The VAR Guy

After less than four months as Novell’s channel chief, Javier Colado (pictured) has been promoted into a new position, and Novell’s partner program now reports to Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon.

How bad is the economy? Novell has just canceled BrainShare, one of the IT industry’s long-standing events. Initial perspectives from Matt Asay (Blogger, The Open Road). Plus, here’s the official statement from Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon.

Novell is losing money in the desktop Linux market, but those desktop deals are driving big wins in the server arena, according to Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon. A case in point: Novell’s desktop Linux relationship with Lenovo — the big PC maker — will extend to servers this September, confirms Dragoon.

Novell expects to name a new channel chief by the end of this week or sometime next week, according to Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon. There’s also some good news on the SUSE Linux front. Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy.

As The VAR Guy reflects on the latest news out of BrainShare, one number sticks in his head: More than 700 partners — representing ISVs, integrators, consultants, VARs, etc. — are at the event. Not a bad showing. The VAR Guy connected with Novell’s Channel Chief, Pat Bernard, for more perspective. Here are five key takeaways from the conversation.