The VAR Guy

Day One of VMworld is virtually over (pardon the pun). Here are six VMworld/virtualization headlines worth noting, and their implications for channel partners.

The VAR Guy was ready to unplug the evening of Aug. 31. Then this tip hit his inbox: VMware has unveiled the vPractice pilot program, which aims to help VARs productize new solutions and services around VMware. Here’s the scoop from our resident blogger.

At the VMworld trade show in San Francisco, The VAR Guy stumbled onto this rather interesting virtualization tidbit: Desktone, a startup from Chelmsford, Mass., has trademarked the terms Desktop as a Service and DaaS. Smart moves. Er, very smart moves. Here’s why.

Virtualization isn’t just for big businesses. That’s the message from the VMworld conference, where VMware is launching VMware Go — a web-based service that strives to help small and midsize businesses more rapidly embrace virtualization. Here are some perspectives.

Consider the following scenario: Roughly 10,000 people are set to converge at VMworld (Aug. 31-Sept. 3, San Francisco). In many ways, the conference represents the center of the virtualization universe. But Cisco Systems VP Mark Fulgham (pictured) will be half-a-country away, delivering a virtualization keynote at Red Hat Summit (Sept. 1-4, Chicago). Here’s why.

Two big IT events occur this week: Interop in New York and VMworld in Las Vegas. The VAR Guy, a native New Yorker, may pop into Interop before heading to ConnectWise’s partner conference in Orlando. But VMworld seems to be drowning out most of the Interop buzz. True or false?

Mary Jo Foley, the brain behind the All About Microsoft blog, raises an interesting question today. Amid Microsoft’s big virtualization push, she openly wonders if the biggest threat facing Microsoft is now VMware rather than Linux. The VAR Guy chewed on that a bit, and delivered the following answer.