News VARVision and System Builder Summit Round-Up By Keith Newman and Steve Cross, Channel Media

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HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – This year Vision Events went Hollywood and the critics (vendors, resellers who attended) called it a hit! In fact, it was the largest System Builder Summit™ & VARVision® Event ever! To support the attendance was an equally exciting array of new products that had boardrooms, breakouts and other events all buzzing.

According to those in attendance, IT customers are buying differently. And instead of looking for the best deal from the most convenient Vendor, the VAR or SB is becoming the most trusted advisor to IT departments. Why? Better prices, services, more responsive and prices are equitable. After all, It’s tough to call 20 different direct vendors to get anything done. IT departments are calling the VAR instead. This bodes well for this event and its participants.

Of what we saw, there were plenty of server-side apps moving into the channel from the enterprise space. We are starting to see more migration of formerly direct companies to the channel side of the force. We expect to see even more as this show (and this sector) attains even more importance.

“This was a great show. It allows me to cover a lot of ground in two days,” said Bill Tappy of Pomeroy, who leads the resellers charge in the government and education space.

In all, there were about 250 resellers in attendance for a healthy give-and-take with some of the most important vendors. All the big vendors were in attendance: AMD, HP, Intel, Microsoft. Sitting down for one-on-ones in an informal setting was, like the MasterCard ads say: priceless.

A number of World Premieres took place: AMD, EMC, Microsoft, Intel, Celestica, ATI, among others. Each company seeking to give an overview of new programs and products. We attended all the Premieres and can report that the resellers were intensely interested, and interacted with the various teams of presenters. One of the more entertaining was the ATI Premiere, where the whole audience chimed in with a family-feud style game to win prizes and find out more info on new products from this league-leader. Lots of fun, and everybody was a winner: every reseller in attendance received a Radeon 9200 board at the end.

Then, of course, there was Intel’s “Academy Awards-style” presentation replete with crowds of “paparazzi”, a red carpet, bow ties for all, music, stage, awards, etc. But frankly, the reseller feedback was great; the SBs and VARs loved the way Intel let their hair down. Frank Raimondi, long-time channel veteran, was seen with dark shades and a tux! These Intel guys and gals were having a ball. And spent their time thanking the resellers for helping Intel increase their industry leadership position with server, desktop and notebook products that proved to be award winning.

Celestica, a free-standing spin-off from IBM (in 1995), was pitching big-quality & quantity OEM products delivered to the system builders through distribution. Neat idea as it jumps over credit issues, warehousing issues, etc, but still gives the SBs access to the big quantities of really important boards for their systems, at very affordable prices. Should be a win-win.

EMC is making a huge foray into the channel with its “Velocity” program behind its storage solutions. Formerly a direct-only and heavily enterprised focused company, this $6 Billion-dollar storage firm now sells about 30% of its business ($2 Billion Bucks, Baby!) through the channel. The “innovators dilemma” would indicate that commoditization will bring EMC to their knees long-term, but by anticipating the need to go broader-and deeper, they will leap the dilemma into a new reformulation (yeah, we read too much into this stuff sometimes). The channel strategy, combined with some very savvy acquisitions will assist in EMC’s penetration into the mid-market and event he SMB space. Key hires in sales and marketing management over the last couple years are starting to make a difference. Gregg Ambulos (VP Global Channels) has already instituted a commission-neutral program globally to protect the resellers from cannibalization and encroachment. John Koury (VP Channels Marketing) is an experienced (Compaq, IE) channel marketing guy, who is making a visible difference already. With support from the CEO and board, EMC is driving to increase its share of sales through the channel.

Leading distributor Ingram Micro introduced a new initiative, led by Ingram veteran Geno Marcoux, GM/VP of the Components Business Unit. Now, Ingram is going after the Components Business with a dedicated sales group and product management, as opposed to its earlier approach of “fitting a square peg in a round hole.” Now, Ingram is getting the right product at the right price and delivering to customers the way they want to receive it, according to Marcoux. They were at the show looking for feedback from vendors and system builders about optimal ways of working together to solve problems, profitably. We certainly wouldn’t bet against Ingram on this new initiative.

HP ProCurve is a vibrant, growing and profitable networking business, offering wired and wireless networking solutions to enterprises of all sizes. HP ProCurve provides cost-effective means of delivering secure and reliable access to the network, without sacrificing the flexibility and bandwidth required by today's mobile workforce. Enterprise customers recognize HP ProCurve's Adaptive EDGE Architecture as the smart economic choice for extending intelligence to the edge of the network. HP ProCurve's channel partners recognize its ongoing commitment to the channel and significant investments in partner programs and promotions. HP ProCurve provides partners with choice, interoperability, reduced complexity, and unparalleled price performance.

Panda Software had a nice presence on the show floor. They're a European-based outfit with very strong anti-virus technology. They kill in Europe. But in the States can they beat Symantec, McAfee, and all the others? Stay tuned. What a fight this one is turning out to be. This hotly competitive category reminds me of the old uninstaller wars of 10 years ago.

In fact, this show seemed to be a real shoot-out for anti-virus software and hardware on the server-side. We chatted with the folks from Hauri, whose anti-virus technology is based on a brand-new, remarkably fast engine. Taking advantage of this new technology, they can scan and fix before the other guys can even finish the scan. And all in the background! Pretty impressive real-time operation.

One of our favorite companies from last year, Red-M, was back this year with an update to its Red Alert product. According to Christopher Weiss, Director of Technology, Red-Detect is a centralized server that creates a consolidated view of wireless activity and plots graphs for management reporting, which is then stored in a database to create meaningful audit trails. The company is also one of the few detection services that support wireless and bluetooth. “This did not exist before us,” said Weiss. Red-Detect can be scaled to support thousands of probes and it can be tailored to display only user-defined events of interest.

Then we met with Ironport, and they do the same thing (sort of) in hardware. They have a strong customer list built by the direct side (CNN, NASDAQ, PayPal, CBS MarketWatch, etc.), but like many other companies, they have recently realized that the channel is key to long-term success in this arena. The big news is their “C” class of product (like the Mercedes C-class?) with anti-spam, antic-virus, and automatic throttling of inbound email. Why throttling? If you’re under virus attack, you want to trickle mail in, so you can scan, disinfect, and fix. Neat idea, and perfectly situated for the VAR market, in our opinion. They seemed to be a very busy booth, with interest from resellers who focus on SMB/SME, Gov’t, and enterprise.

Logitech’s Mike Crosby was promoting the company’s innovating product line and their ability to help system builders and resellers add sales, margin and product differentiation. ”In a down PC market, we are able to extend the life of the product,” Crosby said. Imagine what they can do in an up market!

Sophos had a fairly well-attended booth, with yet another server-side anti-virus product. Man, this was the anti-virus show, wasn’t it? Besides spam, viruses, and worms are one of the most important daily issues to most IT departments. They feel like they’re under siege, and they are. These vendors (Sophos, Ironport, Hauri, Panda, etc) can all help. Sophos is the one with all the operating system support: WIN 3.1/95/98/ME/2000/NT, and also LINUX/UNIX/Mac, and even Notes/Domino & OS/2. Talk about covering all the bases. Sophos must be a big one for state and local Gov’t and education, where they have all the mixed machines, and the older ones mixed in with newer ones.

ACSB is the American Canadian System Builders Cooperative, and this is a real non-profit set up by some system builders and some vendors to create a better buying environment for the SB. They are starting out with a bang, with long-time system builder Brad Cole as Executive Director here’s a guy who really knows the SB side of the road. Already in possession of their own GSA contract, ACSB will make the GSA available to their members. Member manufacturers will be on the GSA and this is a huge cost savings for an SB, not just in product cost, but in maintenance of the GSA contract, which costs 6-figures a year just to keep it current, according to everything we’ve heard. With a reasonable annual membership fee, this is a new force in the market, and will really be a great value to some.

Telephony@work showed off their browser-based call center management software. Interesting business model for the VARs, capacity-based flexible pricing for global call centers. BTW, with all the migration of call centers to every corner of the earth, a global management tool is indispensable these days for anyone in that business.

Cymphonix had a new software-only bandwidth monitoring/reporting/management tool. Sound kludgy, but it is slick as can be. They have a desktop dashboard that monitors bandwidth usage in real time, then it creates bandwidth profiles (by user if you want!!). The IT customer gets to manage the entire enterprise’s bandwidth usage from a desktop. On the business side, they have a non-friction channel policy. Good margins for resellers on a very neat tool.

At Channel-Media, we love corporate name changes. Keylink, longtime disty of IBM gear, used to be known as Pioneer Standard. Good, old school name that we all heard. Now they’ve sold off the industrial component side of their business to Arrow, and are changing their name again: to Agilysys.

Motion Computing has the CRN Editors Choice Tablet PC, and is it ever a good one. We were surprised to see only this one Tablet, even though they are being deployed in the enterprise and for field force automation in all sorts of verticals. Motion was looking for VARs who are working on those vertical deployments.

Spinnaker showed their network storage strategy, and the products, which latch onto NAS as the new standard in storage. Network Attached Storage is a concept in IT whose time is here. Spinnaker is assembling an “A” list of people from Fujitsu. The products offer a 40,000 foot view over the network, and globalize the view of the existing network. Very slick 3rd generation NAS. Fast (and they claim best).

TDK was looking for buyers for a line of quality DVD burners; prospects are more SBs than VARs. High end multi-format drives are their forte these days at TDK, and System Builders are a key target.

We had a nice chat with Timo Allison over at NVIDIA, who were pitching the NVIDIA technology to/through partners. They do a bang-up job of driving the software developers, content creators, and etc, then drive demand through their partners, by letting them “draft” off NVIDIA’s efforts. Sort of an Intel-inside way of doing business; consistency of branding, logos, content, message. Works for Intel, and works for NVIDIA too. If you’re building a standard, you should look at the way these guys have done it. Class.

One of our staffers met with Helio Solutions to get a feel for why a VAR would attend, and what they got out of the show, etc. Helio is a private, 2 year-old company, with a number of regional offices. We met with Dennis Mueller, the VP Engineering, an impressive young guy, who had a nice handle on marketing and positioning (especially for an engineer – no insult intended). He was there to meet with vendors he hadn’t yet seen in the field. On the second day of the show, Dennis thought he would pick up three new vendors for immediate revenue impact, mostly with a security focus. Dennis feels like Helio just won’t see some of these vendors in the field, as the vendors are not quite deep enough on their bench to call on every target VAR, so a show like this is key. We enjoyed our chat and appreciated him taking the time.

One of those under the radar “resellers” that we caught up with is Black Box. This hugely successful (approximately $750M in sales) network product reseller, installer and administrator is working to bring its product and services together. The Company is also acting as “tech support” for networking issues for other resellers and system builders. It’s a great story and one that deserves a lot more focus.

Aspire Digital had a complete line of speakers for the SBs. Very neat stuff for home theaters, gamers, etc. They manufacture their own products in a seven story factory ion China, each floor dedicated to one family of products, as we understand it.

Executive Software was pitching the latest version of Diskkeeper, version 8.0. Probably the number one automatic defragmenter and now really affordably priced. They have a pretty standard software licensing model, and it’s a server-side model. Very channel-friendly. Executive’s Asset Management software, Sitekeeper, was getting a lot of attraction.

Kerio had one of the more interesting software-only apps. Channel-only play, distributed by Ingram Micro. For 20-250 users; mail server software, firewall software, providing enterprise features in a real-world WINDOWS desktop environment. This seems like a really innovative approach, and we hear that in-house IT techies love it.

We chatted with the two co-founders of Procuro, who ship a virtual NOC on a laptop. Channel-only players, who do not sell direct, they will brand the app for the service partner. Talk about customization for the channel! Nice guys, Vincent Gordon and his co-founder and partner Bernard Lee were a couple of the friendliest folks on the floor, and seemed pretty busy. They are looking for resellers who like the mid-market. Give these guys a look, all you VARs, we’d like them to be successful.

Another cool mid-market play was SOHOware. Funny name, but it sure makes it clear what they do for a living. SOHOware is another channel-dedicated company that doesn’t sell directly to the end-user (starting to see a pattern here, loyal readers?). They have a combination of in-house products in the wi-fi hotspot space, firewall, IP Telephony, etc. They pride themselves on scope and innovation.

D&H Distributing was around cutting deals and making hay, again. Based in Harrisburg, PA, D&H is privately held (family owned, actually) and as consistent as they come. Bumping up against $1 Billion in annual sales from what I hear, they are always on the lookout for ways of improving service to their partners, and still hungry for new vendors to help D&H make a bigger impact. Good people to know.

PeoplePC Online has developed an aggressive new channel program. Acquired by Earthlink a while back, they ditched the little kid (remember the TV commercials?) and got serious about providing POPs on the road for a premium dial-up experience (over 9000 POPs just in North America). Our readers may not know this, because we all have broadband, but half the country doesn’t have broadband, and/or won’t pay for it. Big opportunity, and they hired Peter Boehm to build their channel program to take advantage of the opportunity. Peter is a long-time channel guy, and will do right by the channel. Pete’s looking for some partners. Give him a call and listen to the pitch, it will make sense.

The good folks from Visioneer were in attendance, as usual, this time promoting a new partnership with Xerox that will extend Visioneer’s line-up in the VAR and System Builder Channel.

LaCie, a leading producer of storage devices, announced it will begin shipping at the end of September LaCie's Mobile Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche. Perfect for people on the go, the Mobile Hard Drive is a durable and stylish way to securely transport up to 80GB of your most important files. "Conceived from a 'no-gimmick-design,' The LaCie Mobile Hard Drive emphasizes the technical performance of the product, said Dirk Schmauser, Porsche Design GmbH managing director. "A well-balanced combination of unique materials and simple design create a drive that features highly-defined style and superior performance."

LaCie introduced new, lightweight Mobile Hard Drives that travel with you wherever you go. Starting at only $129 dollars and available in capacities ranging from 20GB to 80GB with your choice of Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or fast FireWire® interface. The new LaCie Mobile Hard Drives are also AC adapter free for Hi-Speed USB 2.0, FireWire or iLink users, allowing for true mobility and freedom from external power supplies for laptops. Users will also enjoy the drives capability to backup or exchange large files without disrupting network traffic or blocking email boxes.

A Mini Aside: Great party by AMD, Very Funny awards show at the famous El Capitan and all the breaks seemed productive. In fact, one of our staffers was sitting around having a bite with several SB’s, one of whom was having a problem with the Intel Inside program. The other SB’s at the table offered some suggestions, then a fellow sat down with his lunch plate, and introduced himself. He was the guy at Intel who runs the Inside program!! We can’t say the problem was fixed, but when we had to leave for an interview, they were sure working on it!!

Congrats and Best of Luck to All!

PS – If we didn’t capture your information and you would like to publish it in a subsequent issue of ChannelMedia, please send it to ChannelMedia at kanewman@sbcglobal.net.

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News VARVision and System Builder Award Winners and Nominees

Sponsored by:

System Builder Summit

Best System Builder Program or Promotion
Nominees: ATI Technologies, Intel, NEC-Mitsubishi Electronic Display

Winner: Intel

Best System Builder Summit Presentation
Nominees: ATI Technologies, Intel, NETGEAR

Winner: Intel

Best Product: Hardware
Nominees: AMD, ATI Technologies, Intel

Winner: ATI Technologies

Best Product: Software
Nominees: Microsoft, PC Treasures, Phoenix Technologies

Winner: Microsoft

VARVision Award Winners/Nominees

Best VAR Channel Strategy
Nominees: Belkin, Intel, Microsoft

Winner: Microsoft

Best VARVision Presentation
Nominees: Belkin, Intel, NETGEAR

Winner: Intel

Best Product: Hardware
Nominees: Intel, NETGEAR, Spectrum Control

Winner: NETGEAR

Best Product: Software
Nominees: Citrix Systems, Cymphonix, FSLogic

Winner: Cymphonix

SBS/VV Award Winners/Nominees
Best Vendor (Overall both System Builder Summit & VARVision)
Nominees: AMD, ATI Technologies, Intel


Winner: Intel

Vision Award - System Builders
John Samborski, Ace Computers
Bill Howells, Mach Speed Technologies
Rich Shovick, Paragon Development Systems
Calvin Lam, Avus Systems & Peripherals

Vision Award - VARs
Sean McTaggart, Triline Solutions
Glen Jodoin, GreenPages
Henry Yip, eLoyalty
Alan Prefer, Atec Group

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RESEARCH

Q&A with AMD’s Gary Bixler

Q. We got to see AMD's launch the AMD Athlon 64 processor and what is really the first wave of 64-bit computing. How significant is this announcement? What are your goals?

A: This is monumentally significant for AMD, of course, but also for solution providers, the enterprise, small and medium businesses and ultimately technology consumers, whether in the home or at work. As you know, we introduced the AMD Opteron processor for servers and workstations in April. Now, the AMD Athlon 64 for desktops and laptops brings us all one step closer to the day when a single processor platform, AMD64, will efficiently fill the needs of a complete IT architecture. We call it "one enterprise, one platform" and that philosophy really extends throughout the computing landscape - into the home, on the plane, into the LAN party...

Q: What are you recommending that Var's and System Builders do to take full advantage of this highly compatible technology?

A: Well, one of our recommendations would be to suggest that System Builders differentiate themselves, as AMD has done, by offering a product line that major OEM's do not yet deliver - fully integrated solutions from top to bottom. System Builders can provide their small and medium business customers with the servers, desktops and mobile laptops on a single simple-to-manage platform that is designed to protect their investment and allow them to grow into 64-bit computing.

Q: Does this create meaningful differentiation with other processors on the market?

A: Absolutely! These cutting-edge processors based on AMD64 technology provide what no other processors on the market can - the highest performing 32-bit x86 processor available that can also provide indisputable 64-bit performance. And the customer doesn't have to do a single thing to make it happen, beyond purchasing an AMD Opteron or AMD Athlon 64 processor-based system! There is finally true differentiation - for AMD and for our customers who sell AMD.

Q: What other key messages are you looking to share with the SB and Var Channel?

A: I would encourage our SB and reseller partners to listen to the needs of their customers - that is a central AMD philosophy. And to please share that feedback with us. Additionally, I encourage them to use our available tools and resources to help build their market share with this unique opportunity.

ACP - There's $$$ For You in Refurbished Products
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RESEARCH

CompTIA Event is a Breakaway Success
By Keith Newman, ChannelMedia

CompTIA Breakaway 2003, the 19th annual CompTIA Member Conference met its goal of helping its membership “Create a Measurable Difference…Today” by bringing together executive-level representatives from computer industry manufacturers, distributors, value-added resellers, systems integrators, independent software vendors, service providers and consultants.

Breakaway, held last month in sunny San Diego, differentiates itself from other channel and vendor events by the depth and breadth of its educational sessions and informational sessions. Look no further for an example than the Industry Keynote and Panel that featured comments and insights from Ed Coleman, President & CEO, CompuCom, Kevin Gilroy, VP Commercial Channels, HP, Frank Vitagliano, VP of Distribution Channels, IBM, Gary Gilliam, VP N.A. Channel Operations, and Xerox.

“CompTIA was a different event by design compared with previous year. It was not jointly sponsored by Xchange (owned by CMP) which had produced the event in prior years. This year we focused on business development and skills development for channel members. It was a significant departure from prior years. The kind of sessions and format for SMB Solution providers was a higher value. A lot of SMB and Small VAR’s do not meet with their channel partners face to face a lot so this is a good way to augment the event,” said Gilliam.

According to Vitagliano of IBM,”The focus on how solution providers can continue to transition their businesses to selling solutions and services, which equate to higher margins, was invaluable for the partners we met with. And For IBM it was another opportunity to promote our hardware, software and services offerings and increase our share.”

Similarly, Jon Reardon, Senior VP of Marketing Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc., recently named to the Board of CompTIA, said that Breakaway far exceeded their expectations.“ People who we met with were so perfectly pre-qualified it far exceeded investment and we were excited about what happened. We will be there in greater force next year to fully exploit the opportunity.”

From the reseller standpoint the event was equally valuable. Janet Szilva, President, JS Group of ROI Sales Strategy, said,”Today’s resellers need a little help getting moving in the right direction when it comes to selling solutions. Due to the reactive nature of their businesses many of them have not set in place the groundwork required for success as a sales organization. They often lack the tools, the expertise or the techniques in many cases to effectively promote new vendor partner products, services and solutions….To be successful the resellers will need to apply this knowledge to the sale of an established, reputable vendor product/solution and that is where you the Vendor partner comes in.”

HP’s Patrick Eitenbichler, Director, Channel Marketing added the Event works because of the combination of product, technology and partnership discussions in a friendly, personal atmosphere conducive to building relationships. “Overall, partners who attended were interested in learning more about HP. Many of them see the event as a way to learn from each other.” Plus, he added, the breakouts were the best ever. “For next year, it seems everything is going in the right direction. From a sponsorship perspective you get to speak to a great audience.”

Next year’s Breakaway is scheduled for Augst 11-13, 2004 in Orlando, Fla. For more information see www.comptia.org.
http://www.comptia.org/events/Archives/Breakaway2003.asp

NetScreen Technologies announced an agreement to buy privately-held Neoteris, a provider of secure sockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) products, for $245 million in stock and $20 million in cash. If certain revenue milestones are achieved, NetScreen will pay an additional $30 million in cash.

Network Associates announced the newest network and security management solution from the Sniffer® Technologies division, the Netasyst™ network analyzer, specifically designed for the burgeoning small and mid-size business (SMB) market and field service organizations. The Netasyst solution is a cost-effective network performance solution that provides businesses with a flexible solution to monitor, troubleshoot and secure their 10/100 LAN and 802.11a and 802.11b wireless networks. A standalone software solution, the Netasyst network analyzer is backed by the power of Sniffer Technologies, providing SMBs and field service organizations with many of the features and functionalities that large-scale enterprises use to manage, secure and plan the growth of their networks. With the Netasyst network analyzer, small and mid-size businesses now have an affordable solution to track information flowing through their networks, protect their networks and, with the optional Expert Analysis system, pinpoint the root causes of network problems and intelligently define probable solutions to the problem.

Because IT managers at small and mid-size enterprise companies have multiple responsibilities with limited budgets and resources, providing a quick and easy resolution to network and security issues is paramount. Netasyst network analyzer provides the IT manager with a multi-functional tool that addresses key business performance issues including: Immediate Problem Resolution – Netasyst software can be used to identify and resolve network and application issues, and can help IT staff determine whether the application, server, or network is responsible for poor performance. The solution can also help IT staff identify misconfigured devices such as workstations, routers and servers. Netasyst software does not just identify the problem; it provides the supporting detail that helps solve the problem, thereby helping to reduce mean-time-to-resolution and improve overall end-user productivity. Enhance Existing Security Measures – Netasyst software complements existing security solutions such as firewalls, anti-virus software, VPNs, and intrusion detection and protection systems, and provides packet-level details that help validate the effectiveness of these measures. Netasyst can also identify virus and worm-infected hosts and servers on the network, thereby minimizing detection and clean-up time and reducing financial and operational exposure. Improved Network Performance –Netasyst software also helps administrators understand network usage issues, identify non-business use such as personal instant messaging and video streaming programs, and spot inefficient and "chatty" applications, all of which cause unnecessary bandwidth consumption. By identifying and tuning these and other issues on their networks, businesses save money by improving overall network efficiency and performance and by reducing and/or deferring capital expenditures.

Additionally with the Netasyst network analyzer, large field services organizations will be able to extend the power of Sniffer Technologies beyond sophisticated network specialists to the legions of network technicians that require a powerful tool to resolve network performance and security issues. Netasyst software enables large field organizations to cost effectively deploy licenses to each and every technician enabling companies to leverage investments in training and education as well as to reduce the time-to-resolution of network issues.

"Sniffer Technologies continues to raise the bar on protecting the security and availability of our customers' networks. The Netasyst network analyzer is the best solution on the market for today's small and mid-size companies looking to fully optimize and secure their networks," said Ray Smets, president of Sniffer Technologies. "Network Associates® is committed to delivering best-of-breed security and manageability solutions tailored to meet the needs of our customers – from consumers and small businesses all the way to the largest enterprises."

IBM Microelectronics and Intersil Corp. announced a multi-year foundry services agreement in which Intersil’s semiconductor process technology will be installed in IBM’s chip manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vermont, and IBM will serve as a second source manufacturer for Intersil’s Endura power management integrated circuits (ICs). The ICs power CPUs, chip sets, memory, graphics, buses and ports for desktops, servers, and portable devices. IBM will reserve capacity for the ICs manufactured in Intersil’s P6 process. The agreement represents an expansion of IBM’s foundry services capabilities into power management and high-performance analog applications. Commencement by IBM to manufacture the ICs will take place in the first quarter 2004. For IBM, the partnership validates its superior technical prowess in process development and foundry services, while enabling Intersil to offer its customers a second source for its Endura ICs.

CNET Channel has launched the "DataSource Ready" partner program, through which e-business applications that meet certain technical standards can seamlessly integrate CNET Channel's product data.
Comergent's E-Business System is the first application solution provider to participate in the new program. By integrating the two products, the companies' joint customers can quickly and easily build online technology product catalogs and order management systems.

EmergeCore Networks, a leader in the development of high-value, low-cost integrated IT solutions for small business and branch offices, today announced new eCommerce features now available on the award-winning IT-100 "IT in a Box" . Adding to a host of powerful features that make it easy to build a wired or wireless network, the IT-100 now allows small businesses to quickly and securely sell products and services on the Internet. Expected to top $12 trillion worldwide by 2006*, eCommerce transactions have historically been enabled by complex, costly solutions involving multiple vendors and multiple components. The IT-100 now allows small businesses to compete squarely against much larger organizations with a secure, professional eCommerce presence. "Establishing an online presence versus a traditional brick and mortar business allows a company to quickly reach a much larger market, and at a lower cost then the traditional brick and mortar model," said Dave Brown, EmergeCore president and CEO. "With the IT-100 a small business can now compete effectively in the global market against more complex, multi-component eCommerce solutions."

Countermind announced the release of the Mobile Intelligence (MI) Application Assembler. Beginning immediately, MI Application Assembler is available for the development, management, and deployment of enterprise-grade mobile/wireless solutions. MI Application Assembler is a Graphic User Interface (GUI) based tool for modeling business processes and generating XML-based Application Descriptors that run on the Mobile Intelligence Platform. With an easy to use drag-n-drop interface, developers or an IT administrator can create robust mobile applications from a model of corporate business processes. No coding necessary, the MI Application Assembler automatically validates and generates applications that are then rendered on the mobile device of choice. “The MI Application Assembler will help companies develop cost effective mobile applications that match the workflows being mobilized.” Said Randy Starr, Director of Technology at Countermind “It even gives administrators the ability to make changes while the application is being used, add a new data collection field or change criteria within the application and seamlessly push it out to the field as a new version, regardless of the type of device. This new capability has tremendous value to a wide range of horizontal and vertical industries including: asset tracking, delivery tracing, order entry, clinical data capture, line buster, inspection, etc.”

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The long awaited sub-$1,000 projector arrived in early summer with the coming of Epson’s $999 S1. Since Epson’s announcement June just about all major projector vendors are offering their own sub-$1,000 projector. Vendors such as InFocus, NEC (NEC’s VT46 is actually $995), Sharp and Toshiba have all rolled out $999 projectors within the past two months. Dell joined the sub-$1,000 projector vendors in mid-August when it dropped the price of its 2100MP to $999 (originally priced at $1,049). With plenty of projectors competing at this price point, customers must decipher which product offers the most value for their $999 investment

At first glance, all of the sub-$1,000 projectors offer roughly the same basic feature sets. The competitive matrix below shows that none of the current sub-$1,000 has any significant advantages over the others.

While slight advantages exist in terms of contrast ratio, brightness, and weight, these SVGA (800x600) native resolution projectors are almost identical products. Despite the fact that these basic specifications are closely aligned, deeper investigation proves that not all sub-$1,000 projectors are equal. Other features to consider include ease of use, total cost of ownership, and warranty. Looking at these three areas will help to set some $999 projectors apart from the others.

Ease of Use

Ease of use is especially critically in the entry level spectrum of the market. Customers who purchase these lower end projectors are often first time users. Novices will only adopt the new technology if it is easy to understand and use on a regular basis.

Color Coded Cables
InFocus, NEC, and Sharp have gone to considerable lengths to increase the projector’s ease of use. The InFocus X1, NEC VT46, and Sharp PG-B10S all are designed with color coded cables that allow users to quickly coordinate inputs before a presentation. The color coded cables also allow users to quickly ensure that they haven’t left any cables behind after each presentation.

One-Touch Set Up Alignment Control
Yes another way to make the projector easy to use is the addition of a variable horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lens shift. Sharp’s PG-B10S offers this so-called “Alignment Control” feature, which allows users to adjust an image in a room without having to physically move the projector.

Ease of Use Competitive Advantage: Sharp


Total Cost of Ownership

While the base price of projectors has dropped below the $1,000 mark, the cost of replacement lamps is still a concern that must be addressed. Customers must be aware of the cost of these pricey replacement lamps that can run anywhere from $300 to $500. Because these consumables are so expensive, users must consider lamp life when choosing the best projector for them.

In terms of lamp life, Dell’s 2100MP again falls short, offering bare-bones 2,000 hours of lamp life. Meanwhile, the Epson S1, InFocus X1, and NEC VT46 offer a standard 3,000 hours of lamp life. Sharp’s Notevision PG-B10S offers a standard 3,000 hour lamp life and features a “Low Power Mode,” which effectively extends the projector’s lamp life to 4,000 hours.

Total Cost of Ownership Competitive Advantage: Sharp


Warranty

Customers must also consider the type of warranty plan offered with each projector. Offering longer warranty terms conveys confidence in these entry level products that consumers may initially be wary of.
Dell’s standard 2100MP warranty offers a mere one-year coverage at the $999 price point. Dell’s one-year standard warranty does include its Advanced Exchange Service, whereby Dell will ship a replacement system or part to the user in advance of receiving the defective system or part. Advanced Exchange Service is one safeguard that the road warrior can appreciate but will not likely utilize too often. Customers may upgrade to a two-year warranty term but that means more money (an additional $60).

A two-year warranty term is the standard coverage offered by Epson, InFocus, NEC, and Toshiba. In addition to two years of standard warranty on parts and labor, Epson offers two distinct services: Epson’s Road Service Program and PrivateLine. Epson’s Road Service Program prvides users with a replacement projector (typically) within 24 hours and Epson’s PrivateLine is a toll-free support line accessible 24x7.o Sharp’s warranty is the best offer in this group, entitling customers to a standard three-year parts and labor warranty. Sharp also provides two years of “ER” service (a 24-hour turnaround express repair program) as a standard service with each PG-B10S projector.

Warranty Advantage: Sharp


Digging below the surface proves that not all $999 projectors are as equal as they may appear at first evaluation. Dell’s 2100MP is the dullest of the $999 batch, falling short in terms of ease of use features (no color coded cables or alignment control), lamp life (only 2,000 hours of lamp life), and standard warranty coverage (only one year). On the contrary, Sharp’s PG-B10S is the shinning star in the lineup. The PG-B10S holds competitive advantage over the competition in terms of ease of use (color coded cables, one touch set up, and lens shift), lamp life (3,000 hours standard, 4,000 hours low power mode), and warranty (three years).

Will Sharp’s PG-B10S enjoy more success than Dell’s? It will, if the company can successfully market the projector’s competitive advantages as compared to the other products in the market. Slick marketing campaigns, effective signage, and educational literature are essential to creating demand in the entry level projector segment where, at first glance, all projectors appear equal.

Make incremental investments with fast pay-offs

With tight budgets, technology investments that don’t provide fast impact and measurable benefits are not even on the radar. The key is to find solutions to immediate problems that require a small investment and a limited commitment of company resources. Without a clear and fast payback, even the best-intentioned project will not be funded. Since a small budget and a short time frame cannot always support a complete solution, a smart strategy is to invest in applications that are delivered in phases, can scale as your needs change, and generate a real ROI in the short term.

The strategy for achieving success in a tough economy is to focus on core strengths and leverage technology when and where appropriate. Businesses need to do the right thing by investing in the most productive markets, channels, marketing activities and technology.

Chris Heidelberger is President and CEO of ChannelWave Software, Inc., a leading provider of Partner Relationship Management (PRM) software solutions. For more information, please visit www.channelwave.com.

Information is the cornerstone of business. Having quick access to information that is both timely and accurate can make the difference between success and failure. In crisis situations, the results can be even more dramatic. Just ask an IT security professional.

Today, new security threats are emerging at an unprecedented rate, sparking wildfires as they spread across the Internet. In 2001, Code Red and its variants infected millions of hosts around the world in a matter of hours. This year, the Slammer worm sped through the Web, initially doubling its rate of infection every 8.5 seconds; five days and $1 billion in lost productivity later, many organizations were still trying to recover.

However, not all Internet threats are as fast or malicious. Just as some potentially destructive fires are swiftly contained and extinguished, many Internet threats can be easily thwarted and squelched.

The problem is how can security professionals tell the difference? Moreover, how do they know what steps to take to protect their customers?

The Right Stuff—At the Right Time

Symantec’s Platinum Advanced Email Alerting Service was designed to give Enterprise Security Partners and Enterprise Solutions Partners the relevant and accurate global security information they need, when they need it. Whenever a new threat or vulnerability is discovered, the 24 x 7 service delivers instant notifications to these partners around the globe—allowing network administrators and IT professionals to remain focused on their business.

At the foundation of the service are Symantec Security Response experts who work around the clock to monitor Internet activity, identify threats, and develop countermeasures. Viruses, worms, Trojan horses, macros, and other threats are evaluated by these experts and classified into clearly defined risk categories from 1 to 5, with Category 5 being the most severe.

Partners receive the most accurate and up-to-date information available as Symantec Security Response experts observe each threat and analyze its status. Alerts provide a complete range of relevant information as details about the threat are discovered. A typical alert includes the name of the threat, as well as its aliases; its type and rating; its target systems and payload; the virus definition set that detects the threat; and recommendations for protecting against it.

To ensure that partners have access to critical security alerts wherever they are, the Platinum Advanced Email Alerting Service can be set up to send email notifications to various addresses based on the time of day. By putting timely security information into the hands of enterprise partners regardless of their location, partners can, in turn, offer their customers round-the-clock protection against emerging threats.

Ensuring the security of customers will always be a challenge for IT providers. However, having quick access to accurate information makes that difficult task significantly easier. For Symantec partners, subscribing to Platinum Advanced Email Alerting Services helps by getting the right information into the right hands—at the right time.

Allyson Seelinger is vice president of North America Enterprise and Consumer Channel at Symantec Corp.

My enterprise software clients often complain about how brutal this economy is for closing deals, or why the sales process is torturously more difficult these days. The list of selling challenges grows longer ever day—decision-makers who really aren’t, risk aversion causing paralysis, too many vendors chasing too few prospects, merger/acquisition activity has people focused on job preservation not ROI for the business, etc.

There’s one immutable reality in sales. Sales is a veritable “funnel.” The more you put in, the more you get out. Even a small improvement in some key ratios will make a direct, immediate impact on sales. Let’s look at three parameters in particular:

• More qualified leads: I just completed a project with a web services company where we generated an additional one hundred inquiries (or unqualified leads) per week. If only 2% convert that produces an additional 8-10 sales opportunities per month. Couple this with more inside sales activities to drive leads and you can use the numbers game to increase sales. Get your Marketing focused on Sales rather than branding.
• Pursue fewer, better deals: What’s better – pursuing ten deals and closing two or pursuing eight deals and closing two? Either way you get two deals but the second assumes a 25% close rate versus 20%, which is really a 20% improvement in the win ratio. Seasoned sales managers know that it’s qualify, qualify, and qualify. Why? Because you’d rather have more energy behind deals that will likely close than fall out of the funnel. Obvious truth but not many sales managers really manage this ratio.
• Shave cycle time: Most sales managers will agree that the average sales cycle has grown by 20% or more in the last year. Why? The reasons cited are above. But I encourage my clients to delve deeper into the root causes. Are proofs-of-concepts taking longer? Are sales reps selling too low? Are you trying to sell an intergalactic, corporate solution versus land/expand in a business unit? Is the ROI not compelling enough? I’ve found in my practice that the troublesome spots tend to be: insufficient work upfront to establish the ROI, poor executive sponsorship/interest, and pursuing the wrong deals. Whatever the reason, do the homework. It’s worth it.

You might already be executing these process improvements. But I challenge you to ask your Sales VP two questions to satisfy yourself that your team is doing the right things to drive top line growth: 1) what ratios do you monitor, and 2) what are you doing to improve these ratios? I promise you that if you ask your Sales VP this on a monthly basis, you’ll see top line growth in one quarter.

Sridhar Ramanathan is a management consultant specializing in revenue growth strategies for enterprise technology companies. He can be reached at (650) 355-9700 or sramanathan@sbcglobal.net

It’s perfectly possible to write viruses for Apple Macs. A Mac has no more inherent security when it comes to malware than a PC, but virus writers appear to be motivated by a desire to cause widespread havoc and so have concentrated on the market leader – Microsoft Windows.

Although Mac users are less likely to be infected by a virus than their PC friends and colleagues, they are still at risk of being infected by a Mac-specific virus and affected by the most virulent kind of PC virus - the email-aware worm.

With today’s sophisticated viruses and malware threats, Mac end users deserve the same high-quality virus protection as Windows, NetWare and Linux users. They demand an anti-virus product that is easy to set up and maintain, and most importantly provides true on-access scanning protection against Mac and non-Mac viruses and malware.

There are anti-virus vendors who offer such solutions and Sophos is one of them -Sophos Anti-Virus for MAC OS X.

Maintaining an outstanding defense against all known viruses, Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X builds upon earlier versions of Sophos Anti-Virus for the Macintosh platform.

Its on-access scanner, which uses InterCheck technology, transparently intercepts all files and intelligently determines which ones need to be checked. Designed as a native OS X graphical application, the software is simple to use. The graphical user interface allows you to scan files, folders and volumes on demand. You can also initiate scans through a new command-line interface.

“Skidmore College has been using Sophos Anti-Virus since 2001 on all platforms, including Mac and we have been able to maintain consistent virus protection since we deployed the software,” said Tom Marcotte, Senior Consultant, Skidmore College.” SAV for Mac OS X is equipped with an on-access scanner, which has minimal impact on network performance. We are quite pleased with the added security and functionality.”

In addition, the security features have been further developed for the corporate environment. End users cannot uninstall or disable the software, ensuring that computers remain protected 24 hours a day.
There's good news for third-party developers too. They will welcome the fact that the SAV Interface product has been enhanced to allow for the easy integration of their own Mac OS X products with Sophos virus scanning technology.

Sophos Anti-Virus offers comprehensive virus detection and disinfection against Macintosh, macro and PC viruses. It checks local hard disks, removable media and networks. With centralized installation, configuration, updating and reporting, it is the preferred choice of companies wishing to protect their entire enterprise.

The new version of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X 10.1 or later. It supports English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.

Download a free 30-day evaluation of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X at: http://www.sophos.com/products/sav/eval/

FROM THE COMMUNITY Changing Channels What You Can Learn From Watching Survivor By Steve Cross

My name is Steve and I’m a Survivor junkie! The top-rated CBS show is just starting its seventh season, and it has lessons for all of us in business.

In the first season the eventual winner, Richard Hatch, invented an approach the producers did not expect by creating alliances with other “Survivors”. It’s pretty obvious now, but when they conceived the show it wasn’t expected that people would act cooperatively in a “non-cooperative” game. Apparently the producers hadn’t (yet) read the writings of John Nash (the mathematician honored by a Nobel Prize and his own movie with Russell Crowe…”A Beautiful Mind”).

Nash’s work on “cooperative and non-cooperative game theory” has helped to develop models for strategic interaction of people, countries, and economies. His work tends to explain much of the bargaining, negotiating, and disagreement resolution that takes place on Survivor. Nash’s work also helps to explain reverse auctions, EBay, and Orbitz. By the way, before Nash, game theory was principally used for warfare.

Why is any of this stuff important? Well, it explains why you would want to cooperate with Microsoft to survive in your niche and leapfrog into another one while they flow into yours. Finite, n-player game theory lets you step back and analyze how one player’s (Microsoft? Oracle? IBM? ) actions influence the game. Don’t we all do that when confronted with competition? In Survivor you get to watch it happen as an outsider.

There is a phenomenon in game theory now called a “Nash equilibrium point” where advantage is maximized for a specific player in the game. Microsoft and Palm understand it, as does IBM and Oracle. Survivor demonstrates it. Apply it to your business.

Game theory on bargaining explains why you would do a direct marketing program to drive attendees to a seminar cosponsored by yourself and several of your competitors. The cooperation produces a result where everyone wins, driving more customers into the solution space, building incremental increases in revenue for everyone.

Cooperative game theory might help you design a program with your resellers to take out a competitor (take out, as in “vote off the island”). See? I told ya’. Watch the program. Beats the heck out of some business books they put out these days.

Contact Steve Cross at steve@crosschannel.com, 702-492-7472.

Editor's Note: Steve is a channel consultant who offers services from one-day brainstorming sessions to complete channel strategy plans. He has helped numerous companies to increase revenue and enhance their channel success.

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