The VAR Guy

The dust has finally settled and the world’s largest technology event, better known as Oracle OpenWorld, has come and gone. Although thoughts of this colossal undertaking may have dwindled for some, three buzzwords used to reflect Oracle’s pioneering vision at the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Forum still remain fresh in my mind: Innovation, Engineering and Execution.

Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Hewlett-Packard is rethinking a potential plan to spin off HP PSG, the $40 billion PC business. The sources indicate that spinning off the PC business will hurt HP’s supply chain. Ironically, Dell CEO Michael Dell made that very statement about HP during last week’s Oracle OpenWorld. Here’s the recap.

It’s Columbus Day here in the U.S., which means many businesses are closed for the holiday. But The VAR Guy is plugging away and in catch-up mode. In fact, here are six pieces of high-tech news for channel partners that The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending Oct. 7, 2011.

Oracle has started to pitch Oracle Linux and Oracle VM at the massive Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. The big question: Are Oracle OpenWorld attendees willing to shift their focus from Red Hat Enterprise Linux and VMware to Oracle’s alternatives?  Hmmm…

Michael Dell told Oracle OpenWorld attendees this morning that “Dell is not a PC company.” Instead, he described Dell as an “end-to-end solutions company,” including a firm commitment to PC endpoints. Without mentioning Hewlett-Packard by name, Dell said end-to-end solutions will beat the point-product approach. Dell also said cloud computing is erasing the line between business and IT. Here’s a recap.

Cisco Systems is preparing some Cius Android tablet surprises at the Cisco Collaboration Summit (Nov. 14-17, Miami, Fla.), a major channel partner event. Key efforts apparently involve AppHQ, a Cisco-developed app store for the Cius tablet. Here’s the early chatter.

Avnet Technology Solutions has ordered 100 Oracle Database Appliances (ODAs) and expects to receive Oracle shipments in mid-October, according to Chris Swahn, VP and GM of Oracle solutions at Avnet. Meanwhile Avnet’s entire vertical market leadership team — across health care, government, retail, energy and financial services — is attending Oracle OpenWorld to build deeper Oracle relationships, The VAR Guy has learned.

Oracle President and CFO Safra Catz today said Hewlett-Packard may be a “former” partner, claimed Microsoft is distracted by 16-year-old consumers, and said IBMers should hide under their desks in Armonk, N.Y., as Oracle’s Exadata business marches forward. Catz’s comments, some tongue-in-cheek, surfaced at Oracle OpenWorld today in San Francisco. Here’s the blow by blow.

Oracle is taking aim at Hewlett-Packard, promoting Exadata, Exalogic, Exastack and Oracle Database Appliance initiatives against HP’s traditional ProLiant server business. Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff and President and CFO Safra Catz (pictured) started the fireworks during Oracle PartnerForum, part of Oracle OpenWorld, in San Francisco today.

At Oracle OpenWorld, Channel Chief Judson Althoff said he wants to boost Oracle’s partner ranks to 25,000 companies, up from 20,000 today. To do so, Oracle will likely raid the Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft partner channels. Althoff didn’t exactly mention those rivals by name, but he said enough to put both companies in Oracle’s crosshairs. Here are nine highlights from Althoff and Oracle Partner Forum, part of Oracle OpenWorld (Oct. 2-6, San Francisc0).

Oracle President Mark Hurd offered some hybrid cloud computing teasers ahead of Oracle OpenWorld 2011 during a phone call with The VAR Guy today. Among the highlights: Hurd compared Oracle’s best-of-breed integrated stack strategy to the Apple iPad, insisting that corporate IT departments want simplified offerings that they don’t need to integrate on their own.

Oracle will announce Q1 2012 quarterly results on September 20. Then, Oracle President Mark Hurd will discuss a special database product for partners and customers on September 21. Could some Oracle Exadata and Exalogic surprises be in store? Or maybe an Oracle cloud move? Perhaps Oracle Senior VP Andrew Mendelsohn and Channel Chief Judson Althoff will fill in the blanks. Here’s a preview from The VAR Guy.

The VAR Guy just took a look at his travel schedule for October 2011. Simply put: It could be the busiest month ever for channel partners that plan to attend VAR- and MSP-centric conferences. Skeptical? Take a look at this packed schedule of October 2011 events, many of which The VAR Guy and his editorial team plan to attend…

Maybe Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is a miracle worker. Or maybe Ellison somehow sold his soul to revitalize Sun Microsystems’ business. Either way, Oracle’s hardware product gross margins are rising — yes, rising — amid strong channel demand for Exadata and Exalogic solutions. Indeed, Oracle’s quarterly revenues rose 37 percent to $8.8 billion, while net income rose 78% to $2.1 billion, fueled in part by Exadata and Exalogic sales. Here’s the update.

Apparently, the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized effort is taking hold with channel partners. Indeed, Oracle now has 1,000 specialized channel partners, and that figure will surpass 2,000 specialized partners by the time Oracle wraps up its fiscal year 2011 in May, predicts Channel Chief Judson Althoff. But that’s not all. During a lengthy interview with The VAR Guy yesterday, Althoff provided clues about an aggressive ISV (independent software vendor) strategy that will surface in Fiscal 2012. Plus, Oracle plans to reward specialized partners with a new match-maker portal that helps customers find specialized partners. Here’s the multi-part scoooooop.

The VAR Guy tried to unplug during the holidays. But anxious readers kept sending our resident blogger more and more email. The big topic of discussion: Updating a list of 75 different channel partner conferences and events in 2011. So, based on reader demand, here is that updated list — which now totals 99 channel partner events, conferences, summits and more. For the most part each conference is designed for VARs and/or managed services providers — though a few focus more on ISVs (independent software vendors). Take a look.

The VAR Guy is nearly done with business travel for 2010. Is it time to for our resident frequent flier to kick back and relax? Hardly. Here’s a list of 75 different channel partner conferences and events in 2011. For the most part each conference is designed for VARs and/or managed services providers — though a few focus more on ISVs (independent software vendors). Take a look.

Fall is in the air in New England and I am still sifting through the thousands of product announcements from Oracle OpenWorld 2010 (held in September).  One of the questions I keep being asked by solution providers is “What does this new Oracle Linux Kernel mean to me?” Knowing how astute the VAR Guy’s readers are, I jumped at the chance to share my thoughts on this exciting announcement.

Here’s a timely piece of irony: Some channel pundits worry Oracle will increasingly compete with VARs. Yet Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (pictured) says the company has no plans to push deeper into the IT services market, essentially guaranteeing that Oracle won’t expand its IT consulting division. So, the old question: Is Oracle a friend or foe to partners? Here’s some timely insight from The VAR Guy.

Last week, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers said he wanted to partner with Larry Ellison and Oracle, rather than compete with Oracle. This week, Cisco is backing up those words with some action at Oracle OpenWorld. Here are the details.

Sure, Oracle is best-known for its direct sales specialists. But the software, er, systems giant continues to grow its Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized partner program. And during the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, Oracle this week put the spotlight on its global partners of the year. Here a look at nine of those partners.

Apparently, The VAR Guy isn’t in the audience at Oracle OpenWorld. Or is he? Either way, the first day of Oracle OpenWorld 2010 included plenty of SaaS, cloud and competitive surprises. Can’t keep pace with all the news? Here are seven highlights from day one of Oracle OpenWorld, plus the potential implications for channel partners.

The VAR Guy is a bit distracted today. Always quick with a joke or a light of your smoke… but there’s some place that he’d rather be. Still, our resident blogger enjoys his weekly sign-off. So here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending September 17, 2010.