Channel partner programs

VMware hires Google exec to head overseas channel

VMware has appointed Maurizio Carli as general manager of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. In that role, Carli will run the region's sales, channel, services and marketing programs. Carli...

Dealing directly with directaphobia

In my last entry, I provided some suggestions for keeping a deal from going direct, but despite your best efforts it is going to happen and I think the temptation will be even greater next year. So what do you do? First, don't lose your cool.

Lisa Loe out at McAfee

Lisa Loe, McAfee's vice president of North American channels, has left the security vendor after just three months. McAfee just confirmed this afternoon that Loe is no longer with the company. McAfee hired Loe in September; she...

Stopping directaphobia

There's no worse feeling: You find out that an opportunity you were working on with a manufacturer was just taken direct. You found the opportunity and yet somehow control was lost and the customer placed the order directly with your supplier. How did this happen -- and maybe more importantly --...

Strange bedfellows: John Chambers and Barack Obama

It’s a funny thing Cisco CEO John Chambers was such a strong John McCain supporter since it’s actually president elect Barack Obama’s administration that is likely to boost the company’s shares and stabilize...

Will Cisco sit out an appeal in the Infra-Comm case?

Cisco Systems hasn’t yet filed for an appeal in the Infra-Comm case and it only has about six weeks left to do so. Continued »

Is there anyone not trying to steal Nortel partners?

Seems Juniper Networks is not the only buzzard swooping over the potential ruins of Nortel to snatch its channel partners. John Wrona, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nortel partner Ronco Communications, said he’s been hit up...

CDW awards partners of the year

CDW has named five companies its 2008 Partner of the Year award winners. They are:

• Cisco Systems (networking)
• Ingram Micro (distribution)
• Lefthand Networks (storage)
• Tripp Lite (power protection and distribution)
• Wasp Barcode (data capturing and...

EPEAT makes it easier for resellers to be green

Anyone who has any interest in representing green technology is familiar with the EPEAT rating system (EPEAT stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool). At least I hope you are, since the government uses this information to guide procurement...

What ‘net new’ kemosabe?

The dirty little secret of software, is the tectonic shift of the whole business from selling new licenses to selling upgrades. There just aren't that many green field opportunities left.

"Well, duh," you might say. "What's the big deal?" For resellers or for solution providers who sell...