which develops database search software, HP confirmed. Taken together, each of those moves — some pending, some completed — could help HP to reshape itself as an enterprise software and services company.

Centrify, which specializes in integrating Unix, Linux and Mac OS X Systems with Microsoft Active Directory for centralized management, has just secured $16 million in series D funding. Read on for the rundown on what’s ahead for Centrify, and what it means for the channel …

Dell’s Q2 fiscal 2012 earnings results, disclosed today, included a reduced revenue forecast that disappointed Wall Street and investors. But The VAR Guy has a piece of advice for Dell PartnerDirect resellers and VARs: Ignore Wall Street and focus on this reality check to help you pinpoint where Dell is heading next.

The VAR Guy has to give credit where credit is due: Avnet is a bright star in a very dark economic sky. The distribution company posted figures for the end of fiscal year 2011, announcing record sales of $26.5 billion amid numerous other increases. So The VAR Guy wants to know: What’s next for the distribution giant, and what exactly is fueling its success? Facts, figures and the channel follow …

Cisco Systems Inc. is set to announce fiscal Q4 earnings later today (Aug. 10). The VAR Guy wonders: Will CEO John Chambers (pictured) suggest that Cisco is now ready for a rebound … or will it require far more time for Cisco’s recent channel adjustments to generate sales and profit momentum?

When Wall Street falls sharply and stocks plummet, the media is quick to note that there are lots of sellers in the market. But alas, the media forgets to tell the other side of the story: During a major Wall Street sell-off, somebody is doing the buying at reduced prices. Why should VARs care? That’s easy to explain.

CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux offered a clear, concise message to channel partners today that CompTIA Breakaway conference in Washington, D.C. Indeed, Thibodeaux said CompTIA is investing $4 million this year in training and education. Thibodeaux also put a bright spotlight on CompTIA’s management team, each of whom explained an ECAP (Education, Certification, Advocacy and Philanthropy) strategy to several hundred channel partners and influencers.

What a difference a day makes. Over the past few months, pundits — including The VAR Guy — have criticized Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers for management missteps that will soon trigger 6,500 layoffs at the networking company. But by July 28, Wall Street was starting to regain faith in Chambers and Cisco. What triggered that overnight change of heart? And what does it mean for fiercely competitive networking industry VARs? The VAR Guy has some insights to share. Right here. Right now.

Juniper shares fell a whopping 20 percent today after the company issued a weak earnings outlook. But here’s the bigger question: Do earnings concerns at Juniper, Cisco Systems and Extreme Networks signal broader troubles in the networking industry? Before you answer consider this: The VAR Guy is starting to hear from channel partners who say their networking profits are getting pinched.

When The VAR Guy last checked in with Merchant Warehouse in October 2010, the company was refocusing its channel partner program. Fast forward nine months and The VAR Guy notices something interesting: It looks like Bob Cellucci has succeeded Jay Chaudhry as VP of business development for partner channel. Here’s the details…

Microsoft‘s revenue cup continues to runneth over — despite continued concern about Windows sales. For its Q4 ended June 30, Microsoft delivered record revenue. But take a closer look and you’ll see strengths and weaknesses across Microsoft’s business — including a 1 percent dip in Windows sales, and no mention at all of tablet or smartphone momentum. Here’s what Microsoft said… plus a reality check from The VAR Guy on each point.

CompTIA is blaming a stalled economic recovery for a dip in IT spending. According to the organization’s Business Confidence Index, company investment in infrastructure and employment is at a standstill amid uneasiness about the direction the economy will take. Here’s a quick brief of the stats and figures …

Apple reported record-breaking results for its third quarter of 2011, showing the world it remains a force to be reckoned with in the IT space, thanks to ongoing love from the consumer space and a growing infatuation from the business market. Read on for the details and the perspective you can only get at The VAR Guy …

Sometimes, The VAR Guy’s views are just plain wrong. As Cisco Systems looks ahead to layoffs in August 2011, it’s time for The VAR Guy to look back at what went wrong at the networking giant. A case in point: The VAR Guy applauded — loudly — when Cisco acquired the Flip video camera in March 2009. And The VAR Guy cheered again in mid-2009, when Cisco prepared to hand out Flip cameras to all Cisco Partner Summit attendees. The strategy sounded so simple: Flip users would load the Internet up with more video, forcing enterprise customers to upgrade their bandwidth and network infrastructure. But in the end, The VAR Guy — heck, and John Chambers — overlooked some key challenges.

The VAR Guy recently reported that Google‘s revenues aren’t really gaining ground on Microsoft‘s annual revenues, based on nearly a decade of financial data. Now, our resident blogger is back with an update — this time looking at GOOG vs. MSFT annual net income since 2002. Here again, the results may surprise you.

The other shoe nearly dropped today at Cisco Systems Inc. The networking giant confirmed plans to eliminate 6,500 employees worldwide. The twist: The impacted employees won’t be informed until August. Among the expected cuts: 15 percent of VP-level and above employees. The VAR Guy is checking to determine if any channel VPs are exiting the company. In the meantime, here’s the blow-by-blow.