The VAR Guy

HTC and IBM apparently have struck a deal to help HTC gain more Android enterprise love and IBM gain more mobile proliferation of its software. The duo teamed up at IBM’s latest Loutusphere conference and demoed HTC devices running IBM’s smart business applications. So what’s next?

From technology giants like IBM and Intel to smaller–but growing–tech firms like Adtran and F5 Networks, a lengthy list of technology companies announced quarterly earnings results this week. Overall, earnings season is shaping up well. Sure, some technology companies are suffering from isolated hiccups. But the IT market, as a whole, looks healthy. Here’s a look at the Adtran, F5, IBM and Intel results.

The VAR Guy is ready to unplug for the weekend. But before our resident blogger heads home, here are the nine most read channel partner news stories from our blog network — The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Talkin’ Cloud — for the week ending January 6, 2012.

Virginia (“Ginni”) M. Rometty officially succeeded Sam Palmisano as IBM CEO on January 1, 2012. Rometty appears to inherit a strong IBM. But some investors worry IBM’s earnings growth will slow in 2012. Plus, is IBM’s channel focus — increasingly involving business analytics and business intelligence — too narrow for some partners? The VAR Guy offers some insights — plus key IBM channel leaders that VARs and MSPs may need to engage.

Welcome to 2012. The first IT trend of the New Year:  Many high-tech companies enter 2012 with new or recently named CEOs (examples include AMD, Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard and IBM). Plus, a lengthy list of prominent CEOs (representing Cisco Systems, Dell, Microsoft, Oracle and Research in Motion) are under pressure to boost sales, profits and channel partner success. Here’s what channel partners should expect.

IBM, in a partnership with Micron Technology, plans to develop a very special chip it calls the “Hybrid Memory Cube,” or HMC. IBM says this 3D chip will deliver memory speeds 15 times faster than what’s already on the market. How does it work and more importantly, should you care? Read on …

Dozens of cloud vendors and potential channel partners gathered in Mountain View, Calif., on November 7 for the inaugural Cloud Channel Summit. The common goal: Connecting the dots between cloud services providers, VARs and resellers to build new revenue opportunities. But guest speakers — including folks from Salesforce.com, CompTIA, GoodData, rPath and more — frequently debated the path forward. Among the key topics discussed: Whether VARs need a vertical focus to succeed in cloud computing.

Remember IBM’s Watson technology that played Jeopardy? It’s now playing doctor. Picture it: You’re wearing a hospital gown, your nurse is fumbling with a clipboard and Watson is telling you that you’re fine, you just have a minor sinus infection. Well, maybe that’s not exactly the way the future will be, but IBM has found its first client to bring in IBM’s Watson in conjunction with the “IBM Content and Predictive Analytics for Healthcare.” Intrigued? Paranoid? Read on …

IBM partners working with Avnet now have access to new analytical programs designed to give them an edge when attacking vertical business markets. Avnet will be working to deliver “Destination: Analytics” with IBM to U.S. and Canadian partners in the form of new training tools and marketing opportunities. Here’s the rundown …

Following up its recent survey showing SSD love is on the rise, a new report from IBM says mobile security problems are rising, too. Read on for the facts, figures and highlights with the all-important channel perspective. Opportunity abounds …

Dell is showing the love for its European customers by offering multi-vendor PC support, expanding the services benefit it U.S. customers currently enjoy. The VAR Guy sees the move as an attempt by Dell to streamline its customers’ services by offering one-stop shopping, so to speak. If you live in Europe and you use a non-Dell PC, Dell will now support that hardware to make your life, or your IT admin’s life, much easier. Read on for the quick rundown on Dell’s lovefest with competitors’ products …

A recent IBM survey shows solid state storage is on the rise, and fast — more than half of all companies surveyed said the new storage technology is increasingly important as they build out their business and data center. That’s great news for virtualization and storage VARs. Read on for the results …

Hewlett-Packard‘s board may fire CEO Leo Apotheker, according to multiple mainstream media reports. Apotheker faces intense pressure as HP navigates strategic and profit challenges. Apotheker has made some controversial moves but he isn’t HP’s biggest problem. Instead, the biggest issue facing HP involves media leaks that undermine confidence in the company and Apotheker’s management team.

SUSE Linux, now owned by Attachmate, will unveil some partner and customer surprises at Novell BrainShare (Oct. 10-14, Salt Lake City), the company confirms. Meanwhile, Michael Miller, VP of global alliances and marketing, has been polishing partner and cloud services strategies for SUSE. And Miller has been busy meeting with strategic SUSE partners like Microsoft, SAP, VMware, IBM, Dell, HP and Fujitsu. So, what’s the message from Miller to SUSE Linux partners and customers? The VAR Guy got the answer.

It’s not Skynet — not yet anyway — but IBM has made a breakthrough in building a new type of CPU. It’s calling the experimental silicon a “cognitive computing chips” because they were built and designed to emulate the way the brain works. What does that mean for the channel, and more importantly, the world? Here’s just a few thoughts …

Most VARs in the open source channel are happy just to get free code contributions from their users. Canonical, however, has taken community engagements one step further with the announcement of a user-driven hardware-certification program. Will it work?  Here are some thoughts.

The VAR Guy hopes to watch this evening’s Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls Game 3 showdown. But before our resident blogger turns his attention to South Beach, Miami, here are six channel partner-related blog entries that The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending May 20, 2011.

In an effort to extol the benefits of IBM’s database software, IBM has launched a program to entice Oracle software clients to migrate to IBM software. Additionally, the company is offering no-interest financing and training and support for those willing to make the switch. Sound interesting? Read on for the details.

The titans of the tech industry are turning profits. Intel and IBM are off to a great 2011, with Q1 earnings bolstered by Intel’s chip proliferation and IBM’s systems strategies. Read on for the numbers…

It looks like Big Blue may be trying to counter the VCE (VMware, Cisco, EMC) world with its latest ‘standardized’ approach in the marketplace. IBM’s new Pre-Engineered Technology Service Model aims bring a streamlined, one-stop shop approach to its services and solutions. The goal is to provide a quicker, more robust and less expensive near-turnkey offering than traditional multi-vendor deployments have in the past. So what is IBM’s end game? Read on for some perspective.

It’s often been said that there’s no such thing as too much information. But for a company whose data stream has become a river, dealing with the deluge can often feel as overwhelming as trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon. And with more data being created every minute, it can be easy for a company to stop fighting the undertow.

Sputter, sputter. The VAR Guy is running on fumes today. The recent VMware Partner Exchange and IBM PartnerWorld conferences, both in Orlando, were high-octane events that drained our resident blogger’s energy. So it’s time to recharge this weekend… before running off to Orlando again — this time for Parallels Summit (Feb. 22-24). In the meantime, here are six channel partner news blogs The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending February 18, 2011.

ISVs in the market for a mobile application development platform might want to check out WorkLight. The company is launching a partner program for ISVs and OEMs looking to capitalize on the growing demand for mobile applications that integrate with the workplace. Intrigued? Read on for the details.