Sunday Brunch: Microsoft Meets Open Source Again
The VAR Guy didn’t serve brunch today. Instead, he was busy landscaping his sprawling Long Island Gold Coast estate–all 0.18 acres of it. He finally checked his email in this evening. It was filled with buzz about Microsoft and open source CRM. Hmmm. What is Steve Ballmer up to now?
The VAR Guy hears Microsoft employees will be out in full force during the SugarCRM global developer conference this week in San Jose. In fact, Microsoft is among the open source event’s top sponsors.
Sounds like Microsoft wants to make sure open source application developers line up to support the next Windows Server release, code-named Longhorn. The VAR Guy will take a closer look when he attends the event later this week.
Also on tap this week…
- Monday, April 30: Zebra Technologies announces quarterly results. The news could give VARs some clues about demand for RFID solutions.
- Tuesday, May 1: The VAR Guy arrives at CompTIA’s MSP Summit in San Diego. He’ll be listening closely as VARs explore MSP platforms and pursue recurring revenue opportunities.
- Wednesday, May 2: Keep an eye on Blackboard earnings to measure higher education’s demand for IT. Also, Cognizant Technology earnings could indicate whether the offshore software development wave continues to grow. Symantec also announces earnings.
- Thursday, May 3: The VAR Guy lands in Silicon Valley and plans to stop by SugarCRM’s developer conference. Separately, Nortel earnings could reveal if the networking company’s turnaround truly is underway.
- Friday, May 4: The VAR Guy gets off the red-eye flight from San Jose to New York. He should be in rare form by about noon Friday. Moody. Sarcastic. Hmmm. Sounds like another typical day at the office.
Have a good week, folks.