Six Channel Blog Entries The VAR Guy Didn’t Write: Oct. 22

Greetings from San Antonio, the latest stop in The VAR Guy’s latest road trip. And what a road trip it has been. Here are six channel blog entries The VAR Guy didn’t have time to write for the week ending Oct. 22, 2010.

7. On the Move: Matt Makowicz, known for his Ambition Mission business and sales coaching and his books, has joined SMB Nation in a sales role. The VAR Guy suspects Makowicz will spend ample time on multiple Harry B projects — including Telephonation.

6. Cleaning Up the Cloud: Rumor has it McAfee named Spam Soap as its SaaS channel partner of the year. Spam Soap is led by inhouseIT, an IT solutions provider in Costa Mesa, Calif. So, what’s the secret to Spam Soap’s success with McAfee? The VAR Guy is still waiting for details…

5.  Free TelePresence: Vu Telepresence is preparing a free telepresence client to help accelerate next-generation video conferencing, The VAR Guy heard during the SMB Nation Fall conference. As you may recall, Vu recently launched a low-cost telepresence solution that generates recurring revenues for channel partners. Vu sounds like a start-up, but it’s actually the sister company of Zenith Infotech, which offers backup, disaster recovery, cloud, NOC and managed services solutions to channel partners.

4. Big Blue Partner Rally: Avnet Technology Solutions is set to rally IBM partners at a conference in San Antonio, Texas. The VAR Guy is on hand to hear how Big Blue’s channel partners intend to march forward in 2011. Complete conference coverage to follow over the next few days.

3. Reality Check: Intel is avoiding the temptation to hype its Hybrid Cloud solution, which sounds somewhat similar to Microsoft Small Business Server Aurora (see item 2 below). Instead of pitching Hybrid Cloud endlessly, Intel is slowing rolling the solution out to selected VARs, and instead continuing to promote vPro desktops and mobile devices as the key endpoint opportunity for MSPs and VARs.

2. Calling In the Experts: Microsoft is expected to meet its channel MVPs this week in Dallas. What’s on the agenda? Lots of talk about the next Small Business Server and the Aurora release, which links SBS to a range of cloud services. Keep a close eye on the SBS Diva, one of the channel’s best sources for SBS analysis.

1. Check the Headline: This is a top-six list. Always has been. Always will be. Because The VAR Guy doesn’t play by the rules. Never has. Never will.

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