The VAR Guy

At the HP Global Partner Conference next week, Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman will have the opportunity to engage and energize partners. But the event will also serve as a proving ground for Whitman and HP. Indeed, some partners want further assurances that HP is back on track after the company lost its way in 2011. Here’s a preview from The VAR Guy.

There’s still time to register for today’s Channel Expert Hour Webcast. Our topic: How to build cloud backup partnerships that allow MSPs and VARs to control pricing, margins and service level agreements. Two top IT service providers  — Data Storage Corp. and Bumi (Backup My Info!) — and Asigra will offer their perspectives on cloud backup. We’ll cover the questions Data Storage Corp. and Bumi asked while investigating potential cloud storage partnerships.

I’m back in my secret lair here in San Francisco after my trip to Las Vegas for the Juniper Networks Global Partner Conference, and while I was laid low for a day thanks to an unfortunately timed bug, I wanted to share some slightly belated final thoughts drawn from my time on the conference floor, conversations I had with Juniper executives, and just some stray observations.

I’m at the first-ever Juniper Networks Global Partner Conference here at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino in Las Vegas, where the networking company is laying out its channel strategies for the next year. The biggest announcement: the rebranding of the company’s partner play to the Juniper Partner Advantage program, a so-called “pivoting” of its channel strategy aimed at helping VARs stay relevant in a changing market.

One of the most intriguing things about this week’s Juniper Networks inaugural Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas is that the focus was largely taken off the technology side of things (not to say that it was absent), with much of the discussion given over to the new marketing strategies that the changing IT marketplace requires. And to that end, Juniper took the opportunity of having the undivided attention of more than a thousand partners to announce the Marketing Concierge platform and InnoVAR training tools.

The VAR Guy is nearly ready to unplug for the extended New Year holiday weekend. But before our resident blogger disappears for a little rest and relaxation, here’s a look at the top channel partner conferences for Q4 2012.

For a change The VAR Guy is not procrastinating. Our resident blogger is planning his 2012 travel schedule to a range of VAR and MSP conferences. continues to plan his travel schedule for 2012. Want to potentially meet on the road? Here’s a look at the top channel partner conferences for Q1 and Q2 2012. And below, you’ll find a list of the top Q3 2012 channel partner conferences.

The VAR Guy, continues to plan his travel schedule for 2012. And you can, too. Each day this week The VAR Guy shares his list of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012. Today’s blog entry covers Q2 2012.

The VAR Guy, at last, has finalized his list of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012. You can view the list in multiple formats. Check out the in-depth calendar, which lets you sort by month or by extended description. Or check out a simple bullet list, which lets you see all of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012 on a single page. Now, here’s a closer look at the Q1 2012 events that demand your attention…

Dell is crossing the pond in January to take its storage message to partners in the United Kingdom with the first of its 2012 Dell Storage Forums. You may remember in June 2011, The VAR Guy headed to sunny Orlando, Fla., for the inaugural Dell Storage Forum, which marked the first time that Dell Compellent, EqualLogic and PowerVault partners came together for one event, focused on bringing together all those technologies into a “fluid” data infrastructure. Now, Dell is ready to cross the pond and bring the fluidity to London for its European partners.

Microsoft is calling it quits at CES. After the January 2012 event, Microsoft announced it no longer will be a major player in the annual consumer electronics show. Why is Microsoft is pulling out, and more importantly, does it matter? Here’s the rundown …

Join our next webcast today at 2:00 p.m. eastern. We’ll cover five best practices for selling cloud services. Confirmed speakers include Savvis VP Martin Capurro, Mycroft CISO Liz Mann, and CA Technologies Senior Advisor Wendy Petty (CA is the event’s sponsor). We’ll take your questions throughout the webcast. Register now and pose your questions at 2:00 p.m. eastern today.

The VAR Guy is starting to build his travel schedule for 2012. And he’s already spotted a potential date conflict: It looks like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and VMware (VMW) — which do partner with one another — are scheduled to host their respective channel partner summits during the same week, in the same city, for 2012.

If there’s one word The VAR Guy can use to describe ADTRAN, it’s consistent (although steadfast is a close second). At its annual CONNECT press and analyst event, ADTRAN has shown its propensity for consistency by not changing its message from the previous year’s event. And that’s a good thing. Here’s why:

The VAR Guy is rubbing elbows this week with the folks from ADTRAN at the company’s annual Connect press and analyst event. Day one so far has been a whirlwind of presentations and meetings designed to both illuminate and educate. So what’s on ADTRAN’s mind? The resale channel. Read on for the details …

Day two of Synnex Varnex 2011 kicked off with an array of vendors discussing their market strategies within Synnex. But the highlights were Motorola and Microsoft, which should come at no surprise, since the cloud and mobile device management are at the forefront of many distribution strategies. Read on for a quick list of The VAR Guy’s highlights …

At Synnex Varnex 2011, The VAR Guy was once again privy to some one-on-one time with Synnex top brass. This time it was Rob Moyer, Synnex’s VP of Cloud Computing Programs, who gave The VAR Guy the lowdown on Synnex’s lofty direction into hosted solutions and a few words about the future of Synnex. Here’s the scoop …

The VAR Guy was given some one-on-one time with Synnex CEO and President Kevin Murai during the Synnex Varnex 2011 event in Las Vegas. Our resident blogger had just six questions for Murai, all of which received complex answers. The VAR guy has the scoop on Synnex’s future, SMB, the cloud and why Synnex doesn’t quite stick out like all those other big distribution companies.

Synnex is big on HP, The VAR Guy knows this. How so? Stephen DiFranco, SVP of HP’s Personal Systems Group, had his own keynote at Synnex Varnex 2011, during which he attempted to do damage control following HP’s turbulent year so far. The bottom line? Partners can trust HP and its product pipeline — PSG is not going anywhere, and HP is still one big, happy family. So what can partners expect from HP in 2012? Here’s what DiFranco laid out …

Synnex CEO Kevin Murai and Senior VP of Marketing Robert Stegner kicked off Synnex Varnex 2011 with their keynote focusing on distribution as a driving force for the channel. So what do Murai and Stegner see for the future of Synnex partners? It’s all about enablement. The VAR Guy has the scoop right here …

Synnex’s Varnex 2011 event will be kicking off with a keynote by none other than Synnex’s own Kevin Murai, president and CEO. What can we expect from Murai’s keynote, and more importantly, what does The VAR Guy plan to ask him when he sits down for a one-on-one? It’s all coming up …

Please don’t touch The VAR Guy. It’s not that he doesn’t like to be touched, he’s just sore from thinking he’s a tough guy.

That thump you may have heard a few days ago was The VAR Guy hitting the wall. After three days at the 2012 Avaya U.S/Gov Sales Leadership and Partner Conference chock full of presentations, meetings and conversations with execs and channel partners alike, our resident blogger quite literally dropped.