The VAR Guy

Microsoft‘s Q1 earnings, released today, met Wall Street’s expectations. One prime reason: Strong demand for Microsoft’s server offerings, including Lync, SharePoint, Exchange, Dynamics and Windows Server. In recent months, The VAR Guy has told channel partners to shift their Microsoft focus to the company’s business division, where sales growth remains surprisingly strong. Dynamics, in particular, enjoys growing momentum despite fierce competition from NetSuite, Salesforce.com, Oracle and SAP.

Even as Microsoft’s Windows business slips slightly, there’s good news for channel partners that focus on Microsoft’s server applications — brands like Microsoft Lync, Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and Exchange. Indeed, sales of those four applications drove roughly 30 percent of Microsoft business division growth in Microsoft’s most recent fiscal year. But are Microsoft Partner Network members — and investors — getting the message?

As the resident gadget guru here at The VAR Guy, I enjoy doing the occasional hardware review. Normally I look at laptops or mobile devices, but sometimes I can get my hands on something less “consumery.”  Case in point: the Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 4, which I’ll be running through its performance/usability paces. Here’s a quick roundup of the feature set, and what I’ll be testing out …

rPath, the self-described “service factory for on-demand IT,” has released rBuilder 5.8, which adds automated Microsoft Windows server application deployment. The company says it’s a natural extension of its work doing the same in Linux server environments. Here’s the scoop on how rBuilder can potentially eliminate some headaches.

You know the big names in the virtualization market. But smaller names often pop into our inbox as well. One recent example: ServerPark, based in Malaysia, focuses on distributed desktop virtualization. How is this different from the rest of the virtualization world? Read on…

The VAR Guy doesn’t have time to attend the funeral… but he was expecting this death: Microsoft is discontinuing future development of Windows Essential Business Server, effective June 30th, 2010. Here’s the scoop.

In a speech to the student body University of Washington, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer elucidated the promises and perils of the cloud, shedding some light on Microsoft’s cloud strategy.  Gizmodo’s got the blow-by-blow – here’s a recap and our take.

That headline might go a little far, but Microsoft has announced plans to hold workshops across the United States to educate VARs and other IT pros about what Windows Azure is, what it can do, and how best to deploy it.  It seems like the closer we get to the February 1 grand opening of Azure, the more eager Microsoft is to push their new cloud platform.

The VAR Guy has a hunch: Microsoft’s best hope for future growth is Windows Azure, the company’s cloud-based operating system. So Microsoft’s decision to merge Windows Server and Windows Azure into a single organization — called the Server & Cloud Division (SCD) — was a smart one. Here’s why.

As Windows 7′s October 22 launch date approaches, Microsoft has started describing why its server counterpart — Windows Server 2008 R2 — could also be a hit with customers. Here’s a quick look at what’s coming in R2, and why VARs should care.

At first glance, you might think the headline to this blog entry is an oxymoron. In reality, Microsoft certainly does have an open source chief (Sam Ramji). And in some cases, Microsoft is downright happy to support open source. Skeptical? Allow The VAR Guy to explain.