Dell's Looking For YouIn comments on an analyst call Thursday, Michael Dell positioned his company as a terrific alternative to channel leader HP: "Many [solution providers] are quite excited to have the only full-line alternative to our major competitor out there." We're anticipating some major channel announcements next week from Dell (the company). Stay tuned. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:17 AM, November 30, 2007 An Unbrella Group To Promote CertificationsPromising news on the certification front--a broad array of the top IT vendors, along with testing and industry groups, have formed the Technology Certification Council: "The new Information Technology Certification Council would work toward growing professional certifications and ensuring a qualified workforce to meet global technology needs... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:21 AM, November 29, 2007 Managing Your Feed ReadsAlong the lines of my feed reader suggestions, woodtang over at 43folders.com has moved to Google Reader to keep up with the many feeds he follows. I do like his twist on organizing them, though: "When given the option to group things, we tend to do it topically, with labels like “Sports,” “Technology,” “Blogs,” etc... Indeed, I have some low-frequency/high value feeds I want to keep a special eye on, while there are others that I'm far more sanguine about letting roll by... Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:27 AM, November 28, 2007 Java Developers Take On AppleWe've been keeping an eye on the unexpectedly cool relationship between Apple and the Java development community lately. Ed Moltzen writes that if Apple's reluctant to support new Java releases in OS X, Java developers will take on the job themselves: "Landon Fuller, a developer who has announced the first Developer Preview Release of an open-source port of Java 6 to Mac OS X, including support for Leopard. Fuller told Javalobby.org, 'Additionally, this is the first step towards adding Mac OS X support to OpenJDK. It's my hope to see Java 7, via OpenJDK, available for Mac OS X at the same time as Solaris, Linux, and Windows.'" Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:56 AM, November 27, 2007 Channel Best-SellersOur new Channel Best-Sellers special report identifies the market leaders--and fastest growing upstarts--in 24 technology categories, including networking gear, peripherals, systems and security software. As Craig Zarley describes it: "For solution providers, you can discover who is the best-seller in your particular area of expertise and weigh the option of getting on board with that vendor if you're not already aligned with it." It also provides a reality-check for product vendors (and technology writers, too)!
Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:08 PM, November 26, 2007 AMD, IBM Deals Good News For ChannelRobert DeMarzo finds good news in AMD's recent cash infusion and, in particular, with IBM's pending acquisition of Cognos: "Cognos was adept at partnering... with large global integrators like Accenture and Deloitte, but was not as successful with the mainstream channel. Once IBM gets its hands on Cognos, you can bet it will bring more solution providers into the fold as it grows sales to midsize customers. "
Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:55 PM, November 26, 2007 Make The High Margin DealsRobert Faletra says this is the time for solution providers to be hunting out 2008 opportunities: "This is exactly the time of year when getting to the right individual can mean finding real opportunities for growth. Those responsible for driving revenue inside the customer set are looking at next year's targets and wondering how they can get there. Hint: This generally isn't the IT department."
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:20 AM, November 26, 2007 Thanksgiving 2007 LinkfestSome high-quality links to feast on over the looong weekend: The Channel How to make your state VAR-unfriendly: Maryland To Tax Computer Support Services. The comment thread is also quite entertaining. Forewarned is forearmed: 2008 Security Threats. You'll also find a slide show on the Top 10 Security Threat Predictions For 2008. Hewlett-Packard has crossed the $100-billion revenue mark. Craig Zarley looks at 10 Reasons Why, including both the hiring, and firing, of Carly Fiorina. As Thank Carly reminds us, the better HP does, the better some of Carly Fiorina's decisions look. My favorite line from Clerks is "This would be a great job if it weren't for the f***n customers." SitePoint examins how to Learn to Love Complaining Clients. Operating Systems You can't blame them for trying: Microsoft: Give Windows Vista Another Chance. Apple has certainly picked up on this theme in their latest ads. One Microsoft product partners would love get their hands on is that cool coffee table. But not yet. Speaking of surfaces, Apple already has it's iPod Touch. Could they have more tablets up their sleeve? They do, says Forbes' David Ewalt. Information Week tries out small-footprint Linux distributions in Linux Lite: 5 Tiny Distros That Pack A Big Bang. Is the internet an operating system? It's getting there. My slide show on The Best RSS Feed Readers demonstrates one way for the web to be your control center. Careers Are you a double-threat? Actor-Director? How about manager-techie? 'Hybrid' workers are more effective in the field, so don't kick yourself too much for not being a specialist. Dilbert agrees--Scott Adams provides some Career Advice, and recommends becoming "very good (top 25%) at two or more things." Programming Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 is attracting praise in the developer community, particularly for Visual Studio Shell, a tool to produce custom-purpose IDEs. Along those lines, ActiveState has launched Open Komodo, their own tool-building tool. But if all of today's programming languages are just too jejune for you, you can look forward to the product launch of Microsoft's F# language for functional programming. Games, Math and Science Finally, we know the answer. Played exactly right, checkers should always be a draw. Just like tic-tac-toe. Meanwhile, the optimal solution to any Rubik's Cube problem is now down to 26 moves. So easy. Never give up: after a seventeen year gap, thanks to the Wii, Nintendo is back to being the "number one maker of console gaming systems". I know my kids want one! Finally, don't miss this Star-Trek styled home theatre. Engage! Have a great Thanksgiving! Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:28 PM, November 21, 2007 Has Outsourcing Peaked?On bMighty, Paul Korzeniowski reports that global outsourcing has been in a slowdown all year. The reasons? Cheap foreign labor isn't really so cheap, in part because salaries overseas have gone up while the dollar has gone down, but also: "Outsourcing suppliers have struggled to deliver on many of their promises. While many claimed to be able to dynamically adjust to a company's changing business requirements, some have not been able to deliver on that promise. To make their own business viable, outsourcing suppliers need to take a cookie cutter approach to delivering their services, with little or no tailoring to clients' needs." I like the conclusion: "Outsourcing was once portrayed as a panacea to IT challenges. The fact that many such claims have proven hollow means IT employees can walk over and shake the CEO's hand rather than head for cover when he approaches them."
Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:58 AM, November 20, 2007 You Can Never Be Too Thin Or Too VirtualCan a virtualized desktop system match the experience of a 'real' PC? Mario Morejon sets up a virtual environment using VMware's Virtual Infrastructure Server in our newest TechBuilder recipe: "The full desktop experience has never been fully captured within server-based computing. Virtualized desktops do a better job at making users feel that they are in a more normal environment and users have more control over work environments" Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:11 AM, November 19, 2007 VARs Eye Decent IT Spending In '08Jennifer Bosavage reports that solution providers are 'cautiously optimistic' on IT spending in the coming year, and surveys of end user organizations tend to justify their attitude: "In Mather's view, [Trevor Mather, CEO of ThoughtWorks] there is a large backlog of IT projects that just now are getting pushed to the fore... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:47 AM, November 19, 2007 The Zen Of BentoMitch Wagner has been trying out Bento, FileMaker's new personal database and organizer for Mac OS X Leopard: "Bento doesn't organize your life, it organizes your stuff. Reading over that marketing material again, I can see that's what Apple meant to say -- but, still, I wish they'd been more clear about it. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:20 PM, November 16, 2007 The Search For The Best RSS Reader
Fortunately, we've come a long way. Continue reading "The Search For The Best RSS Reader" Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:06 PM, November 15, 2007 Benchmark Your Account GrowthSolution providers know it's critical to continue developing new customers. But how many should you have, and at what rate should you be bringing in new clients to ensure healthy operations in the years to come? Robert DeMarzo has been looking at the State of the Market data, and has some answers: "If you fell short of an 11 percent year-over-year increase [in new accounts], you're clearly underperforming. Half the VARs we surveyed grew their customer base by 24 percent." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:16 AM, November 15, 2007 The Biggest Kahunas: Top 25 ExecsI was away at an early family Thanksgiving, so I missed Monday's launch of the Top 25 Most Innovative Executives of 2007. It doesn't look like many of you missed it, though--Monday was our biggest day of the year, web-traffic-wise. Our annual Top 25 report honors those executives who've make the biggest impact in the technology channel. As the Top 25 introduction says: "The most influential executives today are those who innovate and whose business innovation affects the lives of today's solution providers. For instance, an executive can spearhead the development of a new product but its potential will never be reached unless he can find an innovative way of bringing that product to market and, in doing so, have legions of solution providers line up waiting to sell it." Congratulations to our winners--you'll find the full profiles online, or click through our slide show featuring all our honorees, from Arrow's Kevin Gilroy through HP's Mark Hurd. Finally, don't miss Craig Zarley's looks at the behind the scenes action in choosing this year's list.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:38 PM, November 14, 2007 2008's Hot Technologies For VARsEarlier this week, we discussed some of the initial findings of our 2008 State of the Market Report--specifically, that seventy percent of VARs expect sales to grow next year. Now, Robert DeMarzo takes a look at which technologies will fuel that growth: "A big percentage of VAR's sales come from products or services that were not part of their offering just two years ago. And if you want to get inside their heads today, VARs are studying the following technologies to help grow their businesses in the coming year: blade servers and storage on the hardware side; virtualization and Web services on the software side; and business continuity and voice networking on the infrastructure side." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:19 AM, November 9, 2007 Selling To The Mid-Market--Our Virtual Trade Show
Watch for "Mid Market--the Holy Grail - Aligning Your Business for Growth" beginning at 11:30 ET, and more thoughtout the day.
UPDATE 2: Bob Faletra's begun his keynote--make sure to go to the Conference Hall, and then click on the 'Live' Keynote links to join the presentation. (11:35) UPDATE 3: Bob DeMarzo speaking now (though I had to click out and back in to pick up the audio.) (11:51) UPDATE 4: Toshiba's Jerry Lumpkin's World Premier presentation now... (12:49) UPDATE 5: Robert DeMarzo's Panel on 'Technologies That Drive Mid-Market Sales', with Greg Knieriemen, of Chi Corporation, UPDATE 6: Now up: Arrow/ECS's Kevin Gilroy (3:17) UPDATE 7: Our last feature presentation is coming up at 4:30: Managing Vendor Relationships, with IPED's Ryan Morris. We'll still be going in the Exhibition Hall and the Lounge until 6:00. We've had a couple hundred people at at time here at the Trade Show, and have gotten some good feedback already. Let us know what you think! (4:19)
Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:16 AM, November 8, 2007 It's A Walk-Off: Leopard vs. Vista
"Just as Vista was a substantial upgrade to previous Windows operating systems, Leopard is a major alteration to the Mac OS. Like Vista, it includes updates to the integrated applications and attempts to improve its security features.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:31 AM, November 7, 2007 Countdown To Our Virtual Trade Show
Our Event Agenda, which includes: An overview of the Show's exhibitors. A demo of the VTS Interface, and a link to test your system to make sure it's compatible with the VTS environment. And, of course, the Registration page. Have at it, and I look forward to seeing you there!
Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:51 PM, November 6, 2007 VARs' Glasses Are 70% FullSeven out of ten VARs expect their businesses to grow by 5% or more in the next year, according to our upcoming State of the Market report: "Twenty-seven percent of the VARs surveyed expect their business to grow by 15 percent or more in the next 12 months and an additional 43 percent forecast growth of between 5 percent and 14 percent." What could go wrong? Business pullbacks or a decline in the dollar were most often cited by the more than 700 VARs we spoke with. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:22 AM, November 6, 2007 That Distant Thunder Is StormEd Moltzen discusses the evolution of the Storm worm: "The trojan that brought us the "halloween.exe" attacks this week, is showing signs of subtle changes that, at first, make it look like it's becoming more benign. Until the experts looked a little closer... We've written about Storm previously; and this probably won't be the last time--these folks are in it for the long haul. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:19 PM, November 5, 2007 Apple, Google, and Linux Blogs, Plus OneWe've launched four new blogs here at ChannelWeb. The Apple Channel, the Linux Channel, and the Google Channel cover solution provider issues specific to those topics, while The Channel Wire will keep an eye on broader issues affecting the entire channel. All four will enjoy contributions from all our CMP Channel editors. Among the initial posts, Damon Poerter provides a sneak peek of AMD's Phenom Quad-Core systems, due soon; Jennifer Lawinski looks at discussions between Apple and Salesforce.com; and Scott Campbell previews the Google Phone. As with any of our other articles, your comments are most welcome! Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:10 AM, November 5, 2007 Our New Financial CenterToday, we've launched our new ChannelWeb Financial Center, packed with economic data and tools. You'll find stock quotes, market summaries, and interest rate reports, along with currency and commodities quotes, financial calculators, and even a CEO Wealthmeter. Powered by our partners at Financial Content, you can even set up portfolios and track market performance over time. Links to stock quotes are already showing up in our articles, we'll soon feature a market update box on many of our pages, and we'll be rolling in more features throughout the fall. Check it out! Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:33 PM, November 2, 2007 One Week Until Our Virtual Trade Show
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:01 AM, November 1, 2007 |
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Cranky old man voice: In my day, we didn't have RSS readers. We had the Web, and if you wanted to see if there was something new on your favorite web sites, you'd go call them up one by one, and see if anything looked different. That's the way we liked it!
In less than an hour, 
UPDATE: I'm in the show now - can see folks in the various 'areas' - looks like the Lounge is the busiest of the four areas: Exhibition Hall, Conference Hall, Resource Center, and Lounge. That should change in 10 minutes when Robert Faletra's keynote gets started... (11:21 am)
Though it may lack the sheer cringe-inducing glory of the Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson 
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