The VAR Guy

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.

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 scratching his head in confusion. When our resident blogger’s web site officially launched in January 2008, open source was all the rage. And quite a few open source companies were building channel partner programs at the time. Fast forward to the present and it seems like some open source channel partner programs have gone silent — especially as cloud computing continues to generate so much freakin’ hype. But don’t lose hope. Here’s why.

The VAR Guy is feeling a bit stung this evening. Maybe it’s the cold weather. Maybe it’s lack of sleep. Either way, our resident blogger is in catch-up mode. So here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending January 14, 2011.

It’s December 24 and The VAR Guy needs to, um, start his holiday shopping. So, our resident blogger is cutting out just a little early today. If any really big news breaks The VAR Guy will be back with timely updates. In the meantime here are six channel partner blogs The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending December 24, 2010.

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.

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.

It’s still too early for open source application providers to declare victory in the IT channel. But a growing number of open source application providers — from Alfresco to Zimbra — continue to gain momentum with VARs and solutions providers. Here are the details.

Red Hat already focuses on Linux, JBoss middleware and virtualization. But there are multiple signs the open source company will make a business intelligence move soon. And Red Hat’s move could involve either Jaspersoft or EnterpriseDB — or both. Here’s some analysis, some speculation and some potential implications for Red Hat’s channel partners.

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.

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.

The VAR Guy is losing sleep, gaining weight, aging fast and always running out of time. But that’s okay… because site traffic continues to surge. Still, our resident blogger wishes he had more hours in the day to write even more blogs. In fact, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending February 5, 2010.

7. Open Channel: Pentaho, the open source BI specialist, says its OEM partner program grew 146 percent in the second half of 2009. CEO Richard Daley recently told The VAR Guy he expects Pentaho to double bookings in 2010.

6. What Conflict?: When McAfee announced Security Quickstart Services for small and midsize customers, the company was smart to quote a channel partner in the press release. However, some observers think Quickstart is primarily a direct sales push into the SMB market. The Quickstart website sure looks like a direct sales pitch. The VAR Guy still needs to give McAfee equal time on the matter.

5. Why So Quiet?: The VAR Guy noted earlier this week that Unison Communications — a fledgling unified communications company — has been pretty darn quiet in recent months. One potential reason: Former CTO Igor Balk apparently moved on to a startup called PMP HQ.

4. The Bad and the Good: Investors weren’t impressed with NetSuite‘s latest SaaS revenues. Perhaps SaaS and cloud aren’t living up to the hype? But NetSuite is quick to point to continued wins involving SAP customer defections.

3. Join the Party: XO Communications is now a supplier member to 1nService, an international community of advanced technology integrators. Also of note: An emerging relationship between 1nService and NeuronGlobal. The VAR Guy will explain why next week.

2. Friday’s Fatal Distraction: Scroll down to the bottom-right of this web page. No quarters required. A new fatal distraction will debut each Friday. Enjoy.

1. Check the Headline: If you know The VAR Guy, you know he doesn’t play by the rules. There is no #1 on this list, because it’s a top six list.

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.

Tech Data, a $24 billion technology giant with deep Microsoft relationships, has developed a 24-month plan to emerge as “the voice for open source in distribution,” The VAR Guy has learned. The proposed strategy includes potential open source hardware solutions from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Fujitsu. And it has broad implications for the software industry and the global IT channel. Here’s the scoop.

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.

If you want to see the future of the IT channel, take a look at Levementum, a system integrator that is deploying a range of open source applications (from Compiere to SugarCRM) in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Ec2). Levementum isn’t alone. Progressive solutions providers across the globe are plugging into Amazon Web Services.

At first glance, the forthcoming Openbravo World Conference is a small open source event with modest goals. But take a closer look, and you’ll see the open source IT channel’s continued emergence. In fact, even IBM and Oracle are joining Openbravo’s party. Here’s the scoop.