The VAR Guy

Cbeyond makes communications and IT solutions; ADTRAN makes networking and communication solutions. A match made in heaven? Maybe. ADTRAN has joined up with the Cbeyond PBX Platform Partner Program at the ‘Platinum’ Tier. Honors and mentions aside, here’s what it means for you, dear reader…

ADTRAN is well-known in the networking market. Now, the company is making the move into unified communications. I spoke to Ted Cole, senior VP channel sales at ADTRAN, to get a feel for the company’s channel program and unified communications move. Cole’s key takeaway: He thinks partners can now build end-to-end solutions leveraging ADTRAN’s product portfolio. Here’s a recap of the conversation.

Two separate invites arrived within hours of one another. Adtran and Digium — two networking companies in Huntsville, Alabama — invited The VAR Guy and other members of the media to swing by for separate updates and briefings this week. Alas, The VAR Guy couldn’t make the trip. But the Adtran and Digium stories are worth sharing from afar. Here’s why.

The VAR Guy’s sister site — MSPmentor — offers non-stop coverage of the managed services market, where more and more VARs are generating recurring monthly revenue from customers. Here’s a look at the top 10 stories making headlines on MSPmentor this week.

The VAR Guy’s sister site — MSPmentor — offers non-stop coverage of the managed services market, where more and more VARs are generating recurring monthly revenue from customers. Here’s a look at the top 10 stories making headlines on MSPmentor this week.

Time for a surprising reality check from The VAR Guy. Conventional wisdom says there’s no margin left for VARs in hardware sales. But Pulse Inc. — a $10 million solutions provider that works closely with ADTRAN Inc. — strongly disagrees. Here’s why.

It’s no secret that Digium (the poster child for Asterisk) has multiple employees who previously worked at ADTRAN, a neighboring networking company in Huntsville, Alabama. Are ADTRAN and Digium rivals or partners? The answer: A little of both.

The VAR Guy is impressed with Tom Perry. As the head of IT for the Huntsville (Alabama) airport, Perry made a strategic decision. Instead of launching a paid WiFi service, he built a free WiFi network for travelers. Here’s why.

Perhaps it is possible to fly below Cisco Systems’ radar, and succeed in the networking market. Just ask the folks over at Adtran, which attracted positive comments from Morgan Stanley on July 7, notes Barron’s.

Last week, The VAR Guy outlined six trends he expected to generate some buzz at this week’s Interop conference in Las Vegas. Now that the show is in full swing, let’s take another look at those six trends to see how they’re shaping up.

The buzz involving Interop Las Vegas (April 27-May 2) is building. The VAR Guy has received briefing requests from Adtran, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and other networking vendors. Here are three messages he hopes to hear, and three messages he intends to ignore.