7. Exit, Stage Left: Sun’s top open source officer has left following the Oracle merger. The VAR Guy hopes Simon Phipps’ departure isn’t a sign of things to come for MySQL, OpenOffice and other technologies that Oracle inherited from Sun.

6. Speed Record?: Cisco says its new CRS-3 router would allow every movie ever made to  be downloaded in less than 4 seconds. Of course, the router targets massive service providers rather than traditional VARs. But the CRS-3 could still potentially benefit solutions providers. From the back-end (CRS-3) to the front-end (Flip Video), Cisco is taking steps to ensure the Internet can support more and more video. The memo for VARs: Explore managed video as a service (MVaaS).

5. How’s My Driving?: The RackSpace Cloud team is surveying customers to measure satisfaction levels. Smart move. The VAR Guy wonders: How many MSPs and VARs are taking similar steps to gather honest customer feedback — especially as more and more MSPs offer pro-active services that customers may never see.

4. CompTIA Gets Relevant: The VAR Guy keeps meaning to blog about CompTIA’s blog and social media offerings for members. Frankly, some of CompTIA’s early social media efforts fell flat. Anybody else remember CompTIA’s Focus on MSP site (2007-2008)? Fast forward to the present, and CompTIA’s blogs are providing relevant info to VARs and MSPs. More analysis next week.

3. Two Places At Once: The Cisco Partner Summit 2010 and HP Americas Partner Conference are both set for the week of April 26. Which partner conference will The VAR Guy attend? The answer: Both. Our resident blogger intends to offer wall-to-wall coverage from both conferences. Skeptical? Stay tuned.

2. BPOS Challenges?: Microsoft sure sounds upbeat about BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), the company’s cloud platform for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and other Microsoft SaaS applications.

But here’s a key item worth noting: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 launched as an on-premises solution in 2009. Yet, BPOS is still stuck on the Exchange 2007 release at a time when Microsoft partners like Intermedia already offer hosted Exchange 2010. Why’s that? Shouldn’t Microsoft keep up with its hosted partners? Plus, shouldn’t Microsoft keep its SaaS and on-premises releases in sync? The VAR Guy is checking…

1. Check the Headline: The VAR Guy still refuses to play by the rules. This is a top 6 list. And it’s time for The VAR Guy to jump over to some other projects. Back soon with more blog entries. Thanks for reading.

Read More About This Topic

• Intermedia Launches Hosted Exchange 2010 Partner Program
• Intermedia: Hosted Exchange Partner Mailboxes Up 52%
• Open-Xchange: Another Big SaaS Partner Win
• SaaS Partners Boost Open-Xchange
• VMware Prepares Zimbra Email Appliances for Partners

A report by Bloomberg News suggested that Elliott Associates planned to buy Novell then potentially sell off some or all of the pieces. But a March 11 statement from Elliott Associates denied the report:

“The story that Bloomberg ran today was inaccurate,” the firm said. “Elliott has made no statement with respect to its intent regarding Novell.  Elliott wants to own the company. Elliott has no plans to sell any business units and to report anything else would be erroneous.”

No Deal (At Least Not Yet…)

Of course, Elliott Associates first needs to “acquire” Novell before the hedge fund can actually decide to do with the company’s various assets — which range from SUSE Linux to identity and access management and data center software.

Novell has confirmed that it is evaluating an unsolicited takeover bid from Elliott Associates; the bid is valued at about $2 billion. The VAR Guy continues to believe that Novell will provide an update before BrainShare 2010 starts March 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. If Novell doesn’t offer an update, the takeover bid could become a major distraction for Novell, partners, customers and annoying anonymous bloggers attending BrainShare.

The VAR Guy has also wondered if a white knight — IBM, HP, Microsoft, Oracle, or CA Inc. — would emerge to buy Novell. But the best potential fit on that list — CA, which has a bunch of security and system management synergies with Novell — seems to be out of the running, The VAR Guy believes.

The reason: CA just opened its wallet to acquire Nimsoft, the managed services software provider, for $350 million. The VAR Guy doubts CA would open its wallet even wider only a few days later to buy Novell.

Still, stranger things have happened in the software market.

Follow The VAR Guy via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• Update: Will Novell Sell Before BrainShare?
• Novell’s SUSE Linux Milestone: Proper Perspective
• Novell: BrainShare Returns In 2010
• Ubuntu Linux for Mainframes? Not Quite…
• Open Source Business Conference: 5 Trends Worth Watching

First, a bit of irony: NetSuite has successfully shifted quite a few on-premises SAP customers to NetSuite’s ERP SaaS offerings. But now, Microsoft is stepping to say not all customers want SaaS. To prove its point, Microsoft is offering U.S. companies a credit of up to $850 for every NetSuite user that switches to either Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV or Microsoft Dynamics SL, according to a Microsoft press release. The promotion ends June 25, 2010.

NetSuite’s Position

These certainly are intriguing times for NetSuite. At first glance, the company is ideally positioned in a high-growth market — SaaS. No doubt, some on-premise ERP customers are frustrated with traditional systems that take years to configure, deploy and optimize. So NetSuite could be a natural options for folks that want to tackle ERP in the cloud.

To speed the process, NetSuite recently introduced a new partner program that offers VARs 100 percent first-year commissions on SaaS customer engagements. That special offer was widely scene as NetSuite’s open letter to Microsoft partners. Also, NetSuite is preparing to host the SuiteCloud 2010 Partner Conference (April 13-16, San Francisco), which should attract ISVs (independent software vendors) and channel partners.

Still, NetSuite faces plenty of challenges. The company’s stock sits near a six-month low because recent growth and earnings guidance haven’t impressed Wall Street. Now, Microsoft is intensifying the pressure by offering financial credits to U.S. customers that jump from NetSuite to Microsoft Dynamics.

Will any customers take the bait? Hmmm… Frankly, The VAR Guy hasn’t heard from many customers that tried (then dumped) NetSuite. Our resident blogger sent an email to NetSuite, seeking comment about Microsoft’s NetSuite-centric competitive offer. If NetSuite has any thoughts to share, The VAR Guy will be sure to post them here.

Follow The VAR Guy via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• NetSuite Plans SaaS Partner Summit
• Oracle vs. SAP: Partner Reality Check
• Openbravo QuickStart: Speeding Small Business ERP?
• ERP SaaS: Three Moves Worth Noting
• Three Areas Microsoft Crushes Rivals

Among the Google Apps true believers:

• Socialwok, the social layer for Google Apps that we previously covered here, says Google Apps Marketplace was a natural choice for their business since they were already operating in the search giant’s ecosystem. “There are many SMBs already using Google Apps as their de facto group messaging and collaboration platform so integrating with Google Apps was a logical choice for us,” said Socialwok CEO Ming Yong in a prepared statement.
• For Zoho, the online messaging and collaboration suite that sometimes competes with Google, it was all about increasing user data accessibility. In a blog post titled “It Is Not About Our App, It Is About the User’s Data and Context,” Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu explains that tightly integrating their product increases workflow and productivity by making it available through the widely-used Gmail homepage.
• Google-entrenched LTech has made their Google Docs Backup and Power Panel For Google Apps products available on the marketplace with the goal of making it easier for enterprises to purchase and deploy these features.

So what we’ve learned is that the Google Apps Marketplace makes products available to a huge customer base, it extends functionality to users who might otherwise go without, and, above all, it’s easy to use it to deploy apps. That sounds exactly like what Google was going for, and developers are buying into it.

Read More About This Topic

• Google Launches Enterprise App Marketplace
• Zoho Connecting With Facebook
• The Big Switch: From SharePoint to Google Apps?
• Analysis: Microsoft’s Ballmer Explains the Cloud
• Microsoft Pitches BPOS Cloud to Federal Government

XenApp 6 is going to bring enhanced integration with Microsoft App-V virtualization, Windows Sever 2008 R2 support, and it’ll be sprinkled with all the power, automation and other enhancements you’ve come to expect. Generally, Citrix wants you to know that XenApp6 will feature expanded scalability, and of course, simplified central management with AppCenter, which allows for management of applications via a central console.

XenApp is also sporting “Enhanced High-Definition HDX Technology” which is a big word for the fact that you can now virtualize and/or stream real time media applications while utilizing a host of USB peripherals back at the thin client. All the white, maintaining a “CD-quality” audio and ‘high-definition’ user experience (but we don’t think they’re talking about video quality)

There’s also integration with Citrix’s Dazzle, which lets users pick if Microsoft’s App-V or XenApp virtualizes and delivers their application.

But wait, there’s more: Mac and smart phone support is here, so you can get at your Windows Apps on a Mac, and multitask on your iPhone or Windows phone. (Remember the Windows 7 on iPad story?)

Citrix is also touting this beast’s “unparalleled scalability.” Translation? XenApp 6 has been confirmed to scale to 100,000 concurrent users in a “single farm.”

Sounds like some big beefy virtualization going on. But we’ll offer some reality checks ones it arrives.

Read More About This Topic

• Microsoft Sweetens Visual Studio 2010 With Azure Deal
• Windows 7 On the Apple iPad (Thanks to Citrix)
• Desktop Virtualization Attracts More Money
• Red Hat, Microsoft: Love-Hate Relationship Goes Virtual

First off, you might be wondering what LogLogic does. The concept is pretty simple actually. Every computer and appliance box you have generates a log file of everything that’s been going on. And since there’s a lot going on, it’s usually good to know what’s going on.

Both Roth and Churchward spoke about how cloud environments really benefit from using LogLogic’s hardware. Typically in a cloud, there’s a wealth of assets getting tossed around, from the very sensitive, like your social security number or bank account information — to the fairly unimportant, like some spam e-mail. You want to make sure all that stuff is going in the right places, and you want to make sure your apps are doing what they’re supposed to, too.

To track all the application data, it’s always best to go to the log. But the log isn’t really practical to sit there and read. So that’s where LogLogic comes in, tidies up and locks down.

LogLogic can send alerts, automate actions and search for clues in log files to help you take the appropriate actions. LogLogic’s hardware can also sync data across multiple logs to get a bigger picture of user data and user patterns. Churchwood alluded to the uneasy fact that it’s a bit like ‘Big Brother’ watching over your shoulder, but it works. LogLogic can track when a user enters a building, to when he puts a USB stick into his computer, and the data that transpires in-between. And if it’s hooked up to the correct log, you can even tag the time and image on a surveillance system with an image from the camera.

That’s not to say all of LogLogic’s hardware is based around watching your every move. Remember, it’s for making sure all your data and apps aren’t acting up.

LogLogic’s business is mostly rooted in larger companies, but they provide a wide range of product solutions and noted Westcon as one of their main distributors. They happily boasted that their latest line of products leap-frogged the last line, noting that the smallest box available now does the work of the highest-end box of yesteryear’s model.

The Channel

Roth and Churchward spoke heavily about building out their channel and adding value, making partners and VARs feel welcome and improving and enriching the ecosystem. So I had to ask: every-one’s giving me the same “we love the channel” spiel. Why did LogLogic embrace the channel — out of true love or because of the economy?

Roth spoke up: “It’s both aspects. [But we're] living ‘Bill Joy’s Law’…which is ‘the smartest people don’t work for you’, [and it's important to] involve people outside the walls [of your business]. The second issue is the economy. When you see a recession, the SMB are where the jobs are. They’re really the engines of growth”

And regarding how much of LogLogic’s sales were direct?: “We’re at 100% fulfillment. We’re in good shape. [But we're asking] how do we become better at marketing through the channel and providing incentives? [That being said] we’re really excited, very channel focused.”

And that’s when Churchward stepped in: “We’re driving our business to be channel friendly. LogLogic is 6 1/2 years old and inherently in touch with enterprise accounts. But the products apply to the SMB as well, [though] more ‘medium.’ We’ve got all encompassing [solutions] from $30K to $100K. [We look to the channel] to increase our line of sight [for reaching out to all sized businesses]”

He added “We also don’t want to treat the channel like ‘dump and run’…”

Churchward and Roth both spoke about how their channel is maturing, and how the partners can get into bigger accounts as the product matures as well. There’s a lot of room at LogLogic for ambitious VARs and Churchward noted there was at least a 1:1 ratio between reselling opportunities and professional service dollars.

“We’re looking for VARs in core areas we want to be in. We’re looking for augmentation strategy. [A kind of] friends and family route. In a few years times, we’ll see IT as a service change and the customers we’re selling to  change [but we're always going to be] channel centric…”

So with that said, maybe it’s not all just a spiel, but it’s really where it’s at for the channel.

At the very least, Churchward and Roth exuded passion over the phone; about the products and channel strategy — and perhaps that’s part of the reason for channel success; not simply a vehicle for a ‘go to market’ strategy, but a heavy dedication to it as the reason for business overall.

Read More About This Topic

• Fake Intel i7 CPUs Soil NewEgg
• Arrow ECS Launches Professional Services Business Unit
• Intermec Promotes Automatic Data Collection to VARs
• Lenovo Thinks Different With New ThinkPads
• Dataram Launches Channel Partner Program

If you’re unfamiliar with the Verizon MiFi, it’s essentially a credit-card sized device that does one thing: broadcast a bubble of Wifi  that’s connected to Verizon’s 3G network. It comes complete with a 5GB cap and will cost you (US)$60 a month after you fork over $268.99. Now, if you’re new and you sign a 2 year contract, it’s only $99.99 and there’s a $50 online rebate, so it brings it down to about $50 bucks… but…

The iPad 3G model will only cost $130 more than the $499 WiFi only model.  What’s more, is that AT&T is claiming that their $30 dollar a month plan actually has unlimited usage on the iPad. Remember, all that comes without any contract to sign.

Engadget attributes the upselling to all the anti-AT&T sentiment, but I think it’s simply a way for Verizon to attract impatient people who may have been thinking about buying the MiFi anyway.

In reality, WiFi is becoming more ubiquitous anyway, so maybe it’s not such a big deal. On Long Island, Cable / Internet provider Cablevision has set up hot-spots in popular locations, making them available to Cablevision subscribers. I don’t know a single Barnes and Noble that doesn’t have free Wifi, and your public library does too.

But the last solution? For the hackers in all of us, there’s always WiFi tethering with our existing devices…

Follow The VAR Guy via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• Intermec, HeathWyse, Data Capture Solutions: Team for Health Care
• Working with SMBs? ZyXel Wants Your Attention
• Business Netbook: HP Mini 5102 With SUSE Linux
• ZyXel Gives You 3G Everywhere; Plus More
• Take My iPhone, Honey…

The financial backing is a vote of confidence from investment firm Storm Ventures and data integration software vendor Informatica – and existing investors Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures and The Dow Chemical Company got in on this round of funding, as well.

In business terms, RainStor seems to be doing fairly well for itself: formed in the first half of 2009, it has 50 customers leveraging its hosted RainStor 3.5 information backup solution.

They’re privately held, so we don’t know many more details, but RainStor is clearly in growth mode.

Read More About This Topic

• Lenovo Announces Secure Managed Client 2.0
• Dirty Little Secrets Some Online Backup Providers Don’t Tell You

In this FastChat video, Morrisroe describes the first few weeks working for VMware; what Zimbra channel partners should expect next; plus key priorities for 2010. Take a look:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video covers:

• 0:00: Introduction
• 0:15: Zimbra’s first few weeks under VMware’s ownership
• 0:50: Zimbra’s message to channel partners and hosting partners
• 1:31: Creative packages for VMware partners to promote Zimbra
• 1:52: How Zimbra will leverage VMware teams and the VMware channel
• 2:12: The first VMware-Zimbra solutions
• 2:25: Top Zimbra priorities for 2010
• 3:02: Here come the appliances — collaboration, high availability, and disaster recovery
• 3:26: Where to find more information on Zimbra
• 3:52: Conclusion

Partner Reality Check

When rumors first started about VMware buying Zimbra, plenty of pundits overlooked the fact that Zimbra had an active channel partner program in place.

Instead of getting into the SaaS market, Zimbra lined up more than 450 hosting partners to promote Zimbra as a service. Also, Zimbra was highly ranked on The VAR Guy’s 2009 Open Source 50 survey, which tracks the most promising open source partner programs. (The 2010 survey runs through the end of March.)

Looking ahead, Zimbra and VMware hope to chip away at Microsoft Exchange and Hosted Exchange market share. But there’s plenty of competition on multiple fronts. In addition to Microsoft’s own cloud and BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) efforts, dozens of  partners promote hosted Exchange to end-customers. Plus, open source upstarts like Open-Xchange seem to be catching on with channel partners as well.

Still, Zimbra now has a powerful enterprise parent in VMware. The VAR Guy will be watching to see if the VMware-Zimbra honeymoon turns into a successful long-term marriage.

Read More About This Topic

• Rumor: VMware Buying Zimbra Open Source Email?
• Microsoft Channel Chief Allison Watson: Cloud Moves for VARs
• Open-Xchange: Another Big SaaS Partner Win
• Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference: Will Google Chrome OS Steal the Show?
• Six Channel Partner Blogs The VAR Guy Didn’t Write: March 12

For both the VAR community, SMBs, and the ‘end user’ customer alike, NewEgg.com is a reliable source for fast and cheap computer hardware of every variety. But when fakes popped up in people’s boxes, NewEgg came under fire.

The picture you’re looking at is actually the fake heat-sink that came with the CPU. It’s a crudely formed plastic object with a fan sticker applied to the top. The actual CPU? A square thin metal block with some decals attached to it, and a fake CPU cap with fake Intel letters on it. There was also a fake instruction manual. It was simply white pages stapled together. What’s more, after careful examination of the box, there were various spelling errors and other issues. “Socket” was spelled “sochet” and the “FACTORY SEALED” label actually was printed on the box, so when clear tape was put over it, it appeared as though the label was a legitimate label.

Whoever wanted to fake these things went to great lengths.

Right away, NewEgg apologized and said they’d be looking into the issue. HardOCP, a popular computer hardware review site gained information from an erroneous ’NewEgg source’ that the bogus processors were from D&H Distributing. D&H’s attorneys were unhappy. They sent a livid cease and desist letter and asked for a retraction. The result? D&H came under fire for people crying foul of the first amendment and got blamed for trying to cover up the issue.

Public Statement

It wasn’t D&H at all. NewEgg eventually made that known. On March 8th they posted a press release on their Facebook page…

Newegg is currently conducting a thorough investigation surrounding recent shipments of questionable Intel Core i7-920 CPUs purchased from Newegg.com.

Initial information we received from our supplier, IPEX, stated that they had mistakenly shipped us “demo units.” We have since come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier. Contrary to any speculation, D&H Distributing is not the vendor that supplied us with the Intel Core i7-920 CPUs in question.

Newegg’s top priority is to proactively reach out to all customers who may have been affected to ensure their absolute satisfaction. We have already sent out a number of replacement units and are doing everything in our power to resolve the matter promptly and with the least amount of inconvenience to our customers.

We have always taken pride in providing an exceptional experience for each customer, and we apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers. We take matters like this extremely seriously, and are working in close cooperation with Intel and the appropriate law enforcement authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident.

What remains unknown is the actual motive behind this. Who would put this much work into fake units, why would they, and did they really expect that they’d make a buck off them? Perhaps this was higher-up on the supply chain, but IPEX has been scratched off the list.

The loose end? I don’t think D&H got an apology…

Read More About This Topic

• LogLogic Talks Channel And Product Strategy
• Arrow ECS Launches Professional Services Business Unit
• The New Intel Processors: Core i3, i5 And i7
• Ingram Micro Taps Consumer Electronics

Nimsoft is part of a small but thriving managed services software ecosystem. Over the past five years or so, thousands of VARs and MSPs have embraced remote monitoring tools from Nimsoft, Kaseya, Level Platforms, N-able, Zenith Infotech and various upstarts. Also, big distributors like Ingram Micro have set up divisions (like Ingram Micro Seismic) to help transform VARs into MSPs. (Seismic, by the way, has relationships with both CA and Nimsoft.) That reseller-to-MSP transformation involves building recurring revenue models with customers.

Meanwhile, SaaS-centric MSP tools have been getting acquired left and right. Recent deals involved:

• Citrix Online buying Paglo in January 2010 (now rebranded as Citrix GoToManage)
• Quest Software buying PacketTrap in December 2009
• GFI Software buying HoundDog Technology Ltd. in July 2009

Educated Guesses

How big is the MSP market? The VAR Guy’s best guess goes something like this…

• Let’s assume there are about 80,000 to 120,000 solutions providers in North America
• Roughly 10 percent to 20 percent (8,000 to 24,000) of those VARs now offer managed services
• But only about 10 percent of those MSPs (800 to 2,400) are really, really good at their craft

So is the glass half full — or half empty? The MSPmentor 100 survey, conducted annually since October 2007, proves that top MSPs remain in growth mode.

But here’s the strange part: Most of the world’s largest software and hardware companies — Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, etc. — have largely overlooked the MSP opportunity. Fact is, the giants just don’t get it. They’re so busy trying to retrofit traditional IT offerings for SaaS and cloud, that they overlooked the IT channel’s fastest growing community — managed services providers (MSPs).

This Stuff Ain’t Easy

Since around January 2008, The VAR Guy has been waiting for big IT companies to wake up to the MSP opportunity. It’s finally starting to happen. A few key examples:

• CA’s $350 million buyout of Nimsoft today, which positions MSPs at the center of the next-generation channel, according to Nimsoft CEO Gary Read
• Lenovo’s work to begin integrating with MSP platforms
• Cisco’s decision to overhaul its managed services partner program
• Intel’s commitment to educate VARs and MSPs on recurring revenue opportunities
• Dell’s re-commitment to work with MSPs on joint-engagements
• Google’s decision to attend multiple MSP-centric events in 2009 and 2010

Can CA Change?

So, big companies are finally waking up to the MSP opportunity. But can they cash in on the MSP channel? During a conference call with media and Wall Street today, CA CEO William McCracken essentially conceded that CA has failed to master the MSP market. He’s hoping the Nimsoft deal will change that.

At the same time, CA’s R&D teams have been working to reinvent on-premises products (such as CA ARCserve) for cloud, SaaS and MSP environments.

But most of all, CA will need to retrain its existing channel to understand new MSP opportunities. That journey begins today with the Nimsoft buyout. Are other software companies — such as Microsoft — paying attention?

Read More About This Topic

• Dell: Bearish Investors, Bullish Partners?
• Microsoft Moving Into Managed Services Software Market?
• HP’s Headache: GroundWork Open Source
• Recap: Top 10 Managed Services Stories of the Week
• CA and Nimsoft’s Gary Read: Colorful Combo

The VAR Guy first met Read about a year or two ago, during a conference call involving Nimsoft making a small acquisition. Read is colorful and outspoken. Consider this line from Read’s latest blog entry, about the CA-Nimsoft deal:

“When CA first suggested a conversation, I admit I had a brief moment of hesitation, but I quickly realized that this could be the perfect partner for Nimsoft and our customers. CA is making a commitment from the highest level of the organization to be the leader in cloud management. They recognize the importance of Service Providers and Emerging Enterprises to this new world, and they are an important focus of CA’s growth strategy. They made it clear that they want us to innovate and pioneer and add resources to accelerate those efforts.”

Frankly, it would have taken CA about a month to write, edit and publish the paragraph above — assuming CA’s legal team gave it approval. Still, the paragraph above does have some added polish. Perhaps Read did give CA a peek before posting? Hmmm…

Regardless, Read has a habit of shooting from the hip — in real-time — on his blog. He has taken shots (regularly) at BMC, IBM Tivoli, HP OpenView and even CA from time to time. Read doesn’t apply many artificual filters, which means the blog is filled with honest opinions  — a worthy read for customers, competitors and even bloggers like The VAR Guy.

Cast and Crew

Also of note, Read has surrounded himself with people who take action. The VAR Guy doesn’t know everyone at Nimsoft, but some of the characters worth tracking in the weeks ahead include…

• Phil LaForge, VP of Service Providers: LaForge came to Nimsoft from CDW. He understands the managed services market — a key business sector that CA has so far failed to master.
• Ken Vanderweel, a marketing director who asks questions. Lots of them. Then foll0ws-up. Regularly. The net result? Vanderweel has a knack for making sure Nimsoft is on message as the company engages MSPs and enterprise accounts.
• Todd McKendrick, a sales pro who previously held managed services positions over at Do IT Smarter and Dell. McKendrick was the very first person The VAR Guy ever really “interviewed” and “quizzed” about the managed services market. The random conversation occurred inside a Kinkos in San Jose back in September or October 2007.

The big question: Can these fast-thinking (and sometimes outspoken) Nimsoft personalities blend in with CA’s more conservative corporate culture? The VAR Guy will be watching and listening for clues.

The Road Ahead

In the meantime, CA and Nimsoft are busy briefing the media about their joint plans to serve managed services providers and emerging enterprises, while promoting a cloud monitoring strategy along the way. The CA-Nimsoft combo certainly sounds serious about managed services. The VAR Guy wonders: How will MSPs react? Our resident blogger is reaching out to sources for answers.

Follow The VAR Guy via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

• CA-Nimsoft: A $350 Million Wake-up Call for VARs, Microsoft
• Master MSPs: Preparing VARs for Managed Services?