Our list of the most innovative executives of the year spotlights the people that are pushing the envelope with new products and channel programs to bring solution providers to new heights.
Find out which executives made the grade and held their own, despite the great IT downturn of 2009.
Most everyone loves Thanksgiving turkeys. But IT industry turkeys? Not so much. We look at 10 examples of 'turkeys' that have disappointed the tech industry this year.
Inside This Issue: April 9, 2007
Cover Story
2007 CRN Profitability Report
Some solution providers dream of the days when their businesses generated 65 percent gross margins. For the Best in Class solution providers surveyed as part of CMP Technology’s Institute for Partner Education & Development’s profitability research, that dream is a reality.
Profitability: Measure By Measure
How do you benchmark yourself against a measure that changes in real time? The 2007 CRN Profitability Study shows why it’s dangerous to be too focused on the short term or the long term by rating the profitability of 13 tech practices.
PROFITABILITY PICTURE BY CATEGORY:
>> Security
>> Networking
>> Storage
>> Mobile Technology
>> Custom Systems
>> Software
>> Printing/Imaging
>> Digital Display/Signage
SLIDE SHOW:
>> Profitability By The Numbers
Tech Focus
Digital Sign Of The Times
Digital signage involves more than just sticking a large screen in the middle of a lobby or airport. Besides understanding the technology, VARs deploying these solutions must keep this in mind: It's ultimately about communication.
Tech Analysis: Windows Vista Sucks Performance
The CRN Test Center set out to compare Windows Vista’s performance against Windows XP’s. The result: You might not want to move off XP just yet.
Diamond's Viper Meets The Vista Challenge
Windows Vista has advanced graphical elements that place new and heavier workloads on the graphics subsystem. But Diamond Multimedia’s Viper x1650 graphics card is up to the task.
Adaptec Unifies SAS And SATA
Adaptec's PCIe-based Ultra320 SCSI single-channel HBA controller gives system builders lots of flexibility when building storage devices, since it can mix and match with SAS and SATA drives and devices.
ShadowRAM: Rumors, Truth & Innuendo
Google's python search no flying circus, JBoss founder Fleury blogging away and IBM's software chief doth protest too much.
These articles were mentioned in this issue of CRN.
• Apply For CRN's Emerging Tech 100
• VIDEO: Cisco's Chambers Talks Channel
• Cisco Plans 10K Run For Partners
• Arrow Readies Management Shakeup In HP Business Unit
• Arrow Reorganizes IBM Business Unit
• Novell Partners Get Certification Deadline Leeway
• Indirect Shift For Gateway
• MSP Alliance Bobs For Bad Apples
• Three Tiers For FalconStor's New Channel Program
• $28M Acquisition Stacks Up For Agilysys
• StoreVault Open For Business At CDW
• WebMethods Sold For $546 Million
• Dell Financing Arm Finds Deficiencies
• Emergency Patch Issued For .ANI Bug
• Vista Sucks Performance
• HP's Smart Home Vision
• Microsoft's Worst Nightmare (Not Google)
• 2007 CRN Profitability Study: The Stats
COLUMNISTS
Robert Faletra:
Steven Burke:
Larry Hooper:
Heather Clancy:
Real Values
Time For Next-Gen Demand Generation
One tenet of any MBA course is you need to spend money to make money. Yet best-in-class VARs spend half the industry average on marketing. What gives?
On The Record
Cisco's Chambers Makes His Presence Known
What Cisco's John Chambers does better than almost every other high-tech CEO is work his company's partner event hard from start to finish.
The Final Cut
Private Equity Matters
The biggest story in the channel in this decade is the huge infusion of private equity that is reshaping the channel landscape.
Under The Radar
Cisco Rethinks Linksys
Ever since Cisco launched its broad push into what it calls the SMB market, the question of Linksys has been hanging all over the effort.
