The VAR Guy

How’s this for ironic: The more The VAR Guy moves around, the more weight he gains. Eating at buffets in New York, Las Vegas, San Jose and San Francisco this week didn’t help… If The VAR Guy put down his fork long enough, perhaps he would have written the following six channel partner blog entries for the week ending March 5, 2010:

Forgive The VAR Guy for looking tired and bloated. He’s packing on the pounds in the Dominican Republic at the Kaspersky Lab Partner Conference, where food is all inclusive and the restaurants never seem to close. If our resident blogger would stop eating and start blogging, he would have written the following six entries for the week ending Feb. 12, 2010.

DotNetNuke, which makes an open source content management system, seems to be gaining traction with channel partners. The company, which supports Microsoft .NET environments, has gone from zero to about 50 VARs and hosting providers in the past year, according to The VAR Guy’s ongoing Open Source 50 survey. Here are the details.

When OpenBravo — an open source ERP company — launched an open source exchange earlier today, The VAR Guy had a case of deja vu. From Digium to Red Hat to xTuple, numerous open source companies have launched online marketplaces for their customers and VARs. But can open source exchanges really stir application sales? Here are some thoughts.

At this week’s AsteriskWorld conference, Digium will officially launched Asterisk Exchange — an online marketplace that allows customers and channel partners to piece together solutions involving Asterisk (the open source IP PBX). If successful, Asterisk Exchange could expand the ecosystem for alternative VoIP and unified communication solutions. Here’s the scoop, including a FastChat video with Digium CEO Danny Windham.

The VAR Guy is dragging a bit as the decade comes to a close. Our resident blogger needs to drop a few pounds and get energized for 2010. But before he starts a crash diet, here are six channel blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t write for the week ending Dec. 31, 2009.

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.

Tech Data, as The VAR Guy expected, is the latest distributor to launch an open source channel initiative. Tech Data’s effort (called Open Tech) follows a Synnex-Red Hat initiative called the Open Source Channel Alliance. But are distributors really ready to support open source in the IT channel? Yes and no. Here’s why.

Asterisk — the open source IP PBX — has dialed up another opportunity in the IT channel. This one involves Computer Troubleshooters, a major channel player that has more than 200 U.S. solution provider franchises. The VAR Guy hears Computer Troubleshooters will increasingly promote Fonality’s IP PBX solution. Here’s the scoop.

Digium — which promotes Asterisk, the open source IP PBX — is gathering data to help accelerate the company’s push into corporate enterprises. The effort includes a comprehensive survey, conducted with the 451 Group, about the potential financial benefits of open source. Here’s the scoop.

When The VAR Guy arrives at CompTIA Breakaway (Aug. 3-6, Las Vegas), a major gathering of VARs and solutions providers, our resident blogger plans to meet with key representatives from Red Hat and Synnex — co-founders of the Open Source Channel Alliance. Here’s what The VAR Guy has in mind for the discussion.

Tech Data, a $24 billion technology giant with deep Microsoft relationships, has developed a 24-month plan to emerge as “the voice for open source in distribution,” The VAR Guy has learned. The proposed strategy includes potential open source hardware solutions from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Fujitsu. And it has broad implications for the software industry and the global IT channel. Here’s the scoop.

Even as some Wall Street indexes hit 15-year lows, GroundWork Open Source has apparently lined up more funding and seems to be plotting a long-term IPO (initial public offering) strategy with a CEO change.

CompTIA (the Computing Technology Industry Association) and its SoftwareCEO portal have issued a research report showing a substantial drop in high-tech mergers, acquisitions and IPOs. The stats didn’t surprise The VAR Guy. But the findings are a timely, interesting read nonetheless. When will the high-tech IPO market improve? The VAR Guy offers a guess — along with a look at three companies poised to test the IPO waters.

In today’s episode, Fonality CEO Chris Lyman discusses Asterisk, open source, the IP PBX market and Fonality’s partner strategy. More specifically, The VAR Guy Live: Podcast covers the following five key topics…

 

 Fonality CEO On Asterisk, Open Source and IP PBXes for VARs [11:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fonality, a small provider of open source unified communications software originally based on Asterisk (the IP PBX), has scored a distribution deal with Tech Data Corp. This is the latest in a growing list of channel wins for Fonality, and it reinforces Asterisks’ growing momentum among solutions providers. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

Unison Technologies, which develops unified communications software for Linux servers, is gearing up to launch a partner program for solutions providers and managed service providers. Here’s the scoop, only from The VAR Guy.

During a phone chat today, a Web developer asked The VAR Guy if the US financial crisis would send more corporate customers running out to buy low-cost open source solutions. The VAR Guy’s surprising answer: No. Here’s why.

Move over, Digium. You’re not the only poster child for Asterisk and open source PBXes. Rival Fonality has scored another $12 million in financing from Intel Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson — and some of the money could be earmarked for acquisitions. Impressive, but what does it mean for VARs and solutions providers?

Alcatel-Lucent is bringing in a new CEO, but The VAR Guy remains highly skeptical of the networking giant for three key reasons.

Open source companies are finally getting on their feet in the IT channel, The VAR Guy believes. In fact, companies like Digium, GroundWork Open Source, Openbravo and Untangle are following Red Hat and Novell into the IT channel — on a global basis. Here’s a look at their progress.

When The VAR Guy wants to see the future of technology, he heads back to college. There, he often spots hot emerging trends in IT. The latest involves 18 universities embracing GroundWork Monitor, an open source alternative to traditional network and systems management platforms. Here’s the scoop.

A quiet revolution continues at Digium, the poster child for Asterisk — the open source IP PBX platform. Many open source companies struggle to line up resellers and solutions providers because, frankly, it’s unclear how to profit from open source. But in Digium’s case, more than 250 partners are banging on the company’s door because Digium really has built a better mouse trap. Here’s the scoop.