The VAR Guy

As Nortel Networks continues to struggle, The VAR Guy is starting to wonder: Did Microsoft bet on the wrong unified communications partner? Sure, Microsoft works with multiple networking companies — including Cisco Systems. But the software giant’s most strategic unified communications partner is Nortel — a company facing yet another fiscal crisis.

So, word has leaked that the New York Mets’ new stadium, Citi Field, will use Unified Communications from Nortel Networks. Wonderful. Seems right. The Mets (like Nortel) have always been an underdog compared to their crosstown rivals (Cisco, er, the Yankees). Still, The VAR Guy would trade the Mets’ high-tech advancements for one decent relief pitcher who won’t blow a big lead to the Phillies.

Most folks are casually covering Nortel Networks’ acquisition of Pingtel, which specializes in open source VoIP and unified communications solutions. But there’s a bigger story here — much bigger, folks — that most observers have overlooked.

On the eve of Microsoft’s major partner summit in Houston, TechTarget is speculating that Microsoft may one day want to acquire Nortel Networks. Hogwash. The VAR Guy knows at least four reasons why such a deal will never happen.

Everybody hold your breath. Cisco Systems is set to announce financial results on May 6. Most observers are cautiously optimistic. If everything goes as planned, Wall Street will breathe a collective sigh of relief. But if CEO John Chambers is in another “lumpy” mood, things could get really ugly real fast.

About a year ago, Cisco CEO John Chambers predicted his company’s competitive landscape would shift from networking firms to software and Web 2.0 companies. Apparently, Chambers was right: Recent financial results from numerous networking companies suggest many of Cisco’s old rivals are falling off a cliff. Here’s a look behind the numbers.

Last week, The VAR Guy outlined six trends he expected to generate some buzz at this week’s Interop conference in Las Vegas. Now that the show is in full swing, let’s take another look at those six trends to see how they’re shaping up.

The buzz involving Interop Las Vegas (April 27-May 2) is building. The VAR Guy has received briefing requests from Adtran, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and other networking vendors. Here are three messages he hopes to hear, and three messages he intends to ignore.

VoiceCon kicks off March 17 in Orlando. But tech vendors are getting a jump on the event with unified communications announcements this week. Here are seven unified communication trends that will emerge at the show, The VAR Guy predicts.