The VAR Guy

Pentaho, which develops open source business intelligence software, continues to polish and enhance its channel partner program. The latest effort involves an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) push, which allows partners to embed Pentaho’s software into their own products. The results look promising: First-half 2011 OEM sales grew 170 percent vs. the same period in 2010. In some ways, The VAR Guy is starting to think of Pentaho has a business applications provider rather than an open source company. And that’s precisely the goal. Here’s the update.

Amid its march toward $1 billion in annual revenues, Red Hat continues to invest more money in Jaspersoft — an open source business intelligence company. The VAR Guy has openly wondered — multiple times — if Red Hat will ever fully acquire Jaspersoft. Hmmm…

Open source software has had a hit-and-miss relationship with channel partners. Major initiatives from Tech Data and Synnex, for instance, have done little to ignite reseller enthusiasm for open source email, ERP, CRM and other applications. So, how will open source march forward with resellers? The VAR Guy has some new insights to share.

The VAR Guy is dragging a bit today. No coffee and no sleep are not a good combination for our resident blogger. Still, The VAR Guy is hearing plenty of chatter across the IT channel. In fact, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending December 17, 2000 2010.

Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst (pictured) says open source can exist without cloud computing, but cloud computing can’t exist without open source. Whitehurst shared that nugget — and about a dozen other thoughts — during an interview with The VAR Guy at Red Hat Partner Summit in Boston. Here’s a recap of the conversation and a look at where Red Hat is heading next.

The VAR Guy’s week unraveled because … yada, yada, yada … so our resident blogger didn’t quite have the time to write everything he wanted. In fact, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy had hoped to generate for the week ending May 21, 2010.

Pentaho, the open source business intelligence company, generated record results in 1Q 2010, according to VP of Marketing Joe McGonnell. Pentaho attributes much of its performance to a growing channel partner program. Here’s a closer look at Pentaho’s momentum.

Business intelligence ain’t just for large enterprises anymore. Multiple proponents — including Google, technology distributors and even open source VARs — have helped to stir business intelligence conversations within small businesses. Here are the details.

At the SAP Partner Summit in Las Vegas, Business Objects partners expressed optimism about business intelligence opportunities for 2010, though some partners are keeping close tabs on BI moves by Oracle and open source upstarts like Pentaho and Jaspersoft. Here’s the chatter.

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.

Pentaho, the open source business intelligence specialist, expects its bookings to grow roughly 100 percent in 2010, according to CEO Richard Daley (pictured). No surprise, channel partners will drive a lot of Pentaho’s growth, Daley asserts. Here’s a look at Pentaho’s business strategy, and the implications for solutions providers.

Pentaho, which specializes in open source business intelligence, continues to expand its channel partner program. The latest example: Levementum, a solutions provider that frequently leverages Amazon Web Services and cloud computing, has inked an alliance with Pentaho. Here’s the scoop, and some perspectives.

It’s another small step for open source in the IT channel. Specifically, Hewlett-Packard and the Open Source Channel Alliance (led by Synnex and Red Hat) have launched the Open Source Jump-Start Appliance. Here’s what HP’s move means to VARs and their customers.

Forgive The VAR Guy if he sounds like Yogi Berra today, but our resident blogger has deja vu all over again. The reason: The folks at OpenBI, a systems integrator in Chicago, have scored yet another win promoting Pentaho‘s open source business intelligence software to customers. This is becoming a familiar story for OpenBI and Pentaho’s channel. Here’s the scoop.

Call it D-day for open source channel distribution. Synnex, Red Hat and nearly a dozen open source application providers — from Alfresco to Zmanda — have launched the Open Source Channel Alliance. The effort represents a tipping point for open source in the channel, reaching a potential 15,000 Synnex resellers. Here’s who’s in the Open Source Channel Alliance, who’s missing and what it all means to VARs and solutions providers.

More proof open source is infiltrating (and redefining) the IT channel: Red Hat’s partner network now exceeds 1,300 companies — up 84 percent from 713 companies in January 2008, according to The VAR Guy’s Open Source 50 report. Of course, “more partners” doesn’t always mean “better partners.” But Red Hat’s ability to recruit channel partners to back Linux and now JBoss middleware proves the company has learned a few key lessons from Microsoft.

Most folks are focusing on Cisco Systems’ consumer electronics push this week. But The VAR Guy is keeping one eye on the data center — where Cisco apparently is preparing to launch blade servers. If true, our resident blogger wonders: How soon will Cisco speed dial Red Hat, MySQL, Novell, SugarCRM and other open source application providers?

The delicate dance between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and open source application providers continues. The latest example: Red Hat is among the latest investors in Jaspersoft, which specializes in open source business intelligence. Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy:

As The VAR Guy has reported, SugarCRM veteran Lars Nordwall is now senior VP of business development at Pentaho — an open source business intelligence software company. Nordwall’s focus area includes building Pentaho’s channel partner program. The VAR Guy traded email with Nordwall to learn why he leaped to Pentaho. Here are Nordwall’s thoughts on the open source BI and the IT channel.

The VAR Guy nearly overlooked a major development in the open source IT channel: Novell and SugarCRM veteran Lars Nordwall (pictured) has made the leap to Pentaho, an open source business intelligence company. Nordwall’s move is one small step for open source VARs, and one giant leap for Pentaho. Here’s why.

The Global 2000 is nice. The Fortune 500 is very nice. But selling into the Fortune 50 — especially for a small open source company like Pentaho — is extra sweet. Pentaho, which recently launched version 2.0 of its open source business intelligence software, says it has won business with several Fortune 50 companies. And Pentaho’s partner network is expanding. Here’s the scoop.