IT channel products and technologies

Intuit officially launches channel program for mid-market

Intuit says its newly launched solution provider program for mid-market companies will make QuickBooks for Enterprise a viable alternative to Sage Software and Microsoft ERP products. The company, long a leader in accounting software for consumers and very small businesses, says there is a huge...

Microsoft pushes next Navision release out a year

The next version of Microsoft Navision ERP (aka Dynamics NAV) has been delayed a full year, the company confirmed today. What was to have been NAV 5.1, due late this year, has morphed into NAV 6, with a slated release date of the fourth quarter 2008. That's calendar year quarter, A Microsoft...

Oracle pulls the trigger on BEA deal

Just when you thought Oracle might be settling down, the company makes a $6.6 billion bid for BEA Systems, the app server power. Such a move has been rumored on and off for some time, but apparently it finally got the stamp of approval up on the eleventh floor in Redwood Shores.

Analytics VARs Take Note: SAP to buy Business Objects

SAP, the ERP market leader,  is buying Business Objects, another European software power, for about $7 billion. The move by SAP, Waldorf, Germany, to buy Paris-based Business Objects typifies the...

Microsoft addresses Google, Zoho online apps

Microsoft let another shoe drop Monday in its "software plus services" take on software-as-a-service First it announced a free service, with the catchy name Microsoft Office Live Workspace. This will let users securely access their stored online documents and files from anywhere. Users can...

Rosy economic forecasts ignore the dour nature of the products being sold

Despite the need to project budgets and hiring plans into the future, relying on generalized economic indicators can be iffy and, in some cases, counterproductive. Right now, for example, a

Avnet acquires Acal plc’s IT solutions division

Avnet Inc. today announced that it will acquire the IT solutions division of Acal plc., a strategic move that pushes Avnet’s distribution channels further into Europe and shores up its storage offerings to customers in the European Union. 

VMware exec. clears the air on ESX Server 3i

A VMware executive has clarified that the company intends to embed only the ESX Server 3i thin hypervisor into server hardware from Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM and other hardware vendors. Brian Byun, VMware’s vice president of global partners and solutions, said he wants to...

Microsoft incentives target Oracle faithful

Reusing a dog-eared page from its playbook, Microsoft this week said it will offer Oracle database users discounts to move to SQL Server.

As of Wednesday,...