Channel Best SellersWhere's are VARs really putting their product dollars these days? Working with the research firm NPD Group, we've put together our list of Channel Best Sellers in over twenty technology categories, including networking, scanners and printers, storage, servers and security. In addition to overall sales, we've also got the growth (or decline) in market share of each brand. Quick read: a good year for Check Point; a bad one for Lenovo. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:56 AM, March 31, 2008 Will It Run Vista? That Depends On Your Definition of 'Capable'Damon Poeter bring us up to date on the latest from the "Vista Capable" class-action suit: "If we learn anything from slogging through the 158 pages of electronic discovery, it's that Best Buy, not Intel, was apparently a prime driver of Microsoft's decision to stamp many more computers with the Vista brand than it had originally planned." Leaving many customers and businesses feeling angry and litigious when they tried to upgrade and found they were unable to enjoy "the full Vista experience." We go through the court documents in detail in our Vista Capable Debacle slide show. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:04 PM, March 28, 2008 Four Things VARs Can Learn From GameStopHaving spent $65 at GameStop last weekend on Easter presents for my kids, I can vouch for the company's appeal. What I hadn't realized was just how big GameStop is: 4,000 locations, including the local shopping center near my home--not the place you'd expect to find high-margin technology. Ed Moltzen has been paying attention as well, and has four key takeaways from the company's earnings conference call that VARs should keep in mind, including: "Platform diversity counts. GameStop is making bets on multiple hardware platforms, and the combination is leading to a big payoff. Your customers may be more careful shoppers than some of GameStop's, but it never hurts to bring the latest solutions right to where they live. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:05 PM, March 28, 2008 VAR's Son An American Idol FavoriteDavid Archuleta, a top contender in the current American Idol, has some strong solution provider roots. His dad, Jeff Archuleta, is owner of Arch Consulting Group, a Salt Lake City hardware VAR. Larry Hooper has more: "As long as David Archuleta remains in the competition, Jeff Archuleta will stay with him in Los Angeles and stay in touch with his employees via phone and email... He has turned the day-to-day operations over to staff." I can think of some vendors that might benefit from some feedback from Simon, now that I think of it. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:00 AM, March 27, 2008 A 'Golden Age' For VARsSome bold predictions from Robert Faletra: "We just may be entering the beginning of the golden age for solution providers... We have passed beyond the age of speeds and feeds and are moving into the beginning stages of the customization period of the technology sales market." Takeaway? Get smart about marketing what it is you do best. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:51 AM, March 26, 2008 CRNtech: 802.11n; NAS; Windows Server 2008In the March issue of CRNtech, our Test Center engineers put 802.11n wireless networking technologies through their paces; preview the newest network attached storage products; and examine the best routes to migrating to Windows Server 2008. Along the way, they also test out a new Kodak scanner, an IM security solution, and Microsoft's PerformancePoint Server 2007, and RoundTable videoconferencing tools. Check it out. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:33 AM, March 25, 2008 Partner Programs Guide 2008If Hot Topics has been quiet the last few days, it's been for good reason. We've just launched our 2008 edition of the VARBusiness Partner Programs Guide, our annual directory of hardware and software vendor programs for solution providers. In a series of features, we look at what it takes to rate among solution providers's favorite vendors, but the heart of the PPG is our detailed database of 128 programs, complete with Silver and Gold 5-Star rankings of the top programs. Dive in! Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:58 AM, March 24, 2008 Vista SP1 ArrivesWait no longer: "Vista SP1 can now be downloaded manually from Windows Update." "According to a Tuesday blog post by Windows Vista product manager Nick White, English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese are available now, with the additional 31 language versions due in mid-April." Automatic updates also in mid-April. Retail availability? Soooon.... Will solution providers embrace it? Maybe. But they'll certainly be testing. UPDATE: You say you want more? Here's more: Microsoft To Release XP SP3 Next Week. And some Hot Topics readers have tried out Vista SP1. Initial reports seem mostly positive... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:13 AM, March 19, 2008 Hurd 'Walks The Walk' At HP's Partner ConferenceCraig Zarley reports that HP CEO Mark Hurd is doing all the right things to gain the support of his solution provider parthers: "No one was friendlier at HP's Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas than Hurd. He met publicly with solution providers. He met privately with solution providers. He showed up at Caesars Palace Monday for his keynote and stayed until singer Sheryl Crow had rocked the crowd Wednesday night... Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:46 AM, March 18, 2008 Vista's Second ChanceCan Vista SP1 pick up the corporate customers who ignored Vista in droves? Larry Hooper says the problems may no longer be technical: "While there are still a few kinks to work out, and some time to wait, Vista SP1 actually does a lot to fix what was wrong with Vista. With that, the logical conclusion is that Microsoft partners will begin to roll out Vista to business customers in a big way. Here comes the big refresh! Of course, the third time's usually the charm for Microsoft. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:24 AM, March 17, 2008 Gates On Promoting InnovationMicrosoft Chairman Bill Gates appeared before a US House of Representatives Committee this week and pitched his plan to keep the US at the forefront of technical innovation. Damon Poeter reports: "Gates' four-point plan for reversing that trend includes investing more in science and math education, accepting more highly skilled workers from abroad into the country, increasing the government's funding of basic scientific research, and incentivizing R&D in the private sector." Sounds good to me, though I admit to being behind on the H1B Visa question (raise? lower? eliminate?). What's your take?
Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:00 PM, March 14, 2008 Today's Virtual Trade ShowOur Virtual Trade Show: Securing and Storing Customer Data, opens online in less that an hour. In fact, here's today's complete schedule: Continue reading "Today's Virtual Trade Show" Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:18 AM, March 12, 2008 Channel Champions 2008Last week, at Solution Provider XChange in Los Angeles, CRN announced their Channel Champions Awards for 2008. Thousands of CRN readers joined in choosing the top vendors in 26 products categories. We've got the winners, along with a glimpse at the event, online now. Look for complete results soon.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:55 AM, March 12, 2008 Spitzer, And Things That VARs Won't DoInformation Week reports that the "Emperor's Club," the alleged call-girl operation linked to New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, masqueraded as a web design consultancy: "According to its Web site, QAT Consulting provides 'online advertising and promotion services,' including strategic planning, concept development, design and copyrighting and 'results analysis'... Prosecutors allege that QAT Consulting provided a front through which payments to the Emperors Club's $5,000 per hour hookers were funneled." Most solution providers do exhibit a passion for their clients, but that's where the similarities end... Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:35 PM, March 11, 2008 Ozzie Pledges Prudence On Yahoo!One of Microsoft's best hopes for making a Yahoo acquisition work is their chief software architect, Ray Ozzie. He understands that they've got their work cut out for them: "Ozzie said Microsoft should be very cautious of integrating technologies with a merger. 'Technology companies, if they dive in and just smash things together for smashing them together's sake, it's reckless, it's just simply reckless,' Ozzie told the Financial Times." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:48 AM, March 11, 2008 CeBIT MemoriesThe giant European IT show has closed up shop for this year, and while most of the attention went to a police raid in search of patent-infringing products, there was also more immediately useful news for the channel. Catch the highlights in our slide shows on the Big Names At CeBIT; how Security Vendors Shone; and at some Bizarre Scenes. CeBIT also provided a specific opportunity for some Microsoft execs to appeal to an international audience. CEO Steve Ballmer looked at the "Next Computing Revolution": "Microsoft has for years been focused on the development of natural user interface technology, and those efforts are finally poised to bear fruit, Ballmer said. 'Today we have applications that can identify spoken and written words with greater accuracy, and we're starting to see the emergence of interfaces that are driven by touch and gestures,' said Ballmer. 'Over time, interacting with computers will be just like interacting with people.'" While COO Kevin Turner focused on Microsoft's virtualization plans: "Microsoft will offer virtualization at two-thirds the cost of its competitors, but the real differentiator, according to Turner, is that Microsoft is taking a cross platform approach. 'We're going to be the first virtualization technology that allows you to manage other vendors' virtualization solutions,' said Turner." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:37 AM, March 10, 2008 A SaaS-y XChange Anticipates Our Virtual Trade ShowThis week in Los Angeles, our Solution Provider XChange event has brought together soluion providers and some of the top channel vendors to network, evaluate industry trends, and hunt for opportuity. Tops among those opportunities are those related to delivering software-as-a-service (SaaS). VMware was actively soliciting VAR partners for their virtualization solutions, while Microsoft reiterated their commitment to partnering with VARs in their small-business SaaS initiatives. In other news, Ricoh and CA reached out to VARs with new product and program offerings, while D&H was showing the money to solution providers, promising an additional $10 million in credit to their VAR partners. Not one to be outspent, HP also promised major increases in their channel investments. "'Channel investments are key,' said Adrian Jones, HP's vice president and general manager, Americas Solution Partners Organization. 'Last year we paid over $350 million in PartnerOne rebates and we plan to do more in 2008.' Jones promised too, that HP would pay more MDF and spend more on channel demand generation and training this year." If you missed this XChange, don't fear. Additional XChange events are coming up. But first, we've got an exciting opportunity everyone can participate in. Our next Virtual Trade Show opens next Wednesday, March 12, online at 11:00 Eastern, Daylight Saving time. The 'eVent' will focus on "Securing and Storing Customer Data" and feature presentations from RSA Security, IBM, Symantec, Websense, and our own Everything Channel CEO, Robert Faletra. See you there!
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:06 AM, March 7, 2008 On The Prowl For Great VAR SitesI'm at work on a feature to highlight some of the best solution provider web sites -- ones that are effective, functional and great looking. If there's a site you'd like us to take a look at, let me know at editor@channelweb.com. We'll be highlighting some of the best later this month. Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:21 PM, March 6, 2008 FAQ: How Can I Reach Solution Providers and VARs?If you want identify and reach solution providers, with either a broad message or a specific business proposal, you're in the right place. ChannelWeb is the world's premier solution provider community, and provides a variety of such opportunities. Some suggestions: Continue reading "FAQ: How Can I Reach Solution Providers and VARs?" Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:13 AM, March 5, 2008 Let's Stop Daylight Saving TimeComing late this Saturday night. They're hashing out the pros and cons at Slashdot, but it's still not worth the trouble. And yes, it's Daylight Saving Time, not Savings. Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:53 PM, March 4, 2008 The Data Center Arms RaceEd Moltzen looks at Microsoft's rumored plans to open up to two dozen more data centers for 'cloud computing': "This is a company so intent on building out its online infrastructure that it is offering $44.6 billion to buy Yahoo. But building 20-plus, massive data centers is a special kind of 'wow.'" Who else could do this sort of thing? Google and Amazon, for two. Could the phone companies? How about a university with vast technical know-how and an equally significan endowment? Stanford and Harvard, I'm looking at you... UPDATE: Information Week's John Foley provides a visual tour of Google's upcoming Council Bluffs, Iowa, data center. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:03 AM, March 3, 2008 |
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