Best Practices

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Memo to Michael: 10 Ways to Fix Dell

Memo to Michael: 10 Ways to Fix Dell

Dear Michael: The VAR Guy has held his breath for a bit, giving you ample time to settle back in to the CEO job. As a frequent Dell customer and long-time company watcher, The VAR Guy offers you these unsolicited steps to get Dell back on track. 1. Visit CIOs and Apologize: If Dell had […]

Not Another Storage Company

Not Another Storage Company

T.M. Ravi has been launching, building and selling storage companies for more than a decade. But the CA and Cheyenne Software veteran didn’t want to launch “yet another storage company” into a largely saturated market in 2003. Instead, he aimed his latest venture–Mimosa Systems–at email archiving, discovery and compliance. Full disclosure: The VAR Guy briefly […]

Swedish Army Shoots NT Server

Swedish Army Shoots NT Server

The VAR Guy is having flashbacks to 1997, when Microsoft, Novell and Unix providers promoted tools to help you move from one server operating system to another. It was a mad scramble for market share and NT came out on top. Fast forward to 2007, and the tug of war now involves Microsoft, Novell … […]

Small Biz IP Phones: Who You Gonna Dial?

Small Biz IP Phones: Who You Gonna Dial?

Sure, small businesses are moving to VoIP phone systems. Now for the challenge: Which partners should you dial for help? The list of options grows by the day. There are Asterisk-based open source solutions such as Digium, Fonality and SwitchVox; traditional players such as Cisco, 3Com and Nortel; and startups like TalkSwitch to consider. Even […]

Ingram Gets Right to the Point

Ingram Gets Right to the Point

Don’t force customers to think. Give them simple names that immediately identify the services you offer. That sounds like logical advice from The VAR Guy. But too often, vendors ignore it. How else can one explain missteps like Chevy Nova–a car that didn’t sell well in some Spanish-speaking countries because “No Va” means “Doesn’t Go.” […]

More B.I. Opportunities for VARs

More B.I. Opportunities for VARs

VARs that serve midsize businesses could benefit greatly as more business intelligence vendors push downstream. Business Objects is the latest BI vendor to announce a small and midsize customer push that depends heavily on solutions providers. The company’s SMB initiative targets customers with less than $1 billion in annual revenues or fewer than 2,500 employees. […]

Open Source Vendors Prep Major Announcement

Open Source Vendors Prep Major Announcement

Lookout Oracle. Move over Microsoft. At least eight small companies are forming an alliance that could stir demand for open source applications in the enterprise, The VAR Guy has learned. The group, apparently led by SpikeSource, will help guide and promote the integration of open source applications, databases and IT support. Known as The Open […]

Surprise: The Two Best Cities for Linux Sales Are…

Surprise: The Two Best Cities for Linux Sales Are…

Where is Linux selling best: New York? San Francisco? London? Try Raleigh-Durham and Boston. That’s the view from Levanta, maker of a popular hardware appliance that manages Linux across commodity hardware, racks, blades, boxes, and even virtual machines. “We’re not saying that we’re not interested in New York,” quips David Dennis, director of products and […]

OnForce Preps MarketView Tool for VARs

OnForce Preps MarketView Tool for VARs

Imagine if you could analyze IT services trends across the United States–in real time. That vision could soon become a reality, thanks to OnForce, an online marketplace that matches VARs with IT projects across the country. Using data culled from the OnForce marketplace, VARs might be able to examine IT pricing and service trends down […]

Cisco, Apple Nearing Partnership?

Cisco, Apple Nearing Partnership?

Is opportunity ringing for Cisco and Apple VARs? Perhaps so. Ever since Apple announced the iPhone in January, The VAR Guy has been calling on Apple and Cisco to ink a partnership — rather than feud over the iPhone name (which Cisco owns). Late Wednesday, Apple and Cisco provided the first hint that a partnership […]

Websense: Short- or Long-Term Problems?

Websense: Short- or Long-Term Problems?

Sometimes, you’ve got to take short-term hits on the road to long-term success. The VAR Guy wonders if that’s the situation at Websense, which has announced a big earnings shortfall. Websense is putting an interesting spin on the situation, and The VAR Guy is inclined to believe the company line. In recent months, Websense has […]

Red Hat Pushes Deeper Into Channel

Red Hat Pushes Deeper Into Channel

Mark Enzweiler, VP of North American Channel Sales at Red Hat, today unveiled the latest addition to the company’s channel strategy. The Red Hat Certified Service Provider Program is an invitation-only effort that gives selected partners access to potential subcontracting engagements with Red Hat Global Professional Services. The program also exposes Red Hat partners to […]

3Com Seeks Open Source VARs

3Com Seeks Open Source VARs

3Com finished 2006 on a high note, announcing strong quarterly results in December. Now, the company is seeking to accelerate its rebound, launching the Open Network Technology Partner Program. The VAR Guy is intrigued. Even as networking companies evangelize unified communications, there are only a handful of unified applications for VARs to deploy. Universal in-boxes: […]

Behind Symantec-Altiris

Behind Symantec-Altiris

Symantec caught The VAR Guy’s attention this morning when the company announced plans to acquire Altiris. Full disclosure: The VAR Guy moderated CIO events for both Symantec and Altiris in 2005 and early 2006, so he sees clear synergies between the two companies. Yes, both are focused on the channel. And Altiris allows Symantec to […]

Takeover Branding 101

Takeover Branding 101

As the IT industry continues to consolidate, many VARs are expected to merge with one another this year. Companies such as Agilysys and CDW have announced plans to buy up solutions providers as well. The VAR Guy has never managed an acquisition, but he’s covered quite a few of them over the years. He heard […]

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