Current CA Inc. management has worked overtime to clean up the accounting mess left behind by former CEO Sanjay Kumar. Now, CA alleges former Chairman and Co-founder Charles Wang also was involved in the fraud. (He denies the allegation.) How did CA and Wang reach this showdown? Here are 15 defining moments that changed CA […]
The bruising battle between AMD and Intel this week shifts to Wall Street, where both companies are scheduled to announce quarterly results. Sure, we’ll learn just how badly Intel has hammered AMD — and whether AMD thinks it can recover quickly. But we also may receive valuable clues — some spoken, some silent–about Windows Vista’s […]
The VAR Guy hears it over and over again: One of the next killer applications for IT consultants is video surveillance deployed within a city wireless mesh solution. That was a big theme at the Cisco Partner Summit in early April. And it’s a growing theme among IT consultants, including those that partner with Firetide […]
Imagine if Microsoft turned against Bill Gates or Oracle turned against Larry Ellison. That’s the scenario unfolding on Long Island this weekend, as CA Inc. (formerly Computer Associates) alleges its founder and former chairman Charles Wang took part in accounting fraud at the company. Until now, Wang’s former right-hand man–former CA CEO Sanjay Kumar–had taken […]
Sometimes bad news is good news. Apple has finally confirmed rumors that it will delay its next-generation Leopard operating system in order to focus more assets on shipping the iPhone in June. No problem, says The VAR Guy. Here’s why. The VAR Guy, like many Apple customers, looks forward Leopard. But he’s surviving just fine […]
The VAR Guy has never met Stifler’s mom. But he thinks he ran into Stifler’s aunt at the Cisco Partner Summit. Interested in the details? Don’t worry; despite the American Pie reference, this story is rated G (or at worst, PG). It’s safe to read this blog at work. For those not in the know, […]
Who’s growing fastest in the high-tech world? The VAR Guy had a few hunches, but finally found out for sure when he read Business 2.0’s 2006 ranking of fast-growth firms. Sure, The VAR Guy is three months late with this list. But he still thinks you’re gonna give it a read. Pick Six: Fastest-growing Tech […]
Pull up a seat, folks. The battle between Cisco and Nortel is just getting started. Only days after Cisco Systems launched its small and midsize business (SMB) initiative, rival Nortel Networks is ready to throw some counter punches. The VAR Guy hears Nortel hopes to make lots of noise on April 16 with a series […]
Instead of killing Microsoft, open source could make the company stronger. Has The VAR Guy lost his mind with this thesis? Absolutely not. In fact, the software giant recently tried to join the Open Solutions Alliance, which includes roughly a dozen open source companies, The VAR Guy hears. What’s Microsoft up to? The potential answer […]
Will Apple’s iPhone live up to its hype and spark another technology revolution? The answer won’t be known until Apple ships the device in June. Still, a Penn State University tech guru (John Jordan) has developed an intriguing list of reasons the iPhone will either be a huge hit or a massive disappointment.
Here’s an abbreviated version of Jordan’s analysis, boiled down by The VAR Guy…
The iPhone could fail if:
So much for an extended honeymoon. Although Motorola and Symbol just got hitched in January, it appears that some employees are already getting the seven-year itch, The VAR Guy hears. Says one Symbol insider: “While Symbol was no model of efficiency, Motorola is a massive bureaucracy. Just huge. I’m reading Dilbert on a regular basis […]
The VAR Guy’s Top 100 Highlights from last week’s Cisco Partner Summit was a hit. But a few readers asked The VAR Guy to boil things down with a definitive Top 10 list. Naturally, The VAR Guy was happy to deliver the goods. So here we go… The Top 10 Takeaways from last week’s Cisco […]
Cisco’s search for new rivals appears to be leading right to Google’s home page. During his closing keynote at the Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas, CEO John Chambers predicted Cisco’s biggest four rivals over the long haul will be Google, Microsoft, Alcatel and Huawei Technologies. Although Cisco has never been known as a software […]
Everything you need to know–and a few things you’d rather not know–about Cisco’s annual partner conference, held this week at the Venetian Hotel Casino Resort in Las Vegas. This is a single, central page that provides links to our five-part Top 100 countdown. Items 100-81: Click here Items 80-61: Click here Items 60-41: Click here […]
And now our top 20. Most of these entries were culled from a press Q&A and a keynote featuring Cisco CEO John Chambers. Items 40-21: Click here And finally, thoughts from Cisco CEO John Chambers… 20) Opportunity Is Coming to Cisco Partners: According to Chambers, there’s never been a better time to be in the […]
Many of the following event highlights (40-21) come from Guest Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author Marcus Buckingham, Cisco Chief Marketing Officer Sue Bostrom and Cisco Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo. Here we go… 60-41) Click here 40) Still Hungry: WebEx is Cisco’s 119th acquisition. More are coming… 39) Money Changes Everything: Giancarlo says Cisco will […]
OK, things are getting a little freaky between Cisco and The VAR Guy. Two strange coincidences involving a big acquisition and a big enterprise have occurred. Two months ago, The VAR Guy visited Cisco and suggested WebEx would be a killer application for Unified Communications. A few weeks later, Cisco acquires WebEx for $3.3 billion. […]
This blog entry is, in some ways, a shameless plug for Cisco’s TelePresence technology. But since so many VARs have yet to see and hear about TelePresence, The VAR Guy did want to give you a peek at this video. First, some background: The VAR Guy himself has participated in a TelePresence demo. This video […]
Part three of our five-part countdown. Everything you need to know–and a few things you’d rather not know–about Cisco’s annual partner conference, held this week at the Venetian Hotel Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Let’s continue the countdown… 8o-61) Click here 60) Scoring with Pele (AKA Smart Care Service): Riordan Maynard, founding partner of Touchbase–a […]
Instead of setting up the scene, The VAR Guy will cut right to the chase: During a Q&A with press that’s continuing right now, Cisco CEO John Chambers just described the showdown with Microsoft in the unified communications space. He said: “Microsoft has given us a three-year lead. And we’ve never lost a game when […]
