CRN Channel News


  • Atlanta VAR Thrives Selling Used PCs To Other VARs
    One person's loss is another's gain" may be only a clich to some, but to Patrick Hiller, CEO of Atlanta-based Abacus Solutions, it's the foundation for a successful business model for his VARBusiness 500 company.
  • Two-Thirds of VARs Counting On App Dev For New Sales
    Application development presents many opportunities for the custom software solution provider and ISV community, particularly in the health-care, retail, manufacturing, finance/banking, and state and local government vertical markets.
  • Greg Stroud Fills Empty Slot At Sun
    In the wake of current channel chief Gary Grimes' decision to retire from the company at the end of the calendar year, Sun has named Greg Stroud to oversee virtually all of Sun's partnering efforts. The move sends Sun further down the path of putting all partnering into one bucket, and brings it more in line with what IBM, Microsoft and others are doing, too.

  • Lessons learned from the tale of two hotels


    The Power of Wireless
    Lessons learned from the tale of two hotels
  • VARs Remain Loyal To PeopleSoft
    Since Oracle launched its $7.7 billion hostile takeover bid of PeopleSoft last year, a cloud has hung over the company and its future.
  • Trustworthy Computing At Microsoft?
    Alta Vista had to be just a little upset with Microsoft when it was recently reported that an employee at the world's biggest software maker had allegedly hacked the search-engine company two years ago.
  • Intel Quietly Ships 64-Bit Prescott
    Intel has quietly released a Pentium 4 Prescott processor equipped with 64-bit instruction-set extensions. The news came to light today as an unheralded part of IBM's rollout of a new family of 64-bit servers.
  • Yes, Gates And Jobs Are Human
    I've interviewed Microsoft CEO Bill Gates not just once, but several times. But No. 1 on my wish list is Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

  • Purchase of data-capture/POS player may lead to more expansion


    Ingram Eyes Acquisitions
    After last week's deal to acquire Nimax, an automatic identification and data capture/point-of-sale (AIDC/POS) distributor, Ingram Micro may be looking for more.

  • System builders to get discounts, not rebates


    Intel Rejiggers Compensation
    Intel is expected to change the type of compensation it pays system builders this month by ending back-end rebates on products and replacing them with upfront discounts, the company's top North American channel executive said.
  • HP Reroutes SMB Financing
    Hewlett-Packard plans to redirect channel financing funds supporting SMB market initiatives to smaller solution providers that need more extended credit and flooring.

  • Revamped partnering model on tap as distributor rechristens itself


    The Name Of The Game Has Changed At Avnet Hall-Mark
    Avnet Hall-Mark is changing its name to Avnet Partner Solutions this week, but the distributor hopes solution providers will see more than a new moniker.

  • IBM rocks partners by moving global channel chief to iSeries post


    Borman's New Beat
    IBM's mantra of channel consistency took a hit last week as the company abruptly replaced its global channel chief, Mike Borman, in favor of Donn Atkins, vice president of worldwide software sales.

  • Motorola, Avaya, Proxim intro devices to enable Wi-Fi-to-cellular roaming


    Mobility Goes Seamless
    Integrators say the move by Motorola, Avaya and Proxim to develop a mobility solution aimed at delivering quality, seamless roaming among disparate networks inside and outside the office is a sea change for the wireless market.
  • Foxconn Launches Motherboard Campaign
    Motherboard vendor Foxconn Electronics, seeking to buy into the channel just months after launching its U.S.-based business, has began an aggressive price play for North American resellers through the end of August.