The VAR Guy

Admittedly, most VARs have yet to jump into Amazon’s cloud. But that may soon change. Here are three prime examples highlighting how Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) are catching on with solutions providers. In some cases, the solutions providers may not even realize they’re working in Amazon’s cloud. Take a look.

SugarCRM CEO Larry Augustin loves stretch goals. A case in point: Augustin hopes to double SugarCRM’s revenues in 2010. To get there Augustin will need help from traditional channel partners and emerging Software as a Service (SaaS) partners. Here’s the open source CRM company’s strategy.

Windows 7 is out the door, but Microsoft has its hands full with another Windows development effort: Windows Azure, which will allow independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop and run applications in Microsoft’s cloud. Here’s an update on Windows Azure, and the implications for VARs and channel partners.

Two prominent open source applications providers — Open-Xchange and SugarCRM — are partnering to integrate their collaboration and customer relationship management software. The move comes as Open-Xchange recruits SaaS partners and on-premise channel partners to battle Microsoft Exchange. Here’s the scoop.

In this pocast, SugarCRM Interim CEO Larry Augustin discusses the company’s search for a permanent CEO; the company’s cloud- and SaaS-focused channel partners; working with Microsoft and Windows Server; and SugarCRM’s growth strategy for open source CRM. Plus: Will SugarCRM run in Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud?

 

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SugarCRM remains in growth mode, and channel partners are responsible for two-thirds of the open source company’s revenue, according to interim CEO Larry Augustin (pictured). Heck, even Microsoft is helping to fuel SugarCRM’s growth. Here’s the scoop.

At first glance, SugarCRM has launched new programs to train customers on open source CRM (customer relationship management). But take a closer look and you’ll see the continued evolution of SugarCRM’s channel partner program and SaaS (software as a service) initiatives. Here’s the scoop.

Two Microsoft Business Solutions veterans have joined Openbravo, a fast-growing provider of open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) and point of sale (POS) software. The moves signal growing momentum for business-centric open source applications. The news also highlights Openbravo’s continued investments in its IT channel partners. Here’s the scoop.

Compiere Inc., an open source ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) provider, is launching training courses to help strengthen the company’s customer and partner ranks. Backed by 65 channel partners, Compiere hopes more integrators will master the company’s software. Here are the details from The VAR Guy.

BusinessWeek says open source companies are struggling to monetize their products and show growth. But new channel strategies from companies like Compiere — an open source ERP and CRM application provider — could prove BusinessWeek wrong. Here’s why.

As we approach next week’s LinuxWorld Expo, The VAR Guy was reminded of an age-old problem. During a meeting earlier this week in New Orleans, a solution provider told The VAR Guy he just didn’t understand how to profit from open source. Didn’t we put this issue to rest a long time ago? Perhaps not. Here are eight ways VARs can profit from Linux and Open Source.

Canonical recently completed a survey analyzing how customers are using Ubuntu Server. To The VAR Guy’s surprise, quite a few customers are running key business applications (including Enterprise Resource Planning) on Ubuntu Server. Here’s a quick look at the survey results.