The VAR Guy

It’s not the final nail in the coffin, but it’s yet another sign of Windows XP’s decline. Microsoft is officially dumping Windows XP support in the next iteration of Internet Explorer. Here’s the why and how and what’s next from Microsoft…

ZyXEL Communications, the ‘complete solution’ guys we’ve been talking about for a while now, have another notch to put in their belt. They’ve joined the Panasonic Solution Developer Network (PSDN). The move signals networking and video surveillance further converging. Intrigued…?

Updated: Feb. 23, 2010: A little bit of Tuesday morning chatter: Security software veteran McAfee’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings apparently have hit a major milestone at 575,000 users. Much of the growth was organic. But a good portion of it involved a key acquisition — MX Logic. Here’s the scoop, along with a look at the competitive landscape.

A small name change can signify a big shift in thinking. In this case, Trend Micro has rebranded its Worry-Free Business Security Hosted suite of cloud-based security tools. The new brand:  Worry-Free Business Security Services. The effort include a major product-wide upgrade — and compatibility with Trend Micro’s remote management product. Here’s the scoop.

A warning to all VARs supporting customers that use any 32-bit Windows version hailing all the way back to Windows 2000: There’s a flaw in the kernel. But don’t press the panic button. Here are some details to put you (and your customers) at ease.

You read that right: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into cloud computing, trying to figure out what the very real security and privacy concerns could mean for consumers and what they have to do about it. The real trouble is that if the FTC hasn’t made itself entirely clear on what “cloud computing” even is, and resellers could be in trouble if the government decides to legislate and regulate SaaS (software as a service) applications like Salesforce.com or Zoho under that umbrella. Here’s the scoop.

For SMBs, the cloud represents the hugely appealing possibility of having someone else take care of archiving your e-mail, delivering document security, or even managing maintenance contracts. For partners, well, someone has to set them up with those services, right? It’s not all positive, though: keeping chunks of sensitive information in someone else’s data center comes with its own risks. I spoke with David Meizlik, director of product marketing for Websense, about how to avoid problems when moving customers to the cloud.

We knew Symantec was planning to evolve its SaaS strategy, but they’d been playing their hand close to their chest. Rewind a couple of years, and many of Symantec’s initial SaaS moves involved the company’s fledgling Symantec Protection Network system. But now, Symantec is reaching out to public clouds — and embracing Amazon Web Services and the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. It’s a significant strategy — but where do partners fit in?

Lenovo claims its new Secure Managed Client (SMC) is the “PC industry’s only storage-based fleet management solution.” SMC 2.0 brings increased security and tools, and there’s a lot of them. Here’s the news boiled down and what you need to know.

Even as Symantec builds out its SaaS (software as a service) business, the security company is marching forward with traditional channel partners. A recent case in point: Tech Data, the distribution giant, has launched a new 360 square foot solutions room — inside their 6,000 square foot solution center — that focuses entirely on Symantec solutions. Here’s what VARs need to know.

McAfee, Inc. announced Email and Web Security Appliance 5.5, with several new features designed to protect SMB users while also lightening the load on a network, will become available to its partners later this quarter. Here’s a quick look at the move.

Cisco has announced its intent to buy ScanSafe, which provides security to software as a service applications, for $183 million. This is Cisco’s third acquisition in the month of October, if you’re keeping score.

A lot of folks are quick to bash Windows Vista. But few people actually take the time to describe what went wrong with Windows Vista — and how Microsoft (and PC partners) hope to mitigate those problems with Windows 7. During a briefing Oct. 20, Lenovo Director of SMB Jay McBain walked us through Vista’s weak points and specific R&D steps Lenovo took to assist Microsoft with Windows 7. Here’s a  quick rundown:

Okay, The VAR Guy concedes that the headline is a little misleading. You can’t completely “stop” identity theft. But you can mitigate some risks. Here are 10 ways to reduce the risk of somebody stealing your identity. Oh, and full disclosure: The tips were offered up by Identity Finder (a software company), but The VAR Guy added his own spin to each of them.