Six Channel Partner Blogs The VAR Guy Didn't Write: Aug. 27

The VAR Guy is thinking about placing a bid for 3PAR before heading out for the weekend. But while our resident blogger tries to scrape together $2.1 billion, here are six channel partner blog entries The VAR Guy and his team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Aug. 27, 2010.

7. Quest for Success: Watch for Quest Software to make a more focused effort on the SMB software market. After acquiring PacketTrap in late 2009, it’s safe to expect Quest to make some SMB-centric announcements in the next few weeks, The VAR Guy hears.

6. The Chips Are Down: Intel has cut its quarterly revenue expectations today. The move comes only a few weeks after Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers said he was hearing mixed messages from customers. Also of note: Intel’s CEO blasted the Obama administration this week, claiming that federal policies are forcing Silicon Valley to move jobs and new business development efforts offshore. Other than that, it was a fantastic week for high-tech.

5. Bloated Blogger: The VAR Guy ballooned from 175 pounds up to 200 pounds in recent months. Too many lattes… But he’s back on the treadmill and shedding the pounds. He won’t catch Arnie in the Iron Man. But perhaps The VAR Guy’s $10 jacket (and $5 personality…) will fit a bit more comfortably when IT Nation rolls around…

4. Killer Month: October is shaping up to be a marathon month for channel partner conferences. Among the events The VAR Guy is trying to attend…

Assuming The VAR Guy survives that grueling schedule, our resident blogger is weighing the Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking to that October 13 event…

3. Follow the Cloud: Where are the SaaS and Cloud Computing markets heading next? Perhaps Joshua Beil, director of market strategy & research for Parallels‘ Cloud & Service Provider Business, has the answer. Over the next few months, Beil is heading to the CTO Telecom Summit (Oct. 3-6, Scottsdale, Ariz.) and the TM Forum (Nov. 9-11, Orlando).

The VAR Guy suspects Microsoft’s BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) will generate some buzz at both events. VARs would be wise to listen in…

2. Open Cloud?: There’s lots of hype about open source cloud strategies. But The VAR Guy is paying particularly close attention to Eucalyptus, RackSpace Open Stack and Red Hat. More details next week.

1. Check the Headline: This has been — and will always be — a top six list, because The VAR Guy never plays by traditional rules.

That’s all for now… but don’t disappear for too long. There will be plenty of news from VMworld over the next few hours and days.

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