The VAR Guy

Lists, Research and Events

  1. Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences 2013: Tech Event Calendar Revealed
  2. Top 100 Cloud Services Providers (CSPs): The List Is Here...
  3. Top 501 Managed Services Providers (MSPs): Who Are They?
  4. Who Are the World's Top 250 Managed Services Experts?
Party Crashers
Content Can Be King in SMB Marketing
It’s the Breach Your Customers Don’t Anticipate That Will Impact Them
Crossing the Goal Line with Millennials
6 Elements of a Disaster Prep Plan for Small-Business Customers
Updates As They Happen
Jun. 18, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Google Chromebooks Now at Walmart, Staples

Retail giant Walmart will carry the latest Acer Chromebook, and Staples will stock Chromebooks from Acer, Hewlett-Packard and Samsung as Google said it will expand the number of retail outlets selling the cloud-based laptops by 3X to more than 6,600 stores nationwide....More
Jun. 18, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

McAfee Names Former Apple, Microsoft Exec to Head SMB Sales

Security vendor McAfee has named Bill Rielly, a former Apple and Microsoft executive, to head its global sales efforts to small- and medium-sized businesses....More
Jun. 18, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Acer Kills Windows 8 Smartphone Release Plan for 2013

Acer would “love to do” a Microsoft Windows Phone 8 handset but until demand for the platform is stronger, don’t expect the Taiwanese company to toss its hat in Redmond’s ring....More
Jun. 18, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Linux Foundation Sponsors IT Training Scholarship

The French revolutionary Georges Danton famously said, "After bread, education is the people's first need."  And while the French Revolution and the channel may not have much in common, there are few places in which this populist message resonates better than the open source ecosystem, where providing development and other skills to volunteer contributors is vital to long-term success—which is exactly what the Linux Foundation is doing starting this week with its 2013 Linux Training Scholarship Program....More
Jun. 18, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

What Do You Fix First When New Sales Are Slumping?

Almost every business I’ve ever worked with has shared at least one goal: Close as many new customers per month as humanly possible. Unfortunately, achieving that goal isn’t as easy in practice as it often seems in theory. And very often in sales organizations, when revenue from new business begins to stagnate—or disappear altogether—sellers tend to jump to conclusions quickly about which initiative or process is the source of their problems....More
Jun. 17, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Technology IPO: CDW Files to Raise $642 Million

Direct marketer CDW, which is owned by Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity, has filed for an initial public offering to raise up to $641.7 million, according to S-1/A papers filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)....More
Jun. 17, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Reports: Icahn May Pull Dell Offer

Is Carl Icahn, the iconoclastic billionaire Dell activist investor, about to pull his proxy fight for control of the PC maker off the table?...More
Jun. 17, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Report: Symantec Cuts 1,700 Jobs as Broad Reshaping Begins

Earlier this year, new Symantec chief executive Steve Bennett vowed to prune what he termed the company’s bloated management ranks, reframing it around a more succinct mobility and security lineup and streamlining operations into 10 business units. Consider the cutting to have begun....More
Jun. 14, 2013
News
The VAR Guy

Cisco, McAfee Channel Pro Alex Thurber Joins Watchguard

Former CRN Channel Chief Alex Thurber (a Cisco Systems, McAfee and TripWire veteran) is joining Watchguard as VP of sales, The VAR Guy has learned....More
Jun. 14, 2013
Commentary
The VAR Guy

Microsoft Surface Tablet Sales: Partner Program Rumors Return

Microsoft Surface tablet sales could get a boost if Surface channel partner program rumors are true. Details may emerge at Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 (WPC13)....More
Jun. 14, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Distribution Watch: Tech Data, Synnex

Happy Flag Day here in the United States! Welcome to this week’s Distribution Watch, our weekly look at news and other information from the distributors in our lives. This week we’re taking a peek at Tech Data and Synnex, so let’s get started and let our disty flag fly....More
Jun. 14, 2013
Commentary
The VAR Guy

Shame on Tech Giants for 'Voluntary' Data Turnover to Government

For the first time since breaking into technology journalism 20 plus years ago, I am ashamed of my industry. Oh there were plenty of embarrassments over the years—Microsoft/DOJ, the Razorfish non-existent business model, Larry Ellison’s war with San Jose airport about flying his fighter jet, and Apple’s Lisa, to name a few—but never has the industry sunk to such a low....More
Jun. 14, 2013
blog

Content Can Be King in SMB Marketing

Every time I go to an industry event, people are dying to pick my brain about marketing. How does ConnectWise do it? What do you suggest we do? Honestly, I could spend all day chewing their ear off about our email marketing, social media, Google AdWords, SEO, you name it, but they’d probably still walk away confused as ever, not knowing where to start. The problem is, trying to compare your business to significantly larger tech companies with global presence, like Google or any of your vendors, is unfair and unrealistic....More
Jun. 14, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

IBM to 1,700 Laid Off Employees: You've Been Remixed

In April, on the heels of a disappointing Q1 performance,IBMvowed heads would roll, first of the executive type and then from the rank and file in a worldwide restructuring whose cost the vendor pegged at $1 billion....More
Jun. 14, 2013
Article
The VAR Guy

Avaya Video Collaboration Solution Targets SMEs

Business collaboration and communications provider Avaya is offering new video collaboration technology aimed specifically at small- to midsize enterprise (SME) customers....More
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Carbonite: Cloud Storage Partner Program Accelerates for 2013

Cloud storage provider Carbonite made some noise in the channel in 2012...More

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