The VAR Guy

Memo to Symantec: It’s time to change your channel PR strategy. Right now. On the one hand, Symantec was smart to address a swirling controversy around its channel program (as covered by CRN and ChannelWeb). But on the other hand, the more Symantec says about the situation the more CRN and ChannelWeb use Symantec’s own words against the software company. Here’s how Symantec PR should handle damage control going forward.

Have you ever adjusted your message based on your audience? Consider the situation at Symantec: Channel VP Julie Parrish (left) needs to engage partners while COO Enrique Salem (right) needs to engage Wall Street analysts. Their words serve separate audiences. But without careful coordination, their upbeat messages to one audience can wind up alienating the other audience.

If you work for Symantec’s channel organization this week, coming to work isn’t much fun. Two channel media sites are claiming that Symantec is taking its large business engagements direct and leaving partners out of the loop.

Some folks say VARs are dead. After checking his own pulse and web site traffic, The VAR Guy disagrees. Instead, he believes channel pros are reinventing themselves via managed services and new software stacks. In fact, a new survey by Channel Insider suggests that Red Hat Linux is now the most popular platform among VARs.