High-Tech Headliners

My final column of the year is the perfect time to look back on the people and events that shaped the high-tech channel in 2006. Allow me to start with VARBusiness. While we already pride ourselves on the quality of what we do, we're often our own harshest critic. So in the coming months, we'll be upping the ante by providing you, our readers, with even more business intelligence. Expect strategy tips on how to run your businesses more efficiently, how to recruit and retain customers, and much more.

We also have some exciting changes in store for our signature VARBusiness 500 conference and our XChange Government Integrator event, which we produce in conjunction with the CMP Channel Group's XChange team.

The entire VARBusiness team has been working hard to improve our offerings to print subscribers, online readers and conference attendees. If there's something you think we should provide to the solution-provider community, please don't hesitate to contact me with your suggestions.

Bear in mind that I'm writing this column before the close of December, so there could be more developments to come in 2006. But up until now, the biggest news story was Bill Gates' announcement that he plans to retire. Some could argue that his decision has little impact on the average solution provider, but as I said in an earlier column, the "average solution" wouldn't even exist if not for the Microsoft maven.

As for the revolving door, I can't remember a time when the channel chiefs of the two largest hardware firms stepped aside at the same time. But such was the case with IBM's Donn Atkins and Hewlett-Packard's John Thompson. It's hard to measure their lasting impact, but I would say that Atkins will be remembered for his effort to get IBM's most senior management clearly focused on the channel, while Thompson's big move was rolling out the company's controversial Attach program under the watchful eye of a new CEO.

Then there's the world of open source, where Microsoft surprised more than a few people by backing Novell's SuSE Linux. Novell was on the receiving end of some $340 million, and Microsoft got some much-needed Linux links to its operating system. We'll see if the move amounts to anything.

Now allow me to share a poem I wrote that captures some other news headlines to come out of 2006:

Acer showed that it's here to stay,
Sony couldn't figure out its IT play.
Avnet gained access to all of Sun's gear,
But the channel remains Sun's center of fear.
Intel's Steve Dallman got promoted; nice guys don't finish last,
Now he hopes to make AMD's success a thing of the past.
No one ever thought Frank Vitagliano would leave IBM,
But he did it to turn Juniper into a channel gem.
Kevin Gilroy surprised many, parting ways with OnForce,
Will he land at a disty or vendor to chart its new course?
After years upon years of an intense rumble,
The VAR rivals at Dell took a heck of a tumble
In 35-day months, CA's Kumar and Richards offered software for sale,
Now they'll see their future from a white-collar jail.
Ricoh turned heads with an ARC win,
That left Ann Moser and team with an ear-to-ear grin.
A slew of brand-name portables caught fire or melted,
Now it's Sony that many laptop VARs want belted.
Vista and Office arrived a few weeks from Christmas Eve,
Partners wonder what incentives Microsoft has up its sleeve.
And, finally, two thoughts on Carly and Steve.
The HP board decided on a CEO-suite new look,
But Carly laughed last when she published her book.
Steve Raymund, who'd sold IT goods barely netting a penny,
Will be sorely missed in the distribution biz by many.

Which stories do you think were the biggest in 2006? E-mail me at rdemarzo@cmp.com. And here's wishing you all a happy holiday season and a healthy new year!

Robert C. Demarzo is vice president/publisher of VARBusiness and GovernmentVAR magazines.