The VAR Guy

Enterasys is quickly moving from being the “best kept secret in IT” to a force to be reckoned with in the networking space. And it has its channel partners to thank.

On the second day of its Accelerate 2012 partner event, Lenovo gave attendees a sneak peek at its upcoming ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14-inch Ultrabook, as well as additions to its  T, X, L and W Series.

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) are countering VMware (NYSE: VMW) in the government market, promoting a secure virtualization platform on IBM x86 servers. But here’s the twist: VMware has offered a similar level of security since at least 2010. Here’s what channel partners need to know.

Unicom Systems has acquired GTSI (NASDAQ: GTSI), a VAR500 company that has hit challenging times. Unicom is a major IBM (NYSE: IBM) business partner. GTSI is  a systems integration specialist that serves the government vertical, though the company has hit major turbulence in recent months amid alleged fraud.

It seems as though every vendor worth its salt is coming out with technology to harness the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend (or headache, for some). The latest: Enterasys, with its Mobile Identity and Access Manager (IAM).

Hello and welcome to this week’s Distribution Watch, where we look at the latest doings in the distribution space. This week Jenne Inc., Avnet Technology Solutions and Ingram Micro are ready for their close-up, so wipe off your lens and let’s get to it.

Welcome once again to another edition of Distribution Watch, our weekly recap of doings in the world of distributors. This week we train our eyes on Avnet, ScanSource and niche distributor Parts Now, so let’s take a peek.

Recognizing the fact that business never sleeps, Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Infosys, a Diamond level member of the Oracle Partner Network, have developed the Project Driven Supply Chain for High Technology Companies, a platform designed to help companies reduce their inventory and increase their productivity.

What’s in a name? Unless you’re Shakespeare, you have bigger things to worry about, which is why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced the new name for its server edition of Windows 8 (hold your breath): Windows Server 2012.

In the education, healthcare and hospitality markets, quiet comes at a premium, yet networking equipment can be notoriously loud. But Avaya‘s latest Ethernet Routing Switch (ERS) 3500 series offers whisper-quiet functionality for verticals and small businesses alike that don’t need any extra noise, volume- or installation-wise.

Implementing an electronic medical records (EMR) system can be a challenge for any healthcare organization, but a new service from Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is helping its channel partners help their healthcare customers make the transition as painlessly as possible.

Lenovo wants to help you boost your vertical limit (if your vertical is a graphics processing-intensive market such as manufacturing, architecture and design or health care) with the release of the ThinkStation S30, C30 and D30, workstations equipped with Intel Xeon E5 processors and specialized for professionals working in computer-aided design (CAD). They come with a choice of Intel Xeon E5 1600/2600 processors for faster multi-core processing, Nvidia Quadro graphics cards and Maximus support utilizing Nvidia Telsa compute cards.

The fast-paced and ever-advancing healthcare industry poses a series of pain points for resellers, including a high cost of entry and dealing with physicians, who often make far better doctors than they do business partners. To help its many channel partners navigate those healthcare pain points (no pun intended), Ingram Micro is expanding its solutions portfolio to include a new suite of software bundles based on HP technology.

SUSE has delivered a Linux distribution upgrade that could benefit VARs in the retail vertical. The new release, dubbed SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service 11 SP 2, specifically targets retail customers — including general merchandisers, specialty retailers, food and drug stores.

HP has confirmed the consolidation of its Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) and Personal Systems Group (PSG) and also has disclosed details about other unification moves within its corporate infrastructure. Is HP just streamlining or do these moves signal something more? Super-quick analysis coming right up …

In a move that pushes it even deeper into the unified communications and collaboration market, Avaya is acquiring Israel-based videoconferencing solutions vendor RADVISION for about $230 million.

Any small ISV knows how difficult it can be to get its applications noticed. Sometimes it takes a stroke of luck, sometimes it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. But Avaya is hoping a new program within its DevConnect ranks will help the crème de la crème of Avaya-approved solutions rise to the top.

The VAR Guy is noticing more healthcare buzz with HIMSS12 around the corner. HP has launched a new “healthcare affiliate program” uniquely designed to bring HP’s hardware and software in alignment with healthcare-centric ISVs, all while better targeting healthcare professionals. But what’s so fresh about healthcare software? Here’s the pulse…

The VAR Guy has sent me to my home state of Arizona to attend the Avnet + Cisco Executive Symposium, a three-day gathering in Phoenix of Avnet and Cisco Systems partners to explore the realm of possibilities in the data center space. Attend an event where I can go for a run outside in February, enjoy a decent plate of chicken mole enchiladas and maybe even stick around to catch a basketball game played by my beloved Arizona Wildcats? Umm, yeah, sure. I’ll go.

Avnet Technology Solutions is bolstering its HealthPath healthcare-focused solution set with the addition of a set of technologies from Oracle’s Health Sciences division.

It’s that time of year again for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems (HIMSS) annual conference. Vendors around the world are focusing on healthcare-friendly technology, and you know our resident blogger always has his eye on the vertical markets. VARs looking to attack the ever-growing healthcare vertical should read on to find out what Avaya, Dell and VMWare are bringing to the examination table …

HP kicked off its inaugural Global Partner Conference 2012 (GPC) Feb. 13 in Las Vegas with some major announcements aimed at creating recurring revenue streams for HP’s VARs.

Microsoft and GE Healthcare have joined forces on a new joint venture for 2012 called Caradigm. What is Caradigm, and how will it shape the healthcare industry? VARs focused on the healthcare vertical should definitely give this soon-to-be born company a look over …