The VAR Guy

We’re not out of the woods yet, folks. Recession whispers continue. But positive financial news from multiple tech companies — Avnet, Symantec, Sybase and Xerox — lifted The VAR Guy’s spirits today. Alas, he doesn’t own any shares in the companies. But he always welcomes bullish statements from high-tech leaders. Here’s a sampling of what each company had to say.

The VAR Guy was on the outside looking in when NetSuite launched its initial public offering a few days ago. Too bad. Netsuite’s stock skyrocketed as investors went crazy for the software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialist. So, which company will cash in next on the SaaS craze? The VAR Guy has a surprising answer…

Lofty oil prices. Sub-prime mortgage woes. Financial companies (Citigroup, Etrade) stumbling badly. Ouch. Ouch. And Ouch. Whispers of a potential recession ahead continue. That made The VAR Guy wonder: If the U.S. heads into a recession soon, are open source companies better positioned to weather the storm than their closed source counterparts? Let’s take a look.

Few people realize it, but Dell is sending a Trojan Horse into Silicon Valley next week. The big hardware company–which isn’t known for innovation, software or acquisitions–will show off all three traits at a small (but strategic) conference in San Jose on September 24 and 25.

The VAR Guy’s garage is filled with full-size arcade games like Pac Man and Asteroids. His attic is cluttered with the original Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision and other home gaming classics. But now, he’s turning his attention to an online game from Symantec — yes, Symantec. If you’re an old fan of Doom or hip to Halo, Symantec may have an online game just for you. Here’s the scoop.

Cisco Systems plans to roll out a worldwide managed services program in October, according to Keith Goodwin, the company’s worldwide channel chief. Goodwin made the statement during a press briefing in Dublin, Ireland, today.

In a private conversation with a small group of journalists at the Partner Engage conference here at the Del Coronado Hotel near San Diego, Symantec CEO John Thompson responded to a range of questions about the company’s services plans and competition. He talked extensively about the former, but dodged questions about the latter–with one exception.

Over 300 Symantec partners filed into the Grand Ballroom of the Del Coronado Hotel near San Diego, to the sound of “California Dreaming” piped over the sound system. (The VAR Guy would only date himself if he said he remembered when the song was first released. At least he outlived most of that band.) Nice start to the big Symantec partner event. Now let’s get down to the details.

While everyone keeps hyping Web 2.0 technologies, The VAR Guy thinks Symantec 3.0 will debut today at a partner conference in San Diego. But don’t go looking for an official “3.0″ announcement from the storage and security company. The VAR Guy — rather than Symantec itself — is using the 3.0 moniker to describe the current state of Symantec. Here’s why.