Shut Up And Sing ... About New Products

Amid all the talk of a slowing economy, stock market turbulence and uncertainty about business spending, what should a solution provider do? Well, for one, start talking to customers about the slew of new products and technologies on the way from today's major and emerging IT players. And if you haven't already, push your vendor partners hard for support and information so you can have a meaningful discussion with your key customers or, better yet, prospects from which you can drive incremental business.

ROBERT C. DEMARZO Can be reached via e-mail at rdemarzo@cmp.com.

Let's get something straight off the bat. There is a great deal to talk to your customers about right now. There's no doubt they have plenty of questions and some trepidation about Microsoft's Windows Server 2008, which is the subject of our cover story. Why, for instance, is it better than Windows Server 2003? Our Test Center put Windows Server 2008 through a battery of tests and, after careful evaluation, gave it high marks. Windows Server 2008 is still several weeks from an official release, but in the meantime you can start preparing customers for the cost of upgrading and explain how the new technologies will help their productivity. The key features cited by our reviewers include automated storage backup, advanced security, failover clustering, ease of setup and, of course, built-in virtualization technology that Microsoft calls Hyper-V. That just scratches the surface, but Windows Server 2008 should open up a dialogue with your customers and offer a chance to bolster your services offering around installing and supporting an upgrade.

Microsoft has a great deal on its plate, thus the reason we say CEO Steve Ballmer has the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. Ballmer must not only deal with the rollout of Windows Server 2008 but an overhaul of SQL Server and nurture Microsoft's entry into unified communications. He is doing this as he embarks on a $44.6 billion buyout of Yahoo.

There are other new products and technologies to discuss as well. One is Juniper's entry into the switch market. The bulk of VARs sell Cisco, and most customers use Cisco switches. But along comes an offering from Juniper that promises to save space and use less power while leveraging new technology. Your customers will want to understand this viable alternative to Cisco.

I could go on all day, but one other company has a significant release worth studying, and that is CA. Several years ago, CA bought ARCserve maker Cheyenne Software,which defined the market for automated backup storage. CA squandered an opportunity to make ARCserve the de facto standard, but in one of its most aggressive product launches in recent memory, it has released ARCserve r12, which could help open new doors for its VAR partners.

So you can sit around and talk about the troubled economy or, as the book title says, you can shut up and sing about these new possibilities.

Are you tuning up for the wave of new products and technologies?
CMP Channel VP/Editorial Director Robert C. DeMarzo is at rdemarzo@cmp.com.