Leaping From Web 2.0 to Paper

Posted by Joe Panettieri

I’ve spent the last few weeks immersed in Web 2.0 technologies, social networks, RSS feeds … and the list goes on. We continue to build out our digital businesses. But during three key moments today, I rediscovered my love for magazines. First, I thumbed through a custom magazine we recently produced CompTIA, which traced the organization’s 25 years of service to the IT industry. Then the latest edition of TechIQ, our magazine for the IT channel, hit my desk (it’s a great read but I won’t brag too much). And finally, I stumbled upon the latest edition of Money magazine. Yes, Money magazine. I hate to admit it, but I still love that magazine’s ability to tell me what I already know about my pathetic saving and spending habits.

Will SUNW=JAVA?

Seems like every high-tech company now has “branding police.” You know, the often self-appointed individuals who zealously and insanely guard what they consider to be their company’s brand identity. Well, I wonder what the branding police at Sun Microsystems think about the company’s latest move.

TechIQ reports that Sun is officially changing its stock symbol from the long-time SUNW to JAVA. Presumably, this should be obvious to all the Valley’s cognoscenti, since Java (not workstations) has been the center of Sun’s universe (wait, isn’t the sun the center of our universe? Never mind.) for nearly a decade.

Dog Days of August? Hardly

Posted by Al Perlman

It’s supposed to be the dog days of August, but not only is it quite chilly in New York, it’s also busy as can be for our team. This week Joe P. has been out at an Avnet reseller conference in Colorado and is heading to Los Angeles for a series of meetings with channel executives.

Gary will be in San Diego Thursday, moderating a channel-oriented roundtable for Tech Data. On the MuniWireless front, we are in the midst of releasing our first Business Models research report, which we think will be extremely beneficial for the industry. And we are starting our marketing for our largest conference of the year in Silicon Valley Oct. 21-23. Plus, we’re editing the next issue of TechIQ, compiling research for the MuniWireless Buyer’s Guide and creating some exciting new product extensions for TechIQ and MuniWireless.

Our Summer Issue of Tech IQ

Posted by Al Perlman

The Summer issue of TechIQ magazine goes to the printer today. Joe did the cover story on 90 Days to Managed Services. We’ve all been in the channel a long time and we’ve seen a lot of shifts in business models. In my view this movement toward managed services is the real deal. The key is not just that it makes sense for the VARs and their customers, but it’s got a lot of very smart people creating very smart packages behind it. In the past few weeks I’ve been able to spend time with Bob Godgart at Autotask and Gavin Garbutt of N-able and I’ve been extremely impressed with their passion, commitment and belief in this market. When you talk to VARs who’ve made the transition, they sound confident because they’ve seen it work and they know they have the strength of a burgeoning industry behind them. The printed version of TechIQ goes in the mail next week, but of course we are updating several times a day at www.techIQmag.com