Cloud computing craze could oust certain VARs

A few months ago, I wrote about the bright future of cloud computing services. Many experts agreed that the demand for cloud computing platforms and applications would continue to increase, and it looks like their predictions are proving true. Just check out the news from the past few weeks alone:

Continued »

Autodesk: Partner ranks growing because of clean-tech activities

I have covered the technology and channel programs of Autodesk, the giant design, modeling and visualization software company, for what feels like a very, very long time. In my personal opinion, this is the company that pioneered the very first value-added resellers in the PC industry — resellers that sold its flagship AutoCAD software along with hardware that had been optimized to do the application the best possible justice. That’s why I always take briefings about the Autodesk Partner Program, because their innovation is often a harbinger. Continued »

Disties declare turnaround

Is the recession over for the high-tech industry? Data collected by the world’s top technology distribution companies shows sales levels that now exceed the peak of demand prior to the beginning of the economic crisis in September 2008. So, even though we keep hearing about pockets of skittishness, certain businesses seem to have money to buy again. At least certain things. Continued »

Microsoft wake up call

Even avowed Microsoft boosters are concerned about the company’s recent travails.

As someone who doesn’t follow the vendor as closely as in the past, it’s still very clear that Microsoft has big “issues” not the least of which is that it lost its market-cap dominance to Apple, the most proprietary–and in some ways most user-unfriendly– vendor in tech.

The departures of Robbie Bach (who will retire in the fall) and J Allard certainly got folks’ attention. One Microsoft partner is anxious about the company, beyond the Enterprise & Device division, which is where Bach and Allard resided.

“I am very worried about Microsoft in general. [It's a]  comedy of errors, except not funny,” he noted.

Continued »

McAfee’s Thurber still keenly focused on channel

Wrote briefly yesterday about some management shifts over at McAfee. Last night, I had a chance to follow up with Alex Thurber, who has taken on a new role focused on mid-market business development after only nine months on the job.

Point of clarification: Thurber describes his new title (actually, his new title isn’t quite finalized, but you know what I mean) as an extension of his channel management duties. Indeed, he believes his insight into midmarket sales activities will help him reshape McAfee’s solutions for that customer segment. “I can’t imagine a deal that wouldn’t go through the channel in this space,” he said, when I chatted with him via phone.

The division in question covers all of the security vendor’s unnamed accounts: Thurber says this could be businesses of 20 people or so that have only recently switched from buying technology like a consumer into a different operational approach on up to companies with 2,500 to 5,000 employees.

Thurber’s new mission is to help McAfee and its partners accelerate sales in this space.

Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com and follow us on Twitter. You can follow Heather Clancy on Twitter by clicking here.

McAfee’s lead channel exec shifts to mid-market role

McAfee has announced what it describes as a “new alignment” of its business units, one that it says reflects customer interest not in point products but in solutions. The new divisions are:

• Endpoint security
• Network security
• Content security
• Risk and compliance
• Continued »

ConnectWise cranks out phase three of current platform

For those of you who use the ConnectWise reseller and services business management platform, the developer has flipped the switch on what it calls Phase 3 of ConnectWise 2010.

Continued »

Ignorance will not be bliss when it comes to the cloud

I know this probably sounds vaguely obsessive, but I spend a lot of time worrying about how technology solution providers are coping with the slow, but sure transition of computing into the cloud.

Continued »

CompTIA shares some discoveries (er, research) about e-discovery

A new study from the CompTIA tech industry association indicates that 53 percent of IT professionals expect the use of so-called e-discovery — or the discovery process in civil litigation that is using electronic information as evidence — to increase over the next several years.

The data was gleaned out of a survey conducted by CompTIA back in the fourth quarter of last year, canvassing approximately 650 IT professionals and 271 attorneys. Almost 90 percent of the attorneys indicated that they believe law firms will engage in e-discovery processes more frequently. Common triggers include:

• Employee misconduct investigations
• Security breaches (external)
• Lawsuits
• Intentional internal security breaches
• Unintentional internal security breaches

From an opportunity standpoint, technology solution providers should be interested to know that only about half of organizations actually have a formal e-discovery process or solution today. Another quarter of them are handling things informally, and the rest don’t have a policy.

Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com and follow us on Twitter. You can follow Heather Clancy on Twitter by clicking here.

Ellison rips Schwartz

Never a dull moment for Larry Ellison.

Oracle’s chairman is not shy about rocking the boat, and this week took aim at former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz in a very public way. In an interview, Ellison blasted Schwartz for spending too much time on his blog (translated into 11 languages!) and cutting sales people and too little time selling high-end Sun hardware. Continued »