The inaugural Oracle Partner Executive Summit is expected to focus on Oracle’s extensive hardware and software portfolio. Althoff is the official host… but President Mark Hurd is expected to share his vision as well, The VAR Guy has heard.

It sounds like there will be a special emphasis on the Oracle Exadata database machine as well as the Oracle Database Appliance. In fact, there’s chatter that some Oracle Exadata partners from outside North America could also be on hand for the event.

The event’s lineup apparently includes:

• Amit Zavery, VP of Fusion Middleware product management, covering cloud growth opportunities.
• John Fowler, executive VP of systems, offering hardware roadmaps.
• Robert Shrimp, group VP product marketing, covering Oracle Big Data Appliance and Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c.
• Ted Bereswill, senior VP of North America alliances and channels, covering recent partner wins involving BIAS Corp., Cintra and MapleSoft Group. It’s safe to expect Oracle Database Appliance perspectives from Bereswill and the partners, The VAR Guy believes.

Oracle Partner Solutions

Meanwhile, Oracle continues to build and expand the company’s Oracle PartnerNetwork Solutions Catalog. The web destination includes nearly 21,000 partner solutions for end-customers to explore, according to Lydia Smyers, Oracle VP of worldwide alliances and channel programs and communications.

Sure, most vendors offer websites that allow customers to search for partners. Yawn… Many of those web sites are nothing more than Google maps and partner URLs. In stark contrast, the Oracle PartnerNetwork Solutions Catalog goes the extra mile; the site is loaded with dynamic content that refreshes with partner-centric news, depending on which page or solution a customer researches.

Hardware Growth?

Shifting gears, Oracle’s next quarterly earnings report is still several weeks away. EarningsWhispers.com says Oracle will likely announce its Q3 results on March 20, 2012. At that time, investors and partners will be watching to see if Oracle has jump-started hardware sales.

Distributors have told The VAR Guy that the Oracle Database Appliance, introduced in 2011, is off to a good start. But Oracle’s most recent quarterly results, announced in December 2011, included hardware and software sales figures that disappointed Wall Street.

Still, Oracle continues to bang a steady drum with its channel partners. Oracle put a brighter spotlight on its OPN Specialized partners during the 2011 Oracle OpenWorld conference. And this week, Oracle is set to host the inaugural Oracle Partner Executive Summit.

Memo to Oracle partners who are flocking to Redwood Shores this week: If you’re in the mood to leak information about the meeting, The VAR Guy (thevarguy [at] NineLivesMediaInc [dot] com) is all ears.

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During a wide-ranging conversation, Frey told The VAR Guy that Lenovo will continue to innovate across all of its product platforms — though product rollouts will vary from region to region.

The conversation covered…

1. Tablets: Sure, the retail environment is very competitive for consumer tablets, Frey conceded. But he insisted that Lenovo has “sold a lot” of Ideapad Tablet K1s. “We met expectations and we’ll start to differentiate in the consumer market.” Still, Frey didn’t disclose actual sales volumes for the K1. On the commercial front, Frey said, Lenovo is seeing “significant traction” with the ThinkPad Tablet. He expects Ice Cream Sandwich — a Google Android update — plus Lenovo’s own security and manageability focus to drive further demand.

2. Smart Phones and TVs: Lenovo has a “significant” smart phone footprint in China and will converge that momentum with PCs in China. Lenovo will also make a smart TV push in China “in the foreseeable future,” he added. “As we integrate the four-screen strategy and show it in China, we’ll bring that around the world in emerging and maturing markets.” Frey declined to predict when such a push will reach North America.

3. Servers: Lenovo first launched SMB servers in North America in 2008. Since that time, Lenovo’s server efforts have been relatively quiet.  “North America is okay and growing; it’s growing on a small [sales] number right now. We’ve been focused on notebooks, desktops and then tablets. Throughout 2012, we’ll focus more and more on the server strategy. We will enter carefully and make sure we don’t create false expectations. We’re getting partner feedback on how to further enable our partners.”

Frey says both the four-screen strategy and the server strategy will tie back to Lenovo’s cloud strategy — which calls for secure endpoints that link into the cloud.

Even if cloud computing pressures on-premises server sales, Lenovo sees server opportunities ahead. “I believe in the server market, when you have 1 percent market share or less like we do, there’s an opportunity to enter if you do it in the right way. The opportunity for entry is still great. And the opportunity for us to grow with servers is still there.”

4. Partner Momentum With PCs, Notebooks: Frey noted that Lenovo continues to “move up” in market share, and “a lot of that is because of the channel. Our volumes are up 15 percent year to date in a flat market. We grew desktops twice as fast as notebooks in the channel. We’ve made our statement: The desktop isn’t dead. Our numbers show the desktop isn’t dead.”

5. The Quest for More Partners: Yes, Lenovo continues to recruit new partners — adding 30 percent more resellers year-over-year. But will all that partner recruitment hurt engagement rates and dilute Lenovo’s channel? Frey says no way. “We’re at an all-time high in terms of partner engagement. And those partners are reselling with us on a consistent basis.”

Sometime in 2012, it sounds like Lenovo will more aggressively promote servers to those partners. The VAR Guy will be watching to see if the server message catches on.

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As data grows, so does the risk to that data. VARs who specialize in SMB sales know that managing data protection is essential to the continuity of the business. There is no shortage of solutions to choose from, making it a bit challenging for SMBs with limited IT staff to know what backup solution to choose. What works for some businesses will not work for others – solutions providers can help their customers find a flexible backup solution, whether it is software-based, an appliance, or a cloud service. As a bit of guidance, I have pulled together a few scenarios in which each backup choice works best for VARs and their customers.

• Software solutions tend to work best for organizations that have a solutions provider relationship as well as a dedicated IT staff, as they can integrate the software into the current technical environment. Software solutions also work best for organizations that are not planning on upgrading or buying new storage hardware in the immediate future, as backup software will easily support the existing hardware investment.
• Appliances are ideal for SMBs that plan on purchasing new storage hardware. SMBs can protect growing data volumes and consider buying their hardware and software together. On-site disk backups provide faster restores for quick recovery of files and applications. Several appliances also provide granular object recovery of applications. In addition, an appliance is hardware-agnostic. If a company has no hardware vendor preference and simply wants an all-in-one backup solution, VARs may recommend an appliance as an ideal solution.

For a small or midsized company with no local IT staff, an appliance delivers a pre-integrated hardware and software stack that can be managed by a trusted VAR with no day-to-day IT support necessary. The appliance can be managed across remote offices, and data can be moved to corporate headquarters for archiving.

• Cloud services are perfect for businesses that have solutions providers managing their data with no local IT staff. Some considerations: network bandwidth is a consideration when data sets are large, and a limited number of local applications or databases generally means that SMBs have less data or fewer applications to recover. More and more companies have adopted SaaS elsewhere in their business and prefer the benefits (agility, low initial price, pay-as-you-grow, etc.) over on-premise solutions. Online backup managed by a solutions provider helps to relieve remote offices of backup duties so they can focus on business operation.

As you can see, it is important for SMBs to have solutions providers involved in their backup decisions. Solutions providers have unique experience under their belts to assess each business’ backup need, and tailor solutions to that need. The bottom line is that SMBs don’t always have the time or resources to dedicate to IT, particularly backup. So a trusted VAR can help an SMB over this hurdle, and help keep their SMB customer from drowning in a sea of data.

Randy Cochran is VP of channel sales for the Americas at Symantec. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s annual sponsorship program. Read all of Cochran’s guest blogs here.

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According to an Avaya spokesperson, his position will not be filled; rather, Tom Mitchell, Avaya’s senior vice president and president, Avaya Go to Market — and Butt’s boss — will oversee all Avaya’s channel operations from a global perspective.

Butt, who joined Avaya in June 2008 from Motorola, where he was channel chief, was brought on to lead Avaya’s channel sales organization and develop strategies and programs for its global channel partner base. During his tenure, Butt helped transition the company to a more channel-centric model and guided Avaya and its partners through the company’s acquisition of Nortel’s enterprise business.

Mitchell said via e-mail Butt’s leadership was instrumental in ensuring Avaya’s success as a channel-focused organization.

“He came to Avaya to help with a difficult transition from a largely direct sales organization to one that was channel-centric,” Mitchell said. “His success in this is evidenced by the current 78 percent indirect vs. 22 percent direct global sales figures. During that tenure, he also integrated thousands of channel partners that came on board with the Nortel acquisition.”

Butt also helped Avaya and its partners expand beyond traditional PBX technology into IP communications and unified communications — an area experiencing continued growth.

Mitchell noted Butt’s decision to leave was something that “transpired in recent weeks.”
“He has been working non-stop since he arrived, and is ready for a little rest, family time and to determine what his next challenge will be,” Mitchell said.

He also emphasized the move was not part of an effort to streamline the channel exec ranks; however, in an interview with CRN, Mitchell alluded there would be some reorganizational changes in the channel ranks.

Meanwhile, Mitchell said he plans to increase the visibility of Avaya’s channel organization even further within the company.

“[I] provide a direct seat for Channels on the Senior Executive Committee, and … will be elevating the channel organization strategy and development teams, having them report directly to [me],” he said via e-mail. “Second, under Jeremy’s leadership, the Avaya Connect Channel program became a highly functional framework for our global partner program.  … Jeremy [and I] have been working closely for two years at Avaya and while we are not backfilling Jeremy’s role, that framework is strong enough to enable us to continue building the world-class partner program that delivers market-leading value to partners and customers. Our commitment to the channel has never been stronger.”

Mitchell, who has deep roots in the channel as a former Cisco channel chief, will help lead Avaya’s channel partners worldwide as the company shifts its partner message to selling solutions in key segments and makes further attempts to streamline its partner engagements through a simplified pricing structure and other value-adds.

In an interview during Avaya’s 2012 U.S. Gov/Sales Leadership and Partner Conference, Mitchell noted the new partner strategy is in response to a general shift in the marketplace.

“Customers have changed the way they buy and what they expect. It’s no longer the IT department that VARs are selling to — now it’s the person in the C-suite. Channel partners do well by starting with the CFO,” Mitchell said. “Our partners are fortunate in that our products lend a lot of productivity in the market.

“It’s all about doing more with less and it’s a much different selling notion than just selling an upgrade to telephony systems,” he added. “We need to move to a sales organization that might be used to selling that and incent them to do that. This is being driven by the market.”

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First, the background: Former McAfee Channel Chief Alex Thurber exited McAfee last week to join TripWire. New Channel Chief Gavin Struthers is relocating from Australia to Silicon Valley to head up McAfee’s partner team. Struthers is a 10-year McAfee veteran who has extensive experience in Australia, new Zealand and developing markets. Stepping into a global role was a next natural career move, he told The VAR Guy today. As a former sales leader, Struthers said he brings “rigor and execution” to the channel chief post.

McAfee’s Channel Blog

To spread the word about the new channel chief, McAfee opted for social media — rather than traditional PR newswires — as the primary information pipeline. Struthers blogged about his new role and his personal business philosophy on the McAfee website. It was strikingly similar to Cisco Systems’ channel strategy — which often involves blog-centric updates from Keith Goodwin, Edison Peres and other Cisco channel leaders.

A case in point: When Cisco ended its channel partnership with Hewlett-Packard, Goodwin broke the news in a blog and video — allowing Cisco to control the messaging from the get-go.

Now, McAfee is using its blog to disclose big channel news. That’s hardly surprising. Former Cisco Channel Evangelist Lang Tibbils now drives many of McAfee’s channel marketing and communications efforts. Could Tibbils have managed today’s blog communication from Struthers to readers? The VAR Guy sure thinks so.

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McAfee

In a blog post, Struthers confirmed his new position and outlined three requirements for an effective channel partnership. As a 10-year veteran of McAfee — now owned by Intel — Struthers says he’s a “salesman, which means I am passionate, energetic and focused on results.”

On the channel front, Struthers says an effective partnership requires three components:

• Working with people you trust.
• Profitable relationships.
• Relevance, which involves a strong vendor with a strong value proposition.

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McAfee

The VAR Guy could not reach Thurber, McAfee senior VP of worldwide channel operations, for comment. Our resident blogger has also reached out to McAfee PR for potential comment.

Thurber’s Track Record at McAfee

Thurber joined McAfee in August 2009 after a successful run at Cisco Systems. While at McAfee, Thurber eliminated any lingering partner concerns about McAfee’s channel commitment. Over the past two years, McAfee has steadily revised its partner program to more effectively reward VARs. McAfee has also engaged MSPs with SaaS-centric security software — part of McAfee’s MX Logic acquisition.

Most recently, Thurber has been educating channel partners about the growing integration between Intel hardware and McAfee software. Intel acquired McAfee in February 2011.

In a mid-2011 interview with The VAR Guy, Thurber said McAfee had business relationships with 98 of the Fortune 100 companies. Channel engagements were one of McAfee’s top five priorities for the year — backed by an SMB partner program that’s designed to help VARs with customer engagements of up to about 250 seats.

At the time, Thurber said McAfee had spent about $20 million overhauling its internal CRM systems, and some of the enhancements were specifically designed for channel partners.

By October 2011, the Intel-McAfee strategy was more fully explained during the McAfee Focus conference.

Thurber’s Next Move

Where is Thurber heading next? Hmmm… So far, The VAR Guy’s sources are mum. But The VAR Guy has a hunch: For a channel chief to jump away from a job he loves, it typically involves a smaller company with big growth aspirations…

Meanwhile back at McAfee, sources say, the channel team is firmly in place and it sounds like a successor for Thurber has been named or could be named within days.

Still, nothing above has been officially confirmed by McAfee or Thurber. The VAR Guy admits he’s going out on a limb with this blog entry. But he trusts his sources… and the limb upon which he stands.

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First, a little background: Numerous high-tech companies are starting 2012 with new or recently named CEOs in place. The recent CEO roster changes include AMD (Rory Read), Apple (Tim Cook), Hewlett-Packard (Meg Whitman), IBM (Virginia Rometty) and Google, just to name a few. The VAR Guy is looking at each company  — one by one — over the next few days. Today’s stop: Google and Larry Page.

The vast majority of Google’s revenues still come from search advertising. Talkin’ Cloud, The VAR Guy’s sister site, estimates that Google Apps generates only about $185 million in annual revenues. But that figure overlooks additional revenue opportunities for Google’s channel partners — many of whom build their own apps or provide integration and consulting services to optimize Google Apps deployments.

The Google Apps partner program certainly has its fans. True believers include Excel Micro, the largest authorized distributor of Google message security and compliance solutions. Michael Amadio, director of marketing at Excel Micro, cheered when Page was promoted back into the CEO post.

By December 2011, Jeff Ragusa, the Google Apps SMB Channel Lead, described how Google would accelerate its channel partner engagements in 2012.

Google Chromebooks and Google Android

So far so good. But Google’s channel strategy could also extend beyond Google Apps. Most recently, Google has been lining up resellers to support Google Chromebooks — those cloud-centric netbooks promoted by Acer and Samsung. During the holidays, Chromebooks apparently were in short supply.

Also, it’s a safe bet many VARs and MSPs will need to master Google Android as they begin to introduce mobile device management (MDM) services for customers’ tablets and smartphones.

But back to the central question from The VAR Guy: Is Google CEO Larry Page committed to channel partners? The VAR Guy’s answer: Page certainly doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about the channel. But his lieutenants — folks like Ragusa and Google VP of Enterprise Amit Singh — have offered steady updates to Google’s growing channel partner base.

Admittedly, Google has its share of doubters in the channel. Some partners worry Google will take business direct. Other partners don’t think they can make a living reselling low-priced Google Apps.

Still, the overall trend is clear: Google’s partner ranks are swelling. And Page has showed no signs of reversing course since being named CEO.

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Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst apparently told Investor’s Business Daily that the company plans to add at least 1,000 workers in 2012 — which would boost Red Hat’s worldwide employment by more than 20 percent. Red Hat already has 4,350 workers, according to the NewsObserver.com.

Admittedly, we’re not talking Google numbers; the search giant apparently hired 6,000 people in 2011. But Red Hat’s continued expansion deserves notice. Wall Street expressed some concern about Red Hat’s growth prospects back in December 2011. Red Hat’s hiring plans prove that the company is focused on long-term growth rather than short-term investor skepticism.

For channel partners the trends are clear: Red Hat’s VARs need to get serious about pushing beyond Linux to master Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV). North America Channel Chief Roger Egan has also stated — multiple times — that Jboss middleware remains a lucrative IT consulting opportunity for channel partners. Plus, Red Hat’s buyout of Gluster promises to give Red Hat partners new opportunities in the storage market.

In March 2012 when Red Hat announces Q4 results, Red Hat will likely become the world’s first $1 billion open source company. Again, that’s a small figure compared to annual revenues at rivals like Microsoft ($69.94 billion for fiscal 2011) and VMware ($2.9 billion for fiscal 2010). But the Red Hat channel, like Red Hat itself, continues to grow in strength, The VAR Guy believes…

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Chatter about ChannelEyes started in September 2011. According to the prepared statement at the time, ChannelEyes will allow:

• Partners to control the programs they need to follow, filter the information they want to share and easily build social conversations around it.
• For suppliers like vendors, distributors, associations, franchises and other players in the ecosystem, it will be the place to engage with their entire channel. Organizations will be able to target the right person with the right information at the right time.

More recently, McBain has blogged: “ChannelEyes was started as a better way for Vendors to work with and engage their Channel Partners every day. Something that makes Partner Portals, Newsletters and Email — work better!”

Hmmm… The VAR Guy is intrigued. No doubt, Godgart has leveraged strong relationships in CompTIA to attract vendors and channel partners to ChannelEyes. And McBain has a knack for whipping up social media storms that educate readers about his business interests.

Still, The VAR Guy is taking a wait-and-see attitude toward ChannelEyes. VARs and MSPs, after all, already have their hands full managing a range of social media engagements. ChannelEyes will need to provide a tight bond between vendors and VARs to keep partners coming back for more.

The reality check potentially starts January 12, when ChannelEyes opens its pilot launch up to early access participants…

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The VAR Guy this month is looking at multiple high-tech CEOs, some of whom are new to the CEO post while others could be on a CEO hot seat.

First up is the CEO transition at IBM. Under former CEO Palmisano, who remains chairman, IBM spent a decade focusing on Four Key Questions, according to The New York Times:

• “Why would someone spend their money with you — so what is unique about you?”
• “Why would somebody work for you?”
• “Why would society allow you to operate in their defined geography — their country?”
• “And why would somebody invest their money with you?”

Winning Formula

It’s hard to argue with the results. During Palmisano’s tenure, IBM says, Big Blue “increased EPS [earnings per share] by almost five times, generated over $100 billion in free cash flow, and invested more than $50 billion in research and development—creating over $100 billion of shareholder value since 2002 through an increase in market capitalization and dividends paid.”

Meanwhile, IBM’s closest rival — Hewlett-Packard — over the past decade has stumbled badly amid multiple CEO changes and strategic missteps.

But here’s the challenge for new IBM CEO Virginia Rometty: IBM’s Q3 earnings, announced in October 2011, triggered some concern about slowing growth. The VAR Guy wonders: Is Rometty stepping into the CEO seat just as Big Blue begins to face a new round of business challenges? Hmmm…

Rometty’s Strategy

Pundits expect Rometty to continue IBM’s big bet on business analytics and business intelligence software — which help companies to manage their data. Moreover, there are signs that Rometty helped Palmisano to craft Big Blue’s services and cloud strategies — so don’t expect big changes there.

Still, IBM’s business analytics push has narrow appeal to channel partners. Sure, some partners have bet their companies on business intelligence, database management and information management. But the vast majority of IBM’s channel partners more likely focus on bread-and-butter offerings like IBM servers.

As customers shift their server hardware budgets to cloud services, IBM partner strategies will need to change.

During IBM PartnerWorld 2011, Palmisano told partners to focus on four areas:

1. Invest in skills and focus on customer outcomes.
2. Embrace IBM’s growing software portfolio.
3. Understand the importance of applications and workloads.
4. Expand your services capabilities.

No doubt, Rometty will reinforce those themes in 2012. But partners should also keep a close eye on Channel Chief Rich Hume and Andy Monshaw, general manager of IBM’s global and medium sized businesses. Monshaw seems to be developing an IBM strategy that more closely aligns with managed services providers, MSPmentor has reported.

Rometty helped to build IBM Global Services into a worldwide powerhouse. Will she share some secrets to success with MSPs and other IT services providers? The VAR Guy is watching.

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On the surface it appears that technology vendors and their partners are in for a tough year. However, TechTarget also reports that only 13% of those surveyed plan on reducing overall spending. This indicates a move towards spending on strategic initiatives as well as necessary items (new laptops etc.).

What to look for in a partner
To set your organization up for success in 2012, VARs should look to partner with companies that offer technologies that are considered must haves. Even with tight IT budgets, organizations in all verticals will need network security. The myriad of phishing attacks, botnets and, spam and other Internet threats means the risks of going without network security outweigh the potential costs. As long as cybercriminals continue to make money from these attacks new and more sophisticated attacks will be developed. Because of this, organizations of all sizes, in all industries will continue to purchase network security products to protect their networks.

Which security product/which vendor?
VARs searching for a potential partners will find that there are many network security vendors to choose from. Which one is the right one? They key is to find a security company whose products offer a balance between functionality, ease-of-use and reliability. End-users will look for products that provide more than network protection. They will want a product that helps improve productivity and even helps save money. The best way to determine which vendor will offer you the best sales case you should read customer testimonials and talk to other VARs. The best indicator of whether or not a company’s product will create a good opportunity for your organization is how happy current customers are.

Do they talk about time and cost savings? Happy customers that can point to specific metrics on why they are pleased with a product will help you demonstrate the product’s value to potential customers. Having this information before deciding which vendor to partner with will help you make a solid decision that will help your organization be successful in 2010 and beyond. It is becoming clear the economy is starting to turn around. Despite this, IT budgets will remain tight.

When trying to determine which vendors to partner with look beyond factors such as margins. High margins are important but so are a demand for the product, a product that helps save time, and a vendor who has a personal relationship with each of its VARs. When looking for a vendor to partner with, don’t just look at the normal metrics. Think about what types of products will be in demand and then for the most reliable vendor in that space.

Bob Darabant is VP of Astaro Americas. This monthly guest blog is part of The VAR Guy’s annual sponsorship program. Read all of Darabant’s guest blog entries here.

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