Big-Name Linux PCs: No Years And CountingIt's an idea whose time has come: a major PC vendor offers a pre-installed Linux distro option. But no. Ed Moltzen breaks it down: "Bottom line: No major OEMs offer Linux as a factory pre-load on PCs, and none have, in the pipeline, any kind of commitment to do so. And the next time you hear an executive of an OEM talk about it, stop them in their tracks and ask him or her to spell out precisely what they mean." That doesn't mean there hasn't been a lot of talk. In fact, Ed explains at some length "The History Of Pre-Installed Linux On The Desktop." Or lack thereof. Posted by Joe Caponi at 08:24 PM, February 28, 2007 VARBusiness 500 See Smooth SailingEvery three months, VARBusiness surveys it's VARBusiness 500 companies, public and private, to evaluate how business is faring for the largest solution providers. Since it's such a good day to evaluate the state of the economy, it's fitting that Lawrence Walsh has that data right now: "According to the latest VARBusiness 500 Quarterly survey, the biggest solution providers in the channel overwhelmingly said their top-line revenue and profits were either in line or ahead of expectations. While their outlook for the first quarter of 2007 was more tempered, 47 percent forecast their revenues ahead of the last quarter of 2006 and 24 percent said they would be flat." Most interesting: nearly 84% of respondents anticipate more hiring in Q1. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:04 AM, February 28, 2007 The Stock Slide: By Time, By RegionOver at the Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz has a good overview of yesterday's worldwide stock sell-off: "Note that Japan opened down 700 points on 2.28.07. Did it take them 24 hours to figure out what happened in China, or might it have been intervening events?" Barry's been sceptical of the overall market for some time. But so far, futures in the US look up this morning. We'll see. Posted by Joe Caponi at 06:52 AM, February 28, 2007 Run Schools Like Businesses, Says JobsOver on Public Eye, her new blog, GovernmentVAR editor Jill Aitoro quotes some provocative comments from Apple's Steve Jobs on improving K-12 education, made at a recent summit that also featured Michael Dell: "The water-cooler conversations that followed likely focused on Jobs, who made surprising comments against teachers' unions. "This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy," he said, among other things." I wonder if he's shared those thoughts with fellow Apple board member Al Gore... Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:04 PM, February 26, 2007 ERP Problems For MicrosoftBarbara Darrow has been documenting growing unrest among some of Microsoft's partners, "fed up" with the Vista hype: "Three Microsoft Business Solutions partners in the past day alone said they are actively looking at alternative ERP suites for the first time. One has already designated SAP Business One as her lead product, after more than 11 years in the Great Plains (now Dynamics GP) camp." Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:26 PM, February 26, 2007 Don't Call It A Comeback: Thin ClientsThe appeal of 'thin client computing' always made sense for many different types of applications--lots of inexpensive, redundant, distributed terminals, backed up with secure, managable central resources. And despite cheaper hardware, broswer-based apps and Linux, it still makes sense. The latest TechBuilder Recipe heralds the Return of the Thin Client: "The nice thing about running Windows-based applications on a server via Terminal Services is that it's no longer necessary to run the typical Windows OS on the desktop...the hardware resources required at the network client are dramatically reduced. For example, you can purchase thin client PC hardware from Hewlett-Packard for about $200 to $700 per system." Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:18 PM, February 26, 2007 The Penguin Roars At DellEd Moltzen has his eye on Dell Ideastorm, a site built by Dell to generate ideas for new products. It's working. "The runaway favorite idea so far: Having Dell pre-install Linux on their PCs... Just weeks after Microsoft launched Vista, no fewer than 71,000 people are telling Dell, the world's Number 2 PC maker, they want "no Windows" solutions." Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:18 PM, February 23, 2007 The Real Deal On Vista AdoptionWe've reported anecdotal evidence about slow Vista adoption, and even Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has acknowledged that perhaps Vista sales estimates were "too aggressive". In response, Chairman Bill Gates added that Vista has provided PC sellers with a "very nice lift". But speculate no further. CRN's Vista Adoption Study interviewed over 400 solution providers and enterprise IT buyers. The results show that pickup of the new OS will indeed take a long time: "Only 16 percent of enterprise IT buyers expect to adopt Vista in the second half of the year, compared with 33 percent in the SMB, survey respondents said. And in the first half of 2008, only 18 percent of enterprise IT buyers said they would be adopting Vista vs. 29 percent in the SMB." Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:54 PM, February 21, 2007 Dell's NASDAQ BluesAnnouncements that a company has received a 'delisting notice' from the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ are fairly common--and rarely amount to any serious trouble. Overdue paperwork gets filed, and life goes on. For Dell, though, the clock is ticking, and things look far from routine. Ed Moltzen reports: "Dell doesn't think it can make the deadline. In a press release last month, Dell wrote, "The company is working diligently to file the delinquent reports with the SEC as soon as possible, but does not expect that it will be able to do so by March 14." In which case it's the Security and Exchange Commission's call. But former Dell CEO Kevin Rollins will probably be okay. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:40 PM, February 21, 2007 Build A Podcast StudioSystem builders and small VARs everywhere can take advantage of the latest TechBuilder recipe: Build a Podcast PC and Studio. Andy McDonough take you through the steps to plan, record, edit and post a podcast and related RSS feed that will help communicate with your clients and promote your business: "It's a great way to send clients the latest PC-technology updates. Tell them about upgrades to new technologies. Provide special offers, rebates and recalls. And send out security alerts." From my experience pitching in on the VARBusiness Podcasts, I'm glad McDonough starts in exactly the right place - with good USB microphones. We struggled between high-end XLR microphones and low-end digital recorder microphones. A high quality USB mic is the way to go. Posted by Joe Caponi at 08:20 PM, February 19, 2007 A Rising Tide For The ChannelRobert Faletra says savvy vendors have given up on their efforts to sidestep the channel, and that we're in for some good sailing ahead: "I believe we are now in an extended period during which the economics and desire to drive worldwide market expansion make the channel the best route and most cost-effective method to achieve this." Posted by Joe Caponi at 08:09 PM, February 19, 2007 Daylight Savings LinkfestDouglas Adams wrote, "Time is the worst place to get lost in..." And in accordance with the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, that's exactly where we'll be, come March 11. On that day, Daylight Savings Time begins, three weeks earlier and extending one week later than in previous years. Trick-or-treaters get an extra hour of daylight on Haloween, but for developers, server administrators, and PC calendar users, the trick comes early, with system clocks, server jobs, and calendaring software all potentially an hour off. The big software makers have issued warnings and fixes--including Apple, Novell, and Microsoft, but it will fall on VARs and sysadmins to deal with the possible fallout. Gizmodo suggests that disconnected gadgets may be the most likely to fail, while Network Computing sees trouble in Java-based applications. On our ChannelWeb forums, readers are already weighing in. KeithAckerman applauds Microsoft for getting in front of the problem: "This is a government mandated change that Microsoft could not have been aware of when it published the vast majority of its applications over the past several years... I frankly have not seen any other publishers helping to get the word out." While grozelle points out a patch for older Windows systems. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:19 PM, February 16, 2007 The VARBusiness 500: Early AdmissionWhat can you do, right now, to make sure your company gets considered for the VARBusiness 500, our exclusive listing of the largest solution provider companies in North America? Sign Up! VARBusiness has opened nominations for the 2007 VARBusiness 500. Provide some quick contact info now, and if your company looks like a contender, you'll hear back soon. It's free, and a spot on the VARBusiness 500 would place your organization among the industry's elite. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:49 PM, February 15, 2007 IBM Feasts On Federal VARsOver at GovernmentVAR, Jill Aitoro has taken notice a "flurry of purchases by IBM of small IT companies around the Beltway," and sees the makings of an even bigger trend. "All of the buyouts are software companies. Large federal integrators frequently gobble up solution providers to bolster resources, but growing a portfolio through acquisition rather than reinventing the wheel is a strategy that has become more popular recently." Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:17 PM, February 14, 2007 2007 Channel ChiefsCRN profiles the vendor executives leading the largest partner programs in its annual Channel Chiefs special report: "In the span of just one year since our last Channel Chiefs report, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which rely on solution providers for a huge portion of their annual revenue, have seen major changes in their channel chief ranks. What's more, solution providers say the new wave of emerging vendors that is relying almost exclusively on the channel to make their mark needs to make the channel chief the most important executive in their organizations if they hope to succeed." Don't miss the full Chiefs Directory and a slide show of New and Noteworthy channel chiefs. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:52 PM, February 12, 2007 Cross-Platform Nirvana: VMware ServerPC virtualization promises users a vast array of benefits: access to applications regardless of platform; ease of building and running test environments and customized configurations of software and settings; and much improved security against malware and viruses. VMware is an undisputed leaders in the virtualization space, and in this week's TechBuilder recipe Run Windows and Linux on a Single System, A. Lizard demonstrates how to configure VMware Server for the best performance: "The Linux OS emulation described in this Recipe lets users run older legacy Windows applications within a virtual machine that's a lot more malware-resistant than a computer running Windows as its only OS. This emulation also lets users run the new Linux applications, many of which are as good or better than their Windows equivalents. Oh, and did I mention that they can run Windows and Linux applications at the same time?" Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:50 AM, February 12, 2007 The VAR Scene In BudapestRobert Faletra is back from our first XChange Eastern Europe, held last week in Budapest, Hungary. He heard from VARs from thoughout eastern Europe and found many of the same concerns VARs have here: "Many of them are looking to partner with other VARs to deliver results to their customers or drive into new markets. One Hungarian VAR I had lunch with was thrilled with the conference because it allowed him to find potential partners in neighboring countries." Posted by Joe Caponi at 08:04 AM, February 12, 2007 DoS AttackThe pieces have been picked up from Tuesday's denial of service (DoS) attack on the Internet's core DNS servers, and overall, experts are pretty pleased with the system's resiliency: Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:33 PM, February 8, 2007 Vista, Other IT Spending Stays CoolWe've already seen some evidence that the Vista upgrade boom remains far off. More comes in from Heather Clancy's report on the Cowen and Co. Technology Focus: "Spending intention scores decreased in 21 of its 23 project categories by early 2006, including some innovation hotspots like VoIP, PDAs and handhelds, and WLANs. Hardware categories were almost entirely responsible for the decline, while spending intentions for software was more stable." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:13 AM, February 7, 2007 IBM, EMC and Symantec's Channel EncountersIn colums today, our editors spotlight three major vendors, each struggling with obstacles in serving their channel partners. Robert Faletra looks at EMC's channel overhaul and, by and large, likes what he sees: "You've heard me say before that the way a vendor's direct sales force's compensation is structured as it relates to the channel is absolutely critical to its success in the indirect world. EMC seems to be putting all the key components in place." Meahwhile, Steven Burke talks to a solution provider who was "Snubbed By Symantec" and hears a different tale: "[VAR Tyler Dikman] said the Symantec rep noted that given his size, he would not get a dedicated account rep. Dikman promptly began moving his business and said since moving to the bulletproof Secure Resolutions product, he has doubled his profits on every license sale and received priority technical support." To get the full flavor of Steve's passion for the channel, thought, you must see his Rants and Raves segments on CRN TV. Finally, Robert DeMarzo looks back at Sam Palmisano's first five years as CEO of IBM. DeMarzo credits Palmisano for his success at transforming and growing the tech giant, but notes one unfinished task: "What about the solution providers that sell IBM's goods? Turns out that they're not so upbeat... If there's one area Palmisano must focus on in his next five years, it's fulfilling the software giant's promise for the greater solution-provider community--not just the upper echelons of the IBM channel." Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:26 PM, February 5, 2007 Save Drives With USB EnclosuresRecycle a spare hard drive into a functioning member of your network with our latest TechBuilder recipe, Build USB Drive Enclosures: "With practice, I was able to assemble this project in less than eight minutes. Best of all, the only tools I needed were a Philips-head screwdriver, a paper clip and my fingers." Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:51 PM, February 5, 2007 CountdownYou may have noticed that countdown graphic--currently at 31 days--in the headers of the ChannelWeb, CRN and VARBusiness web sites. Oh yes, we're in redesign mode, with a launch scheduled for Monday, March 5. We're aiming to create one destination with all the content, tools and community features of CRN, VARBusiness, GovernmentVAR and ChannelWeb, and add in some additional dramatic improvements: Take a brief peek at what we've got in store. If you'd like to see more, or talk with us about what works for you and what doesn't on ChannelWeb, e-mail me at jcaponi@cmp.com and we'll make it happen. For more of what we have in store, see New ChannelWeb Adds Tools For VARs and VARBusiness, CRN Team For New ChannelWeb, from this week's news. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:17 PM, February 2, 2007 |
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