Inside This Issue: June 11, 2007

Cover Story

Is Best Buy For Real?
With a partner program in the works and a determination to make it fly, Best Buy appears ready to shake things up in the IT channel. VARs, meanwhile, are waiting to see if the electronics retailer's partner aspirations are genuine.

News Analysis

Symantec's Security-Storage Vision Coming Into Focus
Two and a half years after acquiring Veritas Software, Symantec said its vision of security-storage synergy is coming into focus, paving the way for lucrative combo solutions by channel partners.

CDW Buyout Bid Puts Channel In Private Equity's Sights
Private equity’s big bet for CDW is certain to spur more acquisitions and ignite new interest in the channel by investors, interest that hasn’t been seen in a decade.

Distributors Flag Renewal Opportunities For VARs
As vendors put more pressure on VARs to step up renewal rates on warranties and service contracts, broadline distributors see an opportunity to take a leading role in the process.

Demand Generation

VAR Trade Show Brings Customers, Vendors Together
Camera Corner Connecting Point’s annual mid-May vendor trade show is like Christmas in July, the solution provider's CEO says.

Market Focus: Midmarket

Specialty Distributors Raise Their Voice
Specialty distributors Catalyst Telecom and Voda One are giving extra incentives and support to VARs looking to sell new Avaya VoIP solutions to the midmarket.

Upstarts & Startups

Storage Startup Gets Channel Leg Up
Storage startup Siafu Software staked its claim to an instant channel base because of the experience its VARs had with the company's CEO, John Matze.

Specialist Focus: Home Integration

CableCard To Boost Vista Media Center Platform
The first CableCard-ready Windows Vista Media Center PCs are trickling into the market, and the technology is expected to give a much-needed boost to Microsoft's multimedia PC platform.

Tech Focus

Printing Vendors Gear Up For Color Battle
Printing vendors like Xerox, Hewlett-Packard and Oki Data are girding for battle to drive color technology sales through channel partners.

EZ Writer DVD Burner Lives Up To Its Name
It can't get much easier: The slim Apricorn EZ Writer DVD LS external DVD burner works with notebooks and desktops and is compatible with all the latest optical media.

Antec Cases Keep On Keeping Cool
Antec’s tower cases are designed to provide extra cooling for AMD's and Intel’s most demanding file server systems, and the Antec Performance TX1050B SOHO super mid-tower case is no exception.

ShadowRAM: Rumors, Truth & Innuendo
Hewlett-Packard’s garage now a landmark, Alvaka Networks' Oli Thordarson races to the finish, Cisco band rocks for Katrina relief and Microsoft's Bob Muglia goes back to the future.

PREVIOUS ISSUES

COLUMNISTS
Heather Clancy:
Real Values
Waxing Nostalgic On CRN's 25th Birthday
CRN turned 25 years old this month, which has me thinking about how much things have changed and how much things like the influence, resiliency and flexibility of the channel have endured.

Robert Faletra:
On The Record
Whose Job Is It To Help The Small VAR?
Small solution providers will become increasingly important to the channel's future. But how do we as an industry do more for the smaller players, the real fabric of the IT channel?

Craig Zarley:
On The Frontline
Partnering Takes Time
Will Best Buy’s and Dell’s channel efforts succumb to attention deficit disorder? Let’s hope not, but the odds don’t seem to be in their favor.

Larry Hooper:
Under The Radar
VoIP War Rages On
The fate of Avaya is now somewhat clear. The company that began as Ma Bell and lived as a part of Lucent before being cast off on its own will stay in the VoIP market to battle with Cisco and Nortel.