Windows XP's Long GoodbyeLarry Hooper looks at the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and sees the beginning of the end for the OS: "XP lovers will likely be happy for a little while. But soon they will begin to realize something... But I'm not sure I'd say that the end of XP "looms," as Larry puts it. OEM's are enthusiastically taking advantage of their XP downgrade rights; XP fans are organizing to save their system; Dell is planning to sell XP until 2010; even Microsoft's Steve Ballmer refers to Windows Vista as a 'work in progress'. In our forums, ChannelWeb members seem reluctant, at best, to start moving their clients: "Any VAR that is suggesting it's clients move to Vista should be ashamed." XP will be the OS that wouldn't leave. In the 90's, Microsoft's Windows updates (3.1, 95, NT, ME) made every IT shop a multi-OS shop. That's not going to change any time soon. Don't miss our review of Windows XP Service Pack 3. You'll be getting to know it quite well... Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:15 PM, April 29, 2008 Channel ChampionsToday we present the complete report on this year's Channel Champions Awards. Features look at which vendors are earning the loyalty (and dollars) of solution providers in twenty-six different product categories. The complete scorecards are online, so you can see how vendors fared in specific technical, program and financial criteria, as well as who scored the best and worst totals overall. Craig Zarley puts the results in perspective: "HP won six overall awards and tied with IBM Corp. for a seventh. By contrast, Cisco Systems, the vendor with the next most overall awards, won in four categories. IBM won three and tied with HP in a fourth. And Robert DeMarzo explains the answers to Wanna Be A Champ? 5 Things You Must Do, including: "Don't overarchitect your channel program. Sure, a partner program is important, but many SMB VARs would prefer to sell your product sourced through distribution rather than join your program. A great program can never make up for a poor product no matter how hard you try." If you're a solution provider, Channel Champions can be your guide to which vendors are best serving the market, and how.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:11 AM, April 28, 2008 Turning The Tables On StormDark Reading reports that European computer experts have 'infiltrated' the Storm worm botnet, are learning more about it's size and scope, and can even disrupt its operations: "The researchers, from the University of Mannheim and the Institut Eurecom, recently infiltrated Storm to test out a method they came up with of analyzing and disrupting P2P botnets. Their technique is a spinoff of traditional botnet tracking, but with a twist: it not only entails capturing bot binaries and infiltrating the P2P network, but it also exploits weaknesses in the botnet’s P2P protocol to inject 'polluted' content into the botnet to disrupt communication among the bots." This is great news. I wouldn't bet against Storm's ability to adapt -- that's its strength -- and it has significant support as well as plenty of cash to help it continue. But eventually, either by technical wizardry or old fashioned police work, the Storm ring will get cracked. That'll be quite a story.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:47 AM, April 25, 2008 The IT PrimaryWord is, there's a presidential election coming up in November! And among the many issues on the next president's desk will be those regarding technology policy, including infrastructure security, high-tech visas, net neutrality, and more. We take a look at the campaign proposals of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama regarding high technology, then talks to a number of industry luminaries, including Cisco's John Chambers, Websense's Dave Roberts, Six Apart's Anil Dash, Sanford University's Lawrence Lessig, Fake Steve Jobs, and more, about what tech policy issues they see as most critical for the next president to address. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:48 AM, April 24, 2008 Swainson Charts A New Course At CARobert DeMarzo has been behind the scenes at CA a few times lately, and thinks CEO John Swainson is building the company into a reliable channel partner: "Many solution providers suffered (aka got burned) from not only CA's financial traumas but also from its fickleness in the channel. One day it wanted to embrace the channel and the very next day it was kicking the channel in the teeth. That went on for years under old regimes. But is it time to put all of that behind you and give CA another look?... Perhaps it is." Our Scott Campbell took a detailed look at CA partners this past December, and found them please with the company's improvements. Robert DeMarzo also profiled CA's channel chief, Bill Lipsin, last summer. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:19 PM, April 21, 2008 Build Hardware Opportunities With Custom SystemLast week in CRN, Robert Faletra called system builders "some of the scrappiest and most innovative entrepreneurs in the business." This week, system builders take center stage in VARBusiness, as we present our Annual Guide to Custom Systems, an in-depth look at both the business issues and technology choices facing whitebox, whitebook, and other custom hardware solution providers. In our Custom Systems Best Sellers slide show, we highlight the market leaders in ten key custom systems components, including chips, hard drives, and peripherals. For other solution providers, getting to know some key custom system partners can help you provide a far richer range of options to your own customers.
Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:47 PM, April 21, 2008 Microsoft Albany - Office By Subscription?ReadWriteWeb reports on Microsoft's rumored subscription application service, codenamed 'Albany': "Albany, which is entering an external beta with trusted regular Microsoft beta testers this week, is a software bundle that includes Microsoft Office Home and Student, Windows Live OneCare, Office Live Workspaces, and a cadre of Windows Live components... Computerworld asks if you would Pay Forever For Office? Well, no, but the pricing will certainly be an interesting element in this strategy. Ars Technica hones in: Microsoft has been commended for its Windows Live OneCare pricing, but Microsoft Office prices are widely criticized... Windows Live OneCare and Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 are the only applications in the suite that are not currently offered for free." While Information Week identifies the threat: "Microsoft's assault on the Web is in no small part a response to advances by archrival Google. In recent months, the search engine company has introduced a host of new online services. Of those, the biggest threat to Microsoft is Google Apps. The offering features free or low-cost versions of Office-style productivity applications that are hosted on the Web." Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:55 PM, April 18, 2008 Holistic Security, Data Management With Windows Server, and Partnering With AppleIn this week's CRN cover story, we look at developing a "holistic" approach to providing security solutions: "Preparing for a security overhaul on the vendor side is arguably only half the battle. VARs now face the monumental task of convincing clients to rethink their own security philosophy and adopt new and comprehensive strategies to combat growing threats." We also talk with RSA CEO Art Coviello on his company's challenges. The Channel Test Center tries out Windows Server 2008's data management features in terms of "storage, backup, virtualization, application management and overall data management," and finds a number of promising possibilities. Jennifer Lawinski looks at issues facing Apple VARs, while Larry Hooper examines Cisco's efforts to encourage partners to generate more cross-partner business. Steven Burke looks at EMC's turnaround while Robert DeMarzo finds some lessons in how Intel handled the departure of key channel executives on the eve of their partner conference. Finally, Robert Faletra is back from Rome and has some insights on the international system builder market: "Western European system builders are finding the developed markets they traditionally operate in are becoming more difficult. But Eastern Europe has many markets that have not built out the infrastructure to the same degree and offer an easier path to growth." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:39 AM, April 17, 2008 Awards From minMonday afternoon, I had the privilege to attend min's 2008 Best of the Web awards in New York, where Everything Channel was up for three honors. While we had to settle for being merely a finalist in the Redesign/Relaunch category for the launch of this site last spring, we did take top honors in the Marketing Campaign for the relaunch, and for best Virtual Trade Show. With competitors including Uniliver, PC Magazine, Esquire.com, Better Homes and Gardens and NewYorker.com, the awards are a terrific confirmation of what we already knew from your comments (and web traffic): that we're in the right market with a terrific audience and the best content and tools. Onward and upward! Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:28 PM, April 16, 2008 Google's App Engine Brings The Cloud To YouThere's been much discussion this week about Google's App Engine beta test, offering developers the opportunity to deploy their (Python-based) apps on Google's infrastructure, and take advantage of Google's enormous storage, bandwidth and scalability resources, for free. Continue reading "Google's App Engine Brings The Cloud To You" Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:51 PM, April 11, 2008 When In Rome, Know Your MarketsAt our IT ChannelVision event taking place this week in Rome, Everything Channel President Robert Faletra advised vendors and solution providers to learn which business models worked best in which global markets: "Faletra said North American partners have moved well beyond the infrastructure buildup phase where the reseller model once worked. At the same time, that reseller approach is applicable in China where there is a huge infrastructure buildup taking place, he said." In other news from Rome, Steven Burke reports that Partners Forecast Robust 2008 Sales Growth: "Europe's top solution providers aren't feeling the ill-effects of an economic downturn. Solution providers... said hot products like notebooks for gamers and services muscle are fueling robust sales growth this year." In addition, Intel is on hand to launch its new program for European systems integrators while Microsoft is urging system builders to enhance their services business models. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:25 PM, April 10, 2008 New PPG Tools, Part 3Okay, I think this is it (for now). The latest PPG tool is the Executive Search. Plug in the name (or part of a name) of any executive you're looking for, and we'll search the PPG database and come back with any matches, including CEO, and North American and Worldwide channel chiefs. How are you using the Partner Programs Guide? Are there additional tools you would like to use to access that data? Let us know and we'll try to get it out there. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:22 PM, April 9, 2008 New PPG Tools, Part 2The latest addition to our Partner Program Guide: Advanced Search. Search across our entire database of channel vendors based on vendor size, market segments served, awards won, or number of partners--or search all at once! Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:32 PM, April 8, 2008 Two New Partner Program Guide ToolsI'm still at work on new ways to access our Partner Programs Guide research on the top solution provider programs. This week, I've posted two new tools: First, our maps (East Coast and West Coast) display the headquarters locations of all our PPG vendors. (The six headquartered in Canada all fit nicely on our East Coast map.) You probably have someone closer than you thought. Second, our Compare Two Programs tool enables you to select any two programs from the entire database, and see all their program elements displayed side by side. Can you get a better deal from a different vendor? Find out. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:27 PM, April 4, 2008 IT Nightmares: British Airways Terminal 5Well, things could be going better at British Airway's brand-new $8 billion Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport. Since it's opening just last Thursday, cancelled flights (by the hundreds) and lost luggage (by the tens of thousands) have crushed British Airway's hopes of a spectacular opening. "Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, said yesterday that the number of [missing] bags was 19,000. Mr Walsh admitted that Terminal 5’s opening day had been a 'disaster' telling Sky News: 'It is a fantastic facility, we can make it work. But we got it completely wrong on day one.' " You'll not be surprised to hear that much of the trouble is IT-related: "British Airways said it planned to operate 80% of scheduled flights, including all long-haul routes, from Terminal 5 on Friday, after canceling dozens of flights Thursday... Much of the trouble stemmed from problems with the terminal's new computerized baggage-handling system. London's Daily Mail newspaper reported that baggage handlers were not able to log in to the system. As a result, British Airways said passengers could only board flights if they left checked luggage behind." At the Software Testing & Quality Blog, Randy Rice notes that the situation has eerie similarities to United Airlines ill-fated baggage handling system at Denver International Airport. "The new automated baggage system which has 10 miles of conveyor belts, 140 computers, designed to process 12,000 bags per hour had never been tested in a live terminal. That would be quite a load test, but still...there were many things both manual and automated that failed that such a test might have found." And as one commenter on Information Week noted: "As an IT developer the most golden rule we have and respect is: Once you have written something TEST IT, and when you are done testing it TEST IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. If you do not, T5 is the result." There's nothing like being 'live' to show you the kinks in your system. But it's better to find out when a hundred people are on line, rather than a stadium-full. They will work out the issues, but this is the kind of black eye we'd all be wise to avoid. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:53 AM, April 1, 2008 |
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