Colin Steele

What they’re tweeting at the Microsoft WPC

By Colin Steele

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 kicked off today in New Orleans, and partners have been busy discussing this morning’s news on Twitter (using the hash tag #WPC09). Here’s a collection of some of the best tweets of the day so far:

@elfederiko: Who cares about Chrome os, is just a Linux with a Browser, come on ppl,! Windows 7 is here! Continued »

More tips for selling server virtualization

As customer demand for server virtualization continues to grow, so does competition among vendors and resellers.

Despite all the industry hype about server virtualization, a lot of businesses are just now familiarizing themselves with the technology and available products. The most successful vendors and resellers will be those that can demonstrate the benefits of server virtualization and show how it meets specific business goals.

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Unemployed? Become a reseller!

I get a lot of press releases every day, and most go straight into the deleted items folder. There are only two ways to avoid this fate: send me a press release with some really big news, or send me a press release that’s so ridonkulous that I have to blog about it.

A press release I received Monday fell squarely into the latter category. It came from a PR firm I’ve never heard of, and it offered three money-making tips for “people that are internet savvy and in-between jobs.”

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New Orleans: House of the singing Microsoft partners

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 has its own Facebook page, and organizers are encouraging Microsoft partners to upload videos, songs and other creative media to promote the show.

So far the only bites have come from Dan Medakovic, vice president of the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners. He’s posted two music videos urging partners to attend this year’s WPC in New Orleans, including the obligatory “House of the Rising Sun” parody:

There is a place called New Orleans
And we’re all going there
This July, get on a plane and fly
Don’t miss it if you care

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Parallels CEO predicts Xen’s death

Before last week, some Citrix partners — and even some high-up Citrix execs — felt the company’s server virtualization efforts were lacking.

The most common complaints were variations of “You spent $500 million on XenSource, and you’re not doing anything with it!” and “This partnership with Microsoft is gonna come back to bite you where the sun don’t shine!”

But with last week’s news that Citrix will give away XenServer and associated features like live migration, the company seemingly reaffirmed its commitment to server virtualization, and most of those complaints seem to have subsided.

I say “most” because at least one person still sees trouble ahead for XenServer. In fact, he predicts its demise. That person is Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels, the virtualization company best known for its technology that runs Windows on Macs:

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Microsoft highlights partners in green IT initiatives

Microsoft partners will play a big part in the company’s green IT initiatives, the company said this morning.

Microsoft held a webcast this morning to talk about its environmental sustainability plans, specifically around green IT and virtualization in Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. The company’s plans are two-fold: to reduce the 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions that come from software-driven devices, and to use software to cut the other 98%, said Francois Ajenstat, director of environmental sustainability.

“We see a role where software can help us reduce our dependency on energy,” Ajenstat said.

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Suit says former VMware CEO broke securities law

A law firm with a history of suing public companies has set its sights on former VMware CEO Diane Greene.

Holzer Holzer & Fistel, an Atlanta firm, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Greene and CFO Mark Peek. The suit says the two execs broke the law because they didn’t tell shareholders that VMware was facing increased competition, taking a longer time to close deals and signing more customers to short-term contracts. The firm put out a press release last week seeking a lead plaintiff for the suit.

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Google reseller program on the way?

A Google reseller program seems to be in the works, according to this video posted Friday on YouTube.

The 14-second video features Dave Girouard, Google Enterprise president, and 10 Google employees standing behind him. Girouard says, “On behalf of the Google Apps reseller team, I want to say thank you for taking the time to learn about this exciting new program.”

The employees then yell, “Go Apps resellers!”

Google Apps Education Edition, which offers email, word processing, instant messaging and other programs for college students and faculty, is already gaining some traction in the channel. But there’s also concern that Google’s focus on Web-based applications could take away on-premise sales opportunities for solutions providers. Maybe this “Google Apps reseller team” will help address those issues.

UPDATE (7:04 p.m. Eastern): The owner of the video has removed it from YouTube. 

VMware beta features could bring Zune-like embarrassment

VMware isn’t making any new fans with its habit of putting beta features into the final versions of its products.

As you may recall, back in May, virtualization expert Andrew Kutz took VMware to task for hyping Storage VMotion and Virtual Machine High Availability — while at the same time saying they were experimental features that should not be used in production. Now Kutz’s fellow blogger on the Virtualization Pro blog, Eric Siebert, is doing the same.

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Virtualization predictions for 2009

With the end of the year approaching, virtualization pundits are coming out with their predictions for 2009. I won’t be coming out with any of my own — I had to sell my crystal ball to buy a few last-minute Christmas gifts — but here’s a roundup of what the experts say to expect in the next 12 months: Continued »