The VAR Guy

Sure, hardware and software companies have built numerous portals for their channel partners. Some are big hits. Others are ugly misses. But here’s a twist: Laurus Technologies,  a Certified Dell Partner in Itasca, Ill., has built a rather intriguing portal that could bolster customer loyalty. Here are the details.

Hewlett-Packard’s latest quarterly results, announced today, beat Wall Street’s expectations and CEO Mark Hurd is raising earnings guidance for 2010. HP sounds downright bullish. Will Michael Dell be equally bullish when Dell announces earnings on Feb. 18? Here are some clues, some of which involve Dell’s PartnerDirect partner program.

Good news and bad news seem to be spreading across the IT channel. Hardware sales are picking up. But companies such as Dell Inc. (as well as Dell’s components suppliers) are having a difficult time fulfilling partner and customer demand. In particular, the supply chain issues seem to be impacting selected Dell PowerEdge server shipments. Here’s the scoop.

It was another week of planes, trains and automobiles for The VAR Guy. Alas, here are six channel blog entries The VAR Guy failed to write for the week ending Oct. 9, and their implications for readers.

When Dell recruited channel veteran Nancy Reynolds to run the company’s PartnerDirect global enterprise channel business, The VAR Guy wondered: What attracted Reynolds to the position? Actually, it’s a three-part answer. Here’s the scoop, based on a conversation a few minutes ago with Reynolds.

Dell Global Channel Chief Greg Davis is calling in reinforcements to help strengthen Dell’s enterprise partner initiatives. Specifically, Dell has hired Nancy Reynolds — a well-known channel veteran — to lead Dell’s global channel business strategy for PartnerDirect, focusing on Dell’s large enterprise channel business.

Ah, The VAR Guy isn’t a big fan of “agent” oriented partner programs, where VARs and managed service providers earn a minimal fee for reselling somebody else’s service. Still, Dell’s new ProManage-Managed Services offering includes some new twists on the old agent models. And Dell is working overtime to make sure VARs don’t consider the new nationwide (US) program a direct sales move. You can get the facts and anlysis over on The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor.

Dell’s channel blog caught The VAR Guy’s eye this morning. In it, the company announced a zero percent, one year financing option for qualified EqualLogic partners working with qualified customers in the United States. Here’s how it works.

Are Dell and Hewlett-Packard trading blows in the enterprise networking market? Well, almost. Only a day after Hewlett-Packard launched a data center networking offensive, Dell fired back and rallied channel partners around Cisco Systems solutions. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

Following a surprise New Years Eve reorganization at Dell, the company is reaching out to partners and assuring them the PC giant remains committed to their success. Greg Davis, who makes the leap from North America Channel Chief to Global Channel Chief, offered up this blog to offer peace of mind to the channel and Dell’s PartnerDirect members.

Greg Davis, Dell’s North American channel chief, is moving up to a global post, according to the folks at ChannelInsider. Hmmm. That should silence conspiracy theorists who think Dell’s surprise New Year’s Eve reorganization could put the company’s PartnerDirect channel program at risk.

Ah, even when he’s 35,000 feet in the air, The VAR Guy can’t escape from Dell channel news. While using inflight WiFi service, our resident blogger spotted these two small but important pieces of Dell PartnerDirect channel news.

The VAR Guy and his sister site, MSPmentor, are scheduled to record a podcast August 26 with Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell Inc.’s Americas Channel Group. Davis leads Dell’s PartnerDirect channel initiative. If you have questions or comments for Davis, please send them to our editorial director, Joe Panettieri (joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com).

For the first time in recent history, The VAR Guy was left speechless today. The rare event occurred when our resident blogger read a big feature story over on CRN, in which the trade pub made the following watershed statement:

When The VAR Guy heads to CompTIA Breakaway, he’ll be sure to poke around to see what Dell’s up to at the show. In the meantime, here’s some color commentary regarding Dell and its managed service strategy from our sister site, MSPmentor.