Technologies

Cisco Prepping Video Pods

• April 3, 2007

The VAR Guy has a motto: If the door isn’t locked, he’s going in. About an hour ago, The VAR Guy wandered into the Venetian Hotel’s main conference hall at Cisco’s Partner Summit. There were 2,500 empty seats. So The VAR Guy grabbed one. Cisco executives were rehearsing presentations to be given later today. What […]

Cisco May Share More Of Its Wealth (With VARs)

• April 2, 2007

Still wired from the grande latte he chugged down an hour ago, The VAR Guy is sorting through several tips he just received here at the Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas. First up, our resident blogger hears Cisco is evaluating how it allocates joint marketing dollars for VARs. Cisco also is developing new plans […]

Coffee, Cisco and John Chambers

• April 2, 2007

The VAR Guy has been spotted at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, loading up on coffee and checking email in the casino’s first floor food court. Free WiFi and caffeine; it’s the perfect combo to get our resident blogger energized for the Cisco Partner Summit. Although the conference program doesn’t start until Tuesday morning, the […]

Cisco Rallies Partners Against Microsoft

• April 1, 2007

Keep a close eye on Cisco Systems this week. The networking giant kicks off its annual partner summit April 2 in Las Vegas. In addition to taking on the usual suspects (Avaya, Nortel, etc.), Cisco will spend the week targeting Microsoft, The VAR Guy hears. During the conference, Cisco executives will describe how the company […]

Useless Business Travel Tips From The VAR Guy

• April 1, 2007

The VAR Guy is in Las Vegas this week. He’ll sample Sin City’s finest all-you-can-eat buffets (“That boy is a P-I-G pig”), visit a few casinos (“You guys playing cards?”) and squeeze in a few meetings at Cisco’s annual partner summit. How can you make the most of your business trips? Here are seven tips […]

10 Ways to Jumpstart Vista Sales

• March 29, 2007

Memo to Steve Ballmer: It’s time for Microsoft to rethink its Windows Vista marketing plan. Sure, Vista has sold 20 million licenses. But everyone from Wall Street to Main Street U.S.A. knows Vista isn’t living up to its hype. Here are 10 logical steps Microsoft should take to jumpstart the Vista sales engine. 1. Keep […]

Dell Linux vs. Apple: Let the Debate Begin

• March 29, 2007

An interesting debate has started in The VAR Guy’s home. His old Windows XP PC is running out of gas. He was leaning toward a Mac Mini as a replacement. But now, Dell just complicated things. Michael & Company has officially announced plans to introduce desktops and notebooks with Linux. So what’s it gonna be: […]

OnForce: Your Google Map To IT Engagements?

• March 29, 2007

OnForce, an online marketplace that connects VARs with IT customers, today unveiled a new service that caught The VAR Guy’s attention. The service, called OnForce MarketView Index, provides VARs with some very interesting state-by-state IT project data. The VAR Guy sees big potential for the index. If OnForce plays its cards right, it could become […]

Dell Opens Wider For Open Source

• March 28, 2007

Finally, The VAR Guy believes, Dell is listening to the market. The hardware giant spent recent weeks gathering data about customers’ interest in Linux desktops and notebooks. And on the server, Dell continues to show more love for MySQL–the increasingly popular open source database. Both moves should soon make Dell’s hardware more attractive to customers […]

Meet The VAR Guy In Vegas

• March 28, 2007

Lions and Tigers and Best Buy — Oh My!

• March 27, 2007

The VAR Guy has a confession: He likes Best Buy. A lot. He blows 12o percent of his holiday budget and most of his annual tax refund (before Uncle Sam even cuts him a check) at the Big Box retailer. Some channel watchers consider Best Buy a big, scary company that will smother small business […]

Vegas VAR Hits Wireless Jackpot

• March 27, 2007

The VAR Guy will be in Las Vegas next week (April 2-5) for several business meetings. But don’t try striking up a conversation with him when he’s walking The Las Vegas Strip. He’ll be too busy testing a new wireless broadband network deployed by Cheetah Wireless Technologies (CWTI). The network, which uses wireless mesh technology […]

iPhone Sales Predictions

• March 27, 2007

The VAR Guy loves crunching numbers. So he spent some time today looking at the iPod’s installed base and the cell phone market — trying to determine how many of those customers would purchase an Apple iPhone … and how soon. First, The VAR Guy examined Apple’s latest 10Q filing with the SEC. In it, […]

Backed By Customer Survey, Dell Preps Linux Desktops

• March 26, 2007

Even as Microsoft continues to promote its most ambitious operating system launch ever, Michael Dell is finally ready to dance with the penguin. The PC giant is “crafting product offerings” in response to customer demand for Linux desktops and notebooks, according to the company’s Direct2Dell blog. Dell on March 23 completed an online customer survey […]

Ganging Up Against Cisco Systems

• March 26, 2007

The unified communications market is quickly organizing itself into two camps: There’s Cisco Systems Inc. … and then there’s everybody else. Sure, that’s a bit of an exaggeration from The VAR Guy. But it’s clear that Cisco’s rivals–from Avaya Inc. to Juniper Networks Inc.–are working with each other to gang up against the networking giant. […]