Happy Anniversary--Apple LinksTomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of Apple Computer. Despite thirty years of naysayers, that's one heck of an accomplishment in a business like this. Apple's once and once-again CEO Steve Jobs was inducted into the CRN Hall of Fame in 1997, followed a year later by partner Steve Wozniak. Jobs came back last year as one of CRN's Top 25 Executives. But things have not always been rosy between Apple and the channel: Robert DeMarzo looked at the the stormy history of Apple's channel relations two years ago, and last year, a VARBusiness cover story examined the plight of longtime Apple VARs in the wake of the successful Apple Store rollouts. Who'd have thought, though, that one of Apple's biggest problems today might be some band that broke up six years before Apple even existed... Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:15 PM, March 31, 2006 Rails, Eclipse, And AtlasStacy Cowley's been doing good work on the development beat over at CRN. Check out her report on Ruby on Rails 1.1, which beefed up AJAX and JavaScript support in the hot-development-tool-of-the-moment; and her wrapup of the EclipseCon and Mix06 shows. "Developers are barreling toward a June launch of Callisto, an initiative coordinating the simultaneous release of 10 major Eclipse projects, including a C/C++ IDE and a graphical modeling framework." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:48 AM, March 31, 2006 VAR 500, Gov 100 Deadlines ApproachThere's still time...but not much... to apply for inclusion in this year's VARBusiness 500 and GovernmentVAR 100. These annual listings rank the top solution providers in North America by revenue, with the GovernmentVAR 100 focusing on those serving the public sector. This is your chance to be included with the industry's elite. The application's free, and you'll be kicking yourself if those jerks across town are on the list and you're not. You know who I'm talking about. Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:00 PM, March 30, 2006 PartnerOne Updates Due In MayHP CEO Mark Hurd's promised changes to the PartnerOne program begin to take affect in one month. CRN's Craig Zarley and Steven Burke break it all down in this week's CRN cover story. "HP clearly believes this is a game-changer in the industry... I think this program has the potential to drive the gains HP is looking for, and it could quickly take share from companies that do not have a product line that cuts across multiple technologies." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:18 AM, March 29, 2006 That's A Big IPodSee this Giant IPod discovered in Australia. Adrants reports the land is owned by Steve Jobs, and the site is clearly visible on Google maps. "Boakes surmises the unveiling will coincide with Apple's 30th anniversary and may be tied to the launch of Apple's touch screen iPod." Note: the in the comments section, the reported size of the IPod is questioned, but it's still pretty big. Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:52 PM, March 27, 2006 Convergence PreviewAnother Microsoft show this week: Convergence 2006, in Dallas. Barbara Darrow looks at the Service Provider Edition of Microsoft CRM "While this will not be the full-on, multi-tenancy CRM promised in the Titan release, it will make hosting somewhat easier, building on the current CRM release and relevant middleware." She also provides an extended preview of the show, and takes on the 'conspiracy theory' that the delay in the consumer release of Vista may play into holiday XBox sales. "With Sony's much-ballyhooed new PlayStation 3 to be delayed, Microsoft could make hay this holiday season provided partners can ramp up production of the hardware." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:46 AM, March 27, 2006 Go Global!That's the message of Lawrence Walsh's new column on VARBusiness. He gives five reasons solution providers should be working now on building their place in the global economy, but this summary might be enough: "According to Gartner, global spending on IT goods and services will approach $3 trillion annually by 2008. And guess what? Most of the world buys exclusively indirect." Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:27 PM, March 24, 2006 The GovernmentVAR 100 - Nominations Are Open!GovernmentVAR's ranking of the largest public sector VARs, integrators, and resellers is open for nominations now. If you're a solution provider working with any level of the government or education markets, your inclusion on this list would show your customers, staff and even competitors that you are one of the best. Apply for free, today. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:26 AM, March 24, 2006 The Vista VariationsSurprising no one, shipping on Microsoft Vista slips backwards. Bad news if you're a hardware manufacturer, but ISV's will take it in stride. Jeff Schwartz is unimpressed. Barb Darrow, as usual, is behind the scenes. If you're unfamiliar with the promised features of Vista, and the different versions being developed, Scot Finnie has tried out the betas. And until Vista does ship (and even after) you can keep up with the latest in our Windows News Center. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:35 PM, March 22, 2006 Javascript Reference WantedI'm looking for suggestions on an up-to-date Javascript reference book. My requirements are here. All suggestions appreciated! Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:22 PM, March 22, 2006 VARBusiness Partner Program Guide '06We've just posted the 2006 VARBusiness Partner Program Guide, the industry's definitive directory of vendor programs. You'll find features on the best program practices, a roundtable on how solution providers can globalize their businesses, featuring the channel chiefs from IBM, Cisco, HP, Microsoft and Symantec, a look at the top public sector programs and more. You'll also find complete details on over 250 partner programs, broken down by category, and our exclusive list of "Five Star" partner programs, representing the best of vendor programs today. UPDATE: Details on 104 Government Partner Programs are available now. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:42 AM, March 20, 2006 Here Comes The Sun (Grid)Ed Moltzen on Sun's imminent $1/cpu-hr Sun Grid platform. Try a test dive at Sun's http://www.network.com/. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:16 AM, March 20, 2006 Eclipse And Microsoft Mix It UpIt's shaping up as a big week for developers with the Eclipse Foundation EclipseCon and Microsoft's Mix06 both taking place. Stacy Cowley previews both shows. Posted by Joe Caponi at 07:57 AM, March 20, 2006 Is Microsoft's Channel Ready?Looking at the company's upcoming product and program "onslaught," that's what Robert DeMarzo is asking: "As (Microsoft) eyes $50 billion in fiscal '07, it's going to have to unleash a wave of innovation like none we've ever seen. And the company's partners will have to figure out exactly how Microsoft's collaboration software "can get the job done better and faster" for customers." UPDATE: Barbara Darrow looks at upcoming Microsot executive moves, in preparation for the launch of Vista and the retirement of veteran Jim Allchin. Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:06 PM, March 17, 2006 Cisco Partner Summit BlogGayle Kesten, VARBusiness' new Online Editor (and congrats!) notes two items on the official Cisco Partner Summit Blog: first, Cisco SVP Keith Goodwin links to Luc Hatlestad's The New Cisco from the February 20 VARBusiness, and second, that you'll find our old friend and former VARBusiness columnist T.C. Doyle blogging away on there as well. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:11 PM, March 16, 2006 Microsoft's Community Technology PreviewsDiscussing the new CTP of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1, Barbara Darrow asks, "Will CTPs of SPs make development faster, easier, better? Or is it just re-arranging deck chairs?" Meanwhile, Ed Moltzen looks at HP's managed services infrastructure, and challenges from HP's competitors. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:20 AM, March 16, 2006 Getting Behind SOAsBarbara Darrow finds enthusiasm for Service Oriented Architecture solutions among VARs, but plenty of issues remain. "A half dozen IBM partners sharing a table at the big show said SOA is a hot button, even among customers who have little idea what a Services Oriented Architecture is. 'They just want the SOA stamp, and they're good to go.'" Elsewhere at PartnerWorld, Heather Clancy was presenting "Best In Show" awards to top VARs. She explains what it takes to win. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:17 AM, March 15, 2006 A Trillion Dollars In Compliance CostsThat was the cost to individuals and businesses for federal regulatory compliance in 2004. Without economics of scale to help them, small businesses felt the crunch the most, and will turn to solution providers for help. John Roberts breaks down the numbers on compliance and how the channel can engage customers. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:14 AM, March 14, 2006 Happy Pi DayOn 3/14, we celebrate the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it's diameter. Wikipedia on Pi Day. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:06 AM, March 14, 2006 The Channel In 700 WordsIn less than that, actually, Robert Faletra sizes up the big moves in the channel this week, including news from IBM, Cisco, Intel, Lenovo and CA. "While spring is always a hectic time, with many vendors holding their annual channel gatherings, I can’t ever remember a week like this one, in which three top-tier manufacturers such as IBM, Cisco and Intel are all doing so in the same week." Read it all. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:19 AM, March 13, 2006 Ruby On RailsThis new web toolset, combining the Ruby scripting language with new web and database tools, is starting to make a lot of noise in the programming community. CRN's Stacy Cowley introduces the language: Ruby on Rails "is a fledgling toolset for developing Web applications that reached the version 1.0 release milestone three months ago. Despite its youth, Rails has an impressive sphere of influence. Its admirers include tech guru Tim O’Reilly and Tomcat creator James Duncan Davidson, who calls Rails 'the most well-thought-out Web development framework I’ve ever used.'" Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:55 AM, March 13, 2006 Microsoft Shows Off OrigamiMore about Microsoft's upcoming handheld PC. "Microsoft on Thursday unveiled plans for a lightweight, ultra-mobile PC form factor developed as part of a project code-named Origami. Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:57 AM, March 9, 2006 New Processors At IDFAt the Intel Developer Forum, the company's showing off new technology for many different processor categories: Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:28 AM, March 8, 2006 Sign Up For The VARBusiness 500
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:59 AM, March 7, 2006 Roll-Your-Own NASYou can build an inexpensive terabyte-capacity NAS server out of a surplus PC, and a little time and effort. This TechBuilder recipe takes you through the steps, and introduces a small-footprint server OS called NASLite+. Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:54 PM, March 6, 2006 Inside IntelAMD has had a good run recently, but don't count Intel out. In this week's cover story, CRN looks at Intel's plans to stay on top with new channel incentives, as well as a retooled processer architecture that will provide new capabilities for system builders and administrators. "'By our own technologists' estimates, this is the best product lineup we’ve had perhaps in a decade. In all segments," said [Intel President Paul] Otellini." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:16 AM, March 6, 2006 Blackberry Survives; And Other Weekend LinksResearch In Motion has agreed to settle, for $600 million, the patent infringement suit brought against it by NTP. The settlement avoids any possible shutdown of the Blackberry wireless service.
Finally, over at The Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz shows off the new $10 bill! Posted by Joe Caponi at 07:35 AM, March 4, 2006 Search: Microsoft Takes On GoogleBarbara Darrow behind the scenes of Microsoft's moves in search (a new internet search engine from Microsoft is expected this year): "One Microsoftie says employees are encouraged to use an internal "great search-off" site that compares their personal search results from MSN and Google." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:35 AM, March 3, 2006 CEO's Plan Major Business ChangesIf business change is good for VARs, this is good new: The IBM Global CEO Study finds: "Competitive pressures and global market forces are driving 65% of CEOs to plan radical changes at their companies over the next two years...To drive those changes, two-thirds of CEOs are increasingly focusing on innovation in their companies' business models and operations." Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:55 AM, March 2, 2006 Breakfast With GovernmentVAROn March 8, GovernmentVAR will preview their exclusive 'State of the Government Market' research at a breakfast at the Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C. See "Federal Realities: GovernmentVAR To Host Exclusive Research Briefing" for more information, and to request an invitation. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:57 PM, March 1, 2006 ChannelCastsSomething new on ChannelWeb this morning: ChannelCasts! Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:16 AM, March 1, 2006 |
Hot TopicsBy Joe CaponiManaging Editor, Operations, ChannelWeb Email Joe BlogRoll
The Big Picture Feed
Archives By Categories
Books Archives By DateApril 2008 Recent Entries• Happy Anniversary--Apple Links Powered by: |
It's finally here - the 2006 
Subscribe To This Feed
