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Channel News

  • BoomtownRSS

    Little add-ons add up to big dollars

    Posted October 1, 2008 - 11:27 am

    Value-added resellers, almost universally impacted by the country's financial crunch, are looking for more opportunities to increase deal size. Global positioning system (GPS) technology, although it is widely available and doesn't offer much in the way of markup, may nonetheless help serve the VAR's agenda.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Government tech going green

    Posted September 30, 2008 - 10:43 am

    It used to be that only hippies, activists and environmentalists drove gas-sipping economy cars and hybrids, but now that it has become a hard-core, dollars-and-cents issue, even the most hardened, rainforest-cutting, fur-wearing, politically incorrect Hummer driver is trading in for something a little more "green."

  • BoomtownRSS

    Giving credit to the channel

    Posted September 29, 2008 - 11:15 am

    I couldn't help but notice two separate articles about the channel and the credit crunch today, one saying that the channel will not be affected, and another saying that it will.

  • Microsoft adds incentives to small-business program

    Posted September 28, 2008 - 8:21 pm

    Microsoft has given small and mid-sized business customers more ways to earn cash to buy its software through partners by adding new products and product groups to its Big Easy program.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Contrarian outlook for channel members

    Posted September 26, 2008 - 10:44 am

    The economic devastation continues to create a lot of speculation as to what is going to happen to the IT industry and to the greater sales channel of VARs and other partners. At first, we didn't think we'd be hurt. After all, everybody still needs hardware and software, right?

  • BoomtownRSS

    Google phone makes an impact

    Posted September 25, 2008 - 11:03 am

    Everybody's writing about the new Google G1 smartphone, available through T-Mobile at $179.99 with a two-year subscription. Without a contract, it can be had at $399. Are AT&T and Apple worried?

  • BoomtownRSS

    Mergers in the security business

    Posted September 24, 2008 - 12:14 pm

    Despite the shaky economy, there are still some companies out there with money to burn. The pace of acquisition is likely to slow down, but they are still trickling on, most recently, with McAfee's "a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10047380-83.html" target="new">deal to acquire Secure Computing for $465 million.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Recession-proofing your business

    Posted September 23, 2008 - 3:06 pm

    During difficult economic times, there's always a lot of talk about how to make your business "recession-proof." And with good reason--hardware and software providers are getting bought out left and right. Just today, the venerable security company Secure Computing announced being bought out by McAfee.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Oracle creates new program for big VARs, but stiffs resellers on maintenance

    Posted September 22, 2008 - 10:45 am

    It's nice to see companies that still make money, and so Oracle's recent earnings results were impressive--particularly admist the current financial mess and instability on Wall Street.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Green computing may be a new opportunity for VARs

    Posted September 19, 2008 - 10:02 am

    I've commented lately about how VARs and other resellers need to adapt to the times. The onset of SaaS is a game-changer for many, and on top of that, the economic hard times are also starting to shake things up in IT. Big changes like this tend to make people worried, and rightfully so, but in the big picture--the IT industry is all about change.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Financial meltdown and the impending IT crisis

    Posted September 18, 2008 - 10:41 am

    With Wall Street investment banks crashing and burning mostly due to their own malfeasance and greed, huge government bailouts, and no end in sight, there's just not too many ways to put a positive spin on what's happening.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Dell's direct managed services pilot

    Posted September 17, 2008 - 10:19 am

    Over the past year or so, Dell has made some overtures towards the channel in an attempt to build relationships, but they may well be shooting themselves in the foot with their new direct managed services pilot in the New York market, just announced yesterday.

  • BoomtownRSS

    How will the financial meltdown affect IT?

    Posted September 16, 2008 - 11:08 am

    Until now, the IT industry, analysts, observers, and myself have said that the near-recession in which we currently find ourselves won't have a dramatic impact on the IT business and the channel.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Consumer devices move to the business world

    Posted September 15, 2008 - 1:40 pm

    I don't believe that the iPhone will ever become the dominant business smartphone, but there's little question that there's some substantial spillover happening as office workers bring their iPhones into the workplace, and even request them when it comes time for the boss to make a corporate purchase.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Channel responds to "below average" rating

    Posted September 12, 2008 - 3:28 pm

    When Forrester surveyed vendor channel executives about how their partners ranked, the results weren't terribly impressive. The execs said channel partners were only average in their participation in deal registration programs, and below average in taking advantage of vendor-provided sales leads.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Android phone could be near

    Posted September 11, 2008 - 3:06 pm

    Although the mobile OS market is heating up, the presence of the much-anticipated Android phone will certainly give the BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows Mobile some serious competition.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Microsoft hardware rumors

    Posted September 10, 2008 - 10:53 am

    There has been some buzz lately about Microsoft getting into the PC hardware business. There have been no announcements, although the Microsoft muckety-mucks have raised the possibility as part of a theoretical discussion. Although I don't expect to see any Microsoft-labeled PCs any time soon, it is an interesting proposition.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Employment in the channel

    Posted September 9, 2008 - 10:04 am

    Unemployment hit a five-year record high in August, hitting 6.1 percent. Here in the Industrial Midwest, where we still manufacture huge SUVs that nobody wants, it's hit especially hard. But apparently, it's better to work for a solution provider than an automaker, and according to reports, one in four solution providers is having a hard time filling open positions, and keeping good people once they do find them.

  • BoomtownRSS

    What the future holds

    Posted September 8, 2008 - 10:20 am

    There's no shortage of scary economic headlines these days, and anybody trying to make a dollar is right to be wary of what is to come. But the IT business isn't as hard-hit as was once expected.

  • BoomtownRSS

    VARs have a big opportunity in the midmarket, according to study

    Posted September 5, 2008 - 10:16 am

    According to a study conducted by Echo Research for Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, VARs targeting the mid market "need to improve before they can take full advantage of the market opportunity.

    The study showed that 70 percent of executives said their consultants performed up to expectation, but only 10 percent said their consultants exceeded expectations.

  • Survey: VARs concerned about cybersecurity, health care

    Posted September 4, 2008 - 12:13 pm

    Many U.S. businesses fail to take Internet security protection seriously and are unwilling to spend money on additional protection, according to a recent survey of value added resellers (VARs) by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Google's Chrome: A Boring Offering That Could Change the Industry

    Posted September 4, 2008 - 10:09 am

    When my neighbor came over last night to borrow a screwdriver, we went into my garage where I keep my tools, and realized that my collection of screwdrivers is probably far too big. After all, there are only so many different ways to make a screwdriver, and for the most part, there's not a whole lot of difference between them. Kind of like Web browsers.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Email archiving presents a new channel opportunity

    Posted September 2, 2008 - 10:05 am

    Email archiving is one of those applications that just don't get a lot of attention. The handwriting is on the wall though, and those old emails are starting to prove to be very important. Besides the ability to search through old email archives to find business data, there are often legislative mandates that require it, depending on your industry. The Feds have already issued guidelines about use of email archiving in government agencies.

  • BoomtownRSS

    To be a channel member, or sell through a distributor?

    Posted August 29, 2008 - 4:28 pm

    CA is making some major changes to its North American channel program according to recent news reports, and will focus on platinum and gold partners--while letting others that haven't achieved that status work through distributors.

    CA does make heavy use of its channel and there's no indication that it's going to stop doing so. The deal will let CA make better use of its distributors.

  • BoomtownRSS

    Microsoft lures Symantec resellers

    Posted August 28, 2008 - 10:54 am

    Last month, Symantec decided to let its biggest customeres buy direct, and also gave SMB customers the option to renew subscriptions directly. Naturally, this had a ripple effect throughout their channel, which does not appreciate being cut out of the loop.

    Microsoft is not one to sit still when an opportunity arises, and they are taking advantage of the situation to target Symantec's partners for their own Microsoft Security Software Advisor program.

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