Scott Murray, we hardly knew ya! Six months after 3Com named Murray to succeed Bruce Claflin as CEO, Murray has resigned because he was “not able to commit to the extended time in China.” 3Com replaced Murray with Redline veteran Edgar Masri. Alas, 3Com reminds me of Novell: A once proud company that defined and […]
I’m not predicting a turnaround at Sun. But I do respect some of the company’s top brass, including CIO Bill Vass. Effective today, Vass is moving over to Sun’s Federal subsidiary, where he will help government organizations to maintain military-grade built-in security products. Sun partners should follow Vass’s lead. In particular, keep tabs on government […]
Skype is making the jump from your PC to your phone. Indeed, WiFi phones from Belkin, EdgeCore, NetGear and SMC will come with embedded Skype software. By this time next year, I suspect Skype will land on numerous dual-mode phones that support cellular and WiFi connections. That trend could rock the cellular industry, which fears […]
Symantec is making some noise today with updates to its unified Symantec Partner Program. The program includes five new, complimentary sales training modules and assessment tools on Symantec’s partner portal, dubbed PartnerNet. Symantec Silver partners should pay close attention to the enhancements. In particular, the portal has an updated Partner Locator tool that now allows […]
A week after landing a $1 billion networking deal with Microsoft, Nortel is reaching out to North American channel partners.The company signed SMB distribution agreements with Ingram Micro, SYNNEX Corporation and Westcon Group, and also announced new plans to bolster partners’ profitability. With any luck, those partners will also bolster Nortel’s profits. Stock in the […]
Dell disappointed investors again today with a weak sales forecast. The company’s stock is trading near a five-year low. Critics say Dell was slow to embrace AMD processors; failed to scale its support organization; and didn’t keep pace with Apple on innovation. Heck, even I have switched from a Dell to a MacBook. In other […]
Microsoft has honored Accenture and Avanade with a “2006 Global Enterprise Partner of the Year Special Recognition Award.” I’m not knocking Avanade’s work. But Microsoft honoring Avanade is like IBM naming IBM Global Services its enterprise partner of the year. After all, Microsoft and Accenture formed Avanade in 2000 as a joint venture. The co-founders […]
Accenture plans to pump $450 million into service-oriented architecture (SOA) technologies over the next three years. I know: You’re not Accenture. And your company doesn’t have $450 million to invest in anything. But it’s still important to note SOA’s growing influence in the market place with integrators and software companies.
Microsoft isn’t quite ready to develop applications for Linux, but the company is finally willing to co-exist with the open source operating system. The software giant is partnering with XenSource to bridge “Windows and Linux with virtualization interoperability.” Translation: Microsoft is finally willing to admit that customers want to run Windows and Linux side-by-side on […]
Johnny Depp isn’t the only pirate on the run this summer. Microsoft has filed 26 lawsuits accusing U.S. companies of selling pirated software, the latest move in its ramped-up efforts to boost sales by cracking down on illegal copies, according to the Associated Press. While I’m not familiar with these specific cases, fighting piracy can […]
I’m not hitting the panic button. And I’m not saying we’re heading for another tech slowdown. But be sure to watch tech earnings over the next few weeks. Already, we’ve seen warnings from SAP, AMD, EMC and numerous smaller companies. Many analysts insist this isn’t a tech-wide slowdown. After all, SAP’s bump comes only a […]
You know the drill: You need to offer managed services and software services to bolster your margins. And it wouldn’t hurt to have some vertical market expertise as well. How can you get started? Check out Avatar Systems Inc. The Frisco, Texas-based solutions provider focuses on the energy vertical and has just signed a VAR […]
If you haven’t embraced managed services yet, Microsoft may give you the push you need. At its partner conference today in Boston, the software giant vowed to introduce a hosted CRM software suite, dubbed Dynamics CRM Live, in North America within the next year. Although Microsoft has repeatedly missed recent product deadlines, the company’s commitment […]
Citrix Systems has signed up 3,000 resellers to support its SMB push, and is seeking even more partners across North America, EMEA, Latin America and the Caribbean. I have to tip my hat to the company: When Microsoft announced plans to introduce multi-user Windows NT software a decade ago, I figured Citrix was toast. Boy […]
Way back in January 2001, I predicted that Cisco, Lucent and Nortel would greatly increase their focus on software development and software licensing. Those efforts have been hit and miss. But now comes word that Cisco may charge for IOS and related software, according to Network World. Throw in a few more acquisitions, and Cisco […]
It’s easy to understand why Bob Wiederhold sounds confident. The CEO of Transitive Corp. is promoting software that allows Linux-based x86 servers to run Sun/SPARC applications on the fly. Transitive’s partners include Intel and Apple Computer. Wiederhold uses the term “virtualization” to describe Transitive’s software, but he’s quick to define how Transitive differs from EMC’s […]
Certification pros, much like solutions providers, continue to race up the open source software stack. The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), for instance, is introducing MySQL 5.0 certification exams at this week’s C3 Expo in New York. While I don’t know enough about LPI to endorse the exams, it’s logical to progress from Linux to MySQL […]
All eyes are on Boston as Microsoft hosts TechEd June 11-16. Some pundits insist the software giant is losing its clout. But the TechEd crowd–more than 12,000 strong–suggests otherwise. If you can’t make the trip to Beantown, Microsoft is hosting a Virtual TechEd online. And for timely independent coverage, visit Mary Jo Foley’s Microsoft Watch, […]
When Red Hat announces quarterly results on June 28, the news may confirm what solutions providers already know: Red Hat Linux is easily outselling Novell SuSE Linux in the market place. Novell is quick to note that the North American Linux market is a two-horse race. But industry sources tell me Red Hat commands more […]
When Microsoft purchased Great Plains in 2001, many Redmond watchers–including me–expected the company to make an instant splash in the CRM and ERP markets. In retrospect, my 2001 exposé on the Microsoft/Great Plains combo was too bullish. It has taken Microsoft far longer than expected to merge all of its ERP products into a single […]
