The VAR Guy

Sputter, sputter. The VAR Guy is running on fumes today. The recent VMware Partner Exchange and IBM PartnerWorld conferences, both in Orlando, were high-octane events that drained our resident blogger’s energy. So it’s time to recharge this weekend… before running off to Orlando again — this time for Parallels Summit (Feb. 22-24). In the meantime, here are six channel partner news blogs The VAR Guy didn’t find time to write for the week ending February 18, 2011.

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.

AsteriskExchange, an online marketplace for the open source IP PBX, has attracted more than 50 partner offerings since Digium launched the exchange in January 2010. In a quick Q&A, Digium Community Director Bryan Johns offers some updates on AsteriskExchange and some partner trends involving hardware providers, ISVs (independent software vendors) and VARs. Here’s what Johns told The VAR Guy.

It’s still early in the cloud computing game. And most distributors are still sorting out their strategies. But The VAR Guy has spent plenty of time this year speaking with most of the major distributors about their cloud and SaaS plans. The VAR Guy’s opinion: Ingram Micro seems to be spending more time, money and energy on the cloud effort than its rivals. But will Ingram’s investments pay dividends? Hmmm… Here are the facts and insights that shaped The VAR Guy’s opinion.

Something new? Check out this video…

Synnex has launched a mobile application front end for their e-commerce website. It’s called ECExpress Mobile, and resellers can take advantage of it on any nearly any mobile platform they want. Here’s the scoop…

Time for The VAR Guy to get back on the road. Next stop: McAfee Focus 10, a major conference that’s expected to attract more than 700 McAfee channel partners. But before The VAR Guy lands at McAfee Focus, here are six channel partner blog entries our resident blogger didn’t have time to write for the week ending October 8, 2010.

No planes, no trains… but plenty of automobiles this week. The VAR Guy’s schedule was filled with distractions. But he managed to keep his eyes on the IT channel. And there was plenty of chatter worth blogging about… if only the days weren’t so short. Here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy and his team of pundits didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Sept. 24, 2010.

The VAR Guy is busy booking travel to Red Hat Summit as well as the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (how’s that for a contrasting events?). But before our resident blogger starts building his agenda for both conferences, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t write for the week ending June 11, 2010.

During a sit down with eight leading distributors in Manhattan earlier today, The VAR Guy discussed a range of topics — the improving economic picture, international expansion, cloud computing, mobile opportunities and more. But during several of the sit downs it became clear that there was an elephant in the room. The elephant’s name: Cisco Systems. Here’s the scoop.

The VAR Guy spent considerable time in Silicon Valley this week, running from one meeting to the next. Our resident blogger is heading home now — before starting more business travel next week. Of course, there were multiple blogs The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write this week. Here are six channel partner blog entries that should have been written for the week ending April 16, 2010.

Open source software companies continue to strengthen their channel partner programs. The latest example involves SugarCRM’s new Open+ Partner Program. But SugarCRM isn’t alone. The VAR Guy has a hunch that several open source partner program announcements will surface this week. Here are the details.

Digium Asterisk, the open source IP PBX platform, just received a major vote of confidence from a key channel partner. Synnex Corp., a distributor that supplies more than 15,000 resellers in North America, has agreed to promote Digium’s Switchvox to channel partners. Here are the implications for the unified communications market and the emerging open source IT channel.

At first glance, rivals Ingram Micro and Tech Data are launching regional SaaS and cloud experiments involving channel partners. But take a closer look at North America, Europe and Australia, and you’ll see the start of a global SaaS battle between Ingram Micro and Tech Data. Here are the details, and the implications for solutions providers.

Open Tech, an open source partner program organized by Tech Data, has gained a new member. Specifically, KnowledgeTree, an enterprise content management company, has joined Open Tech. The VAR Guy welcomes the news but our resident blogger wonders: Are VARs starting to embrace Open Tech and the rival Open Source Channel Alliance? Here are some clues.

CompTIA — a large association serving the IT channel — has longstanding relationships with Microsoft and the traditional software industry. But one of CompTIA’s new board members could help to drive open source solutions across the IT channel. Here’s the scoop.

Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile (pictured), like many of his open source peers, has some lofty goals for 2010. With the help of SaaS and on-premise channel partners, Gentile says Jaspersoft — which specializes in business intelligence software — can grow 50 percent and generate positive cash flow in 2010. Here’s the scoop, including a FastChat video with Gentile.

Likewise Software — an open source specialist that helps VARs integrate Linux, Unix and Mac systems with Active Directory — expects to double its revenue in 2010, according to CEO Barry Crist (pictured). Here’s the scoop and some analysis.

Zmanda is the latest open source company to catch Uncle Sam’s attention. Specifically, Zmanda’s open source backup and restore applications are now part of the Synnex GSA (General Services Agreement) schedule — which makes it significantly easier for VARs to offer Zmanda to government agencies. Here’s the scoop.

It has been roughly a month since Tech Data launched Open Tech — an open source channel partner initiative. Why is the big distributor interested in the open source market? And how is Open Tech performing so far? I caught up with Tech Data VP Stacy Nethercoat for answers.

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Alfresco Software, which positions itself as an open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, may have found a new door into U.S. federal agencies. Here’s the scoop, along with the implications for solutions providers serving the government vertical.

The VAR Guy is hanging out with 1,400 of his closest friends at Red Hat Summit and JBoss World in Chicago. Here are seven key observations — involving Red Hat’s business, channel and partner strategies — so far.

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.