Dozens of Companies, Execs
Earn Top Channel Honors

Channel Insider conferred 75 awards to vendor, distribution, solution provider and industry groups for performance excellence. Check out all the winners in the 28 Bull’s Eye Award categories.
>> Bull’s Eye Central

Dell Switches from 'Product Direct' to 'Service Direct'
Level Platforms CEO Peter Sandiford says that Dell has changed its "product direct" tag line to "service direct" by offering managed services direct to the customer, and that's the tack that big companies without a channel legacy are likely to take as they enter the MSP space. But he says maybe that's not such a bad thing.
>> More [CI] Blog

Stimulating Advanced Security Through Credit
McAfee is the latest security vendor to extend credit through solution providers to end users for the purchase of software and hardware. But can credit and financing break the budget logjam preventing the acquisition of advance security technologies?
>> More Secure Channel

Finding Opportunity Amidst Vendor-Direct Clouds

Wondering where VARs, channel partners and systems integrators will fit into the future cloud computing ecosystem? Consider the role of Cloud Traffic Controller (CTC) integrating the applications and offerings of multiple vendors into a custom offering for each end-customer business.
>> More Cloud Computing

Google's new server-side migration tool is designed to be able to move hundreds of users' email, contact and calendar information from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps without interrupting their service. Google is pitching the offering, which available via free download to Premier and Education Edition Google Apps customers, to both channel partners and organizations.

Facebook's new lead over Google search points to the undeniable influence of social networking. Here are some tips for VARs who are looking to leverage this powerful new tool for B2B marketing.

Where's the smart storage money these days? Fibre Channel SANs are doing well and are poised for continued success, but both Fibre Channel over Ethernet and iSCSI are lurking on the horizon and may rain on FC's parade.

Smart phone maker HTC has said that it will win the patent infringement lawsuit brought by Apple over 20 iPhone related technology patents.

Intel's introduction of its Westmere EP Xeon processors and their inclusion in server systems from Dell, HP and IBM may have headlined the chip giant's Intel Solutions Summit. But channel partners also got a peek into the momentum behind SSDs, a planned expansion of Intel's channel partner base, and a look at Intel's view of how desktops and client computers are being differentiated into distinct categories.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents in a new study from AT&T said they could not survive -- or it would be a major challenge to survive -- without wireless technology, and expect to rely more on wireless technology over the next two years.

There are a lot of replication-specific tools in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, but EMC claims it is the first to leverage them with business continuity/disaster recovery solutions, networked storage technologies, and consulting services that will create opportunities for the channel.

Want to add Android support to your mobile portfolio? Not such a bad idea. When it comes to mobile business applications, many enterprises are backing away from Microsoft as the de facto mobile OS for deployment. Recent studies show Android, RIM BlackBerry and iPhone gaining serious ground. Channel Insider sat down with Yankee Group analyst and mobile OS guru Carl Howe to see if he had any tips for resellers and service providers thinking about developing on Android.