The VAR Guy

Dell Cloud Evangelist Barton George has a secret he can’t keep: Dell’s cloud solution — known as the Dell Cloud Solution for Web Applications — is nearing launch. So, how will Dell position the server for corporate customers and cloud service providers? And what software will it run? The VAR Guy quizzed George during the Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit today in San Antonio, Texas. And yes, George provided plenty of answers.

Within the next few weeks, Rackspace is expected to announce key milestones for OpenStack, the open source cloud computing standard. But how will VARs and managed services providers potentially benefit from OpenStack? The VAR Guy went straight to the source, interviewing Jim Curry, chief stacker for Rackspace’s OpenStack effort. Here’s the conversation, recorded at the Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit in San Antonio, Texas, earlier today.

The VAR Guy stumbled onto plenty of news and chatter at the Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit, which kicked off today in San Antonio, Texas. The chatter involves some imminent OpenStack news, an expanded Rackspace channel team, and growing cloud relationships with such firms as Ingram Micro and Dell. Here’s the scoop… including the top seven highlights from Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit 2010, Day 1.

Canonical has made a subtle but important shift in its channel partner strategy. Sure, the Ubuntu Linux promoter continues to engage with solutions providers. But increasingly, Canonical wants to recruit hosting partners and cloud partners onto the Ubuntu bandwagon. Here’s why.

Is Dell serious about cloud computing? Ask Barton George (pictured). He joined the computing giant in August and now serves as Dell’s cloud computing evangelist. And… George also happens to have close relationships with Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux. Here’s the scoop.

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu, sat for a video interview with Dell Cloud Computing Evangelist Barton George. In it, Shuttleworth takes a “service pack” shot at Windows 7 and covers numerous questions about Canonical’s business and cloud strategy. Here’s the video — plus some perspectives from WorksWithU.

Barton George caught up with Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth in this podcast to discuss Ubuntu and cloud computing. George is a Sun Microsystems veteran who now works at Lombardi Software and also maintains his own blog, BartonGeorge.net.

Barton George, an open source expert whom I met at Ubuntu Live in 2007, has resigned from Sun Microsystems to join a software company in Austin, Texas. I wish George well in his new position. At the same time, I increasingly wonder if Sun can solidify its open source strategy and turn around the company. Barton isn’t the only open source expert to leave Sun in recent days, notes our sister site, The VAR Guy.

Barton George, one of the best-known open source evangelists at Sun Microsystems, has left the company. He sent a note to a group of sources — including The VAR Guy — on Sept. 5 indicating that he’s joining a cloud-based computing company in Austin, Texas. Kudos to George, but The VAR Guy has to wonder: Are things growing worse at Sun?