Even though I’m technically not a beat reporter on matters of virtualization, I wind up writing about the topic a fair amount because of my interest in green IT (few technologies are greener, when you think about it, in their ability to get companies to decrease their dependence on hardware). And because when anything becomes more mainstream in the software world, Microsoft declares war on the market.

So, it was with interest that I reported a story for TechTarget about whether or not VMware’s recent repackaging for its small business technology (more stuff for slightly more money) will be enough to inspire defections among the Microsoft channel. The answer is, not yet.

But that doesn’t mean Microsoft partners won’t sell VMware solutions opportunistically. Even though many will FOCUS on Microsoft’s virtualization story first, they are keeping their options open by certifying at least some personnel on VMware’s technology. Some are even prioritizing VMware, like Guy Baroan, president of Baroan Technologies, a technology services company in Clifton, N.J. He says he will lead with VMware because of the incredible value in its lowend packages. With the VMware VMware vSphere 4.1 release in July, the company moved to add the VMotion live migration technology to both the Essentials Plus and Standard editions. Essentials Plus now costs $3,495 for three hosts (up from $2,995) and Standard is now priced at $995 per processor (up from $795).

But Baroan isn’t dropping Microsoft: “We have to do both for the foreseeable future,” he said.

The one wild card in all this is the impending overhaul come October of what it takes to become a Microsoft Silver or Gold Certified partner. Moving forward, you’ll only be able to earn the Gold designation for certain competencies (not for an entire company). AND, you’ll need four separate technicians certified on the competency in questions PLUS someone on the sales and marketing end. Some smaller partners say that investment is too steep for their taste, which will change the nature of their relationship with Microsoft.

VMware has a golden opportunity to capitalize on the transition confusion, pun intended. We’ll have to see what the company has up its sleeve in the weeks to come but if I was one of their channel managers I would be on the offense — especially since Microsoft plans to offer deal registration points for virtualization wins, come fall 2010.

I help out SWOT Management Group principal Bill Brandt by posting to this blog from time to time. If you want to read some of my other writing, visit http://www.heatherclancy.com. And, of course, you can follow me on Twitter.

In case you haven’t heard, VMware has overhauled its certification program this week, to encourage even more advanced virtualization solutions. That in itself is significant in the short. But I think this change also signals the first in a series of training and skills development initiatives that are intended to support the latest holy grail of the high-tech industry: the converged data center.

First, this week’s news. VMware has created a new designation called VMware Certified Advanced Professional, a level that recognizes how virtualization can be used to underpin infrastructure that will be critical for the development of IT-as-a-service platforms and for cloud computing models in general. In fact, Cisco has said that its Data Center Networking Infrastructure (DCNI) badge has been the fastest growing certification in the company’s history.

This level isn’t the most advanced level in the program: That would be the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX), of which there are only 50 professionals worldwide. Rather, the new Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) certification is meant to be a stepping stone up to the VCDX elite. Here’s the requisite quote from Enis Konuk, who is the vice president of worldwide technical services for VMware:

“We expect the addition of VCAP certification will increase the skills of thousands of IT professionals, providing advanced knowledge to strategically implement and manage virtualization soluions to derive maximum value for their company or customers. The addition of VCAP to our program comes at a critical time as many companies need advanced skills to consider how to evolve their data centers to be more cost- and energy-efficient–all the while maximizing productivity.”

Just in case you needed even more explicit direction about what VMware is hoping to achieve, there are two specialties to choose from within the VCAP program: one for those with a role in data center administration and one for those focused on designing in a “multi-site, large enterprise environment.”

This seems to me to be one of the first steps toward skills development and certifications focused on covering the needs of a converged data center. Right now, even though the technologies that inform the data center are (in theory) coming together — servers, storage and network — these functions and roles are all handled very much separately. The skills for one aren’t necessarily transferrable to another.

I think it is very significant that if you want to become a VAR or data center integrator for the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) Coalition, you need to go out and invest in separate certifications for all three of the participating technology vendors: Cisco, EMC and VMware. This despite the fact that the infrastructure being created by the coalition is supposed to be integrated more seamlessly than it otherwise would be if you cobbled together the separate pieces on your own. Hewlett-Packard has its own data center designation, of course, which dovetails with skills in its adaptive computing technologies.

What does all this mean? In my opinion, there will be a whole lot of turmoil in the world of certifications, as technicians who have been trained to be product experts need to start thinking in a bigger context. Think of all that training content that needs to be migrated and mapped and phased in and phased out.

My guess is that you’ll see more certifications along the line of management, design and architecture and that the product specialists will increasingly find themselves in team roles, as part of initiatives managed by others. How that will fly with engineers used to doing their own thing is anyone’s guess.

Want to read more channel news, as it happens? Follow my Twitter feed by visiting this link.

CompTIA, the well-known IT channel industry association, released some research a few weeks ago that points to a strong upswing in adoption of managed services and software as a service during 2010.

Their survey of more than 400 U.S.-based SMBs finds that close to 30 percent plan to start using software as a service (SaaS) in an attempt to reduce costs; that’s up from 22 percent one year ago. Moreover, about the same number expect to flip the switch on managed services in 2010. Here’s some insight from Tim Herbert, who is CompTIA’s vice president of research:

“Technology providers may be well advised to approach SMBs with either new IT solutions that represent low perceived risk or replacement solutions that positively impact productivity and efficiency. There’s also an opportunity to provide ongoing maintenance services to help SMBs better manage their IT systems under current business conditions.”

So what does this have to do with the cloud? In a word, everything.

In the rush to come up with a sexy term for every new IT movement, those that evangelize cloud computing are, quite simply, advocating the push to more efficient IT infrastructure. SaaS and managed services are, if you will, part of the cloud evolution and they are laying the groundwork for broader adoption of IT as a service.

According to research firm IDC, worldwide IT spending on cloud services will triple over the next two years to reach $42 billion worldwide by 2012.  More than 50 percent of the organizations that plan to embrace cloud infrastructure or application options are looking to cut costs, according to the IDC data.

Businesses are interested in “the cloud” for three big reasons:

1. They can get new applications up and running more quickly (at least in theory).
2. They can let their IT staff worry about more strategic concerns, such as customer service applications instead of e-mail administration.
3. They can switch some IT expenses from capital expenditures into ongoing operational expenses, charged on a recurring basis.

Most of the time, when someone uses the term “cloud computing,” they are referring to the idea of using infrastructure hosted externally by a large service provider, such as Amazon.com or Savvis or Salesforce.com. But it’s important the cloud computing concept—and all virtualization skills and management services it requires—will also apply to internal data centers, where it will allow businesses more flexibility about applications and services they can deploy inside their firewall.

So, what does the push to the cloud mean for the high-tech channel?

1. The chances a midsize or larger enterprise will host ALL applications or infrastructure in the cloud are slim. E-mail and databases are the first things likely to shift in that direction. That means oodles of opportunity for VARs and IT solution providers with application integration skills. Knowledge of security, compliance and identity management will also be critical.
2. Larger service providers cannot touch every customer prospect, so they will seek technology experts who can represent and recommend the advantages of their particular infrastructures.
3. IT solution providers will need to adjust their operational models to accommodate a very different payment and revenue stream than in the past.
4. At a minimum, IT solution providers must be familiar with which cloud computing options are at their disposal, so they can discuss both pros and cons with their prospects.

We suggest all elements of the high-tech channel spend time putting some substance about what the cloud will mean for their business a year from now – and three years from now.

1. Perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to unearth investment requirements and sales potential for a cloud practice
2. Understand whether you should build your own cloud infrastructure or recommend someone else’s
3. Define acceptable service levels and procedures for evaluating the technical and business merits of emerging cloud infrastructure options
4. Develop a unique service and solution proposition that builds upon your existing sales efforts and that recognizes potential areas of conflict
5. Engage all members of your channel in the cloud dialogue for feedback

Quietly, perhaps TOO quietly, Taiwanese hardware maker Acer claimed the No. 2 position in the worldwide PC market this week — at least for the third quarter and at least according to research firm iSuppli. Actually, there was earlier news to this effect in October, but this is another validation.

There is one fundamental factor for Acer’s rise, which bears close attention as the economy attempts to pick itself up out of this wretched recession: its success with netbooks.

Even if you have absolutely no interest in buying a netbook for yourself, this form factor is really interesting for two reasons:

1. They allow people who never before could have had their OWN notebook or PC to have access to computing power. Just last night, I was over at a friend’s house. They already own two PCs and are thinking about a netbook for under the Christmas tree so that all three of their kids can be working/playing at once. When I think about the possibilities for education, I get really choked up. And this is just the U.S. market: imagine where these things are having an impact globally.
2. Netbooks and thin clients in general are starting to get the attention of IT solution providers who have long been out of the client hardware business. I had lunch with a serious server VAR in New Jersey just before Thanksgiving. He now views thin clients as a very logical extension to his existing integration business, whereas just a year ago, this wouldn’t have really been a consideration.

I’ve been hearing about managed print services since before I left my post at CRN back in the middle of 2007, but I think the next 12 months will bring a breakthrough for this sector of the IT infrastructure.

Since I like to look ahead of me rather than behind me (the view is better), I thought I would update this blog from now until the end of the year with observations about things that are likely to dominate dialogues during the next 12 months. I have no particular order for these random bursts of opinion, other than the fact that it may have risen to the top of my notes and (therefore) my writing list.

First up is managed print services (MPS), not to be confused with managed service providers (MSPs).

I know many journalists like to make fun of the printer market, because for the longest time it was so decidely unsexy. But this is one of those topics that will seduce everyone next year.

The fact is, printers are sort of like the last mile in your IT infrastructure. IT departments and managers have been focused on driving costs out of their data centers or their desktop maintenance line items. But printers have kind of escaped this same scrutiny, partly because the procurement of them has been so decentralized in the past. Admit it, it’s a status symbol to have your OWN printer snugged away in your office.

Actually, not anymore.

What with the corporate sustainability movement and widespread corporate cost-cutting, printer contracts and all the related workflow applications associated with them — think archiving, collaboration applications, enterprise content management — these is an area RIPE for services.

If you’re in the printer business, you already know this of course. But if you are not, maybe it’s time to start considering how your own product might fit into the managed print mix. Or, whether or not there’s a managed service opportunity that could be built around your technology.

Here’s more information on managed print services strategy from an article I posted on TechTarget’s ChannelMarker blog.

Deal registration used to be one of those very novel concepts, but any high-tech company that is relatively new to the channel or that is selling a product with a long evangelization cycle really can’t get away without one. Now Akorri, one of the emerging players in the virtual infrastructure space, has raised the bar on deal registration: if a VAR legitimately registers a deal, it gets that extra margin if the sale is made — even if doesn’t actually handle the transaction.

Here’s how it works, according to Bill Simpson, Akorri’s vice president of worldwide sales. (Notice the word channel isn’t in his title, but it is assumed, which is another thing I really like.)

As part of its PartnerPoint program, Simpson says Akorri will pay up to 30 points of margin for the influencing reseller. Period. That means that if a VAR spends time developing an account and STILL losing the deal because some other clown gives away products in order to drive storage hardware and services into an account, the original partner will get that margin. Essentially they will receive an influence fee.

Simpson says he can afford to do this by assuming that every deal that Akorri does with the channel right now will be registered and planning his financial model accordingly.

Of course, the partner won’t really win the crown jewel of the account, which is the long-term services that it was hoping to win. But, actually, chances are they WILL win those services eventually if the other partner can’t live up to its promises.

There may be other technology vendors out there that do this, but I sure haven’t talked to anyone about it. It sure makes a show of good faith.

Another policy that is bound to win Akorri fans in the channel: It would rather focus its efforts on fewer VARs than artificially sign up partners just for the sake of having them. Which is saying a lot when you’re just building a channel program. Right now, the company has about 75 to 100 partners signed up, but Simpson says it doesn’t really have any goals other than to develop “revenue-producing” VARs and their sales representations.

Everywhere I look, some high-tech vendor is engineering the design of a private social network especially for its channel partners.

While the overwhelming adoption of networks like LinkedIn or Facebook is doubtless the reason for this enthusiasm, there still really is very little much information about how businesses are using social networks for classic business-to-business interactions.

I should disclose that I’ve been thinking about this in the context of some work I’ve been doing for the worldwide channels group at Cisco Systems. But the move by IBM to establish its own social network with PartnerWorld Communities AND the impending launch of a similar mechanism by Microsoft have got me thinking a lot about this particular issue. This whole conversation reminds me of the huge push behind partner portals a few years back, as high-tech vendors (rightly so) looked at ways of improving communications to and with their channel partners. I ask anyone reading this: How fruitful were those investments?

While I am a huge fan of social networks and other social media applications, such as the micro-blogging service Twitter, I hope these vendors have the patience and persistence to make these investments in closed channel communities worthwhile. Here’s some context for my concern.

1. A recent study by Forrester Research (“The Social Technographics of Business Buyers,” Feb. 20, 2009) shows the use of blogs, social networks and other so-called social technology decreases “on the job.” So, for now, participation in closed channel social networks is likely to be limited. The survey base included 1,217 people in IT buying and recommendation roles across North America and Europe.
2. As to who actually uses social networks, penetration in the United States is about 35 percent. It’s lower in Europe and higher in some Asia Pacific countries, such as Korea, according to some separate data from Forrester Research.
3. Here’s the clincher for me though: Right now, Forrester Research reveals that 42 percent of U.S. online adults juggle at least two social network identities; and 63 percent also participate in some sort of discussion forum.

I don’t know about you, but considering the time that social networking takes, something has got to give and I’m betting it’s not the Facebook account. The vendors who are building these networks need to remember the following:

1. It takes MONTHS for a following to develop, which means you need to appoint credible subject matter experts who will spend months nurturing the network with great content and helping guide conversations.
2. Anecdotally speaking, many VARs and IT solution providers tell me they’re not all that eager to share marketing or sales tips that could help their competitors. There, I’ve said it. HOWEVER, interestingly enough, systems engineers and support personnel have little problem sharing tidbits that can help make everyone’s job a little easier.
3. Mobility is a big deal. When you’re out at client sites or prospective client sites selling for most of the day, you’re less likely to spend time catching up on social network conversations.
4. VARs and resellers have more than one vendor vying for their time online. Why is your social network the most relevant one for them? Is it because you help them market or sell the entire solution rather than a point product?

Here’s how I think closed social business networks could be VERY useful for a high-tech company hoping to forge closer ties to its channel partners:

• They could be used to create a way for your channel account managers and field teams to interact more seamlessly with partners in their geography. Why limit the “closed” network to your partners? In fact you shouldn’t. This might be a great way for them to be more in touch with teams across your company, to stay in closer step with deals that are in the works or be alerted about local activity that might be of mutual interest.
• Systems engineers could contribute real-world insight into real-world problems. In some cases, social business networks are already being used as a collaboration tool for product development. As a real example, I’ll point you to the case of Chordiant Software, which uses a platform from Jive.
• Success stories (and therefore best practices information) can be shared by your channel marketing team, especially in the form of video. In the brief experiments I’ve done with some of SWOT’s clients, I’ve found that the right video (in the form of a partner testimonial) usually gets more attention than written version of same.
• By adding the right information widgets in the form of RSS feeds, you can all stay on top of competitive threats or developments.

With certainty, I can say that every high-tech vendor SHOULD be evaluating a social networking or broader social media strategy. But I definitely wouldn’t advise them all to build their own platform. Your team might be better served applying some of the concepts I’ve mentioned above to a group on LinkedIn. Personally, I believe Facebook will have a hard time overcoming its roots as something focused on personal connections. I refrain from adding professional contacts there myself, unless I’ve met them at a conference or they’ve been good enough to read stuff that I write (like this!)

If you want to chat more about social networks and B2B social media strategy, I welcome your outreach. I can be reached at this e-mail, or you can find me on both Facebook and LinkedIn.

Read a thought-provoking article the other day about why applying the same exact return-on-investment (ROI) equation to every single program you introduce or marketing campaign you launch is just a dumb idea.

I mused about that article here in my new Business Brains blog (over on the CBS Interactive Smartplanet Web site), so I won’t repeat everything here. But I did want to make a couple of additional comments about this topic that I feel have specific relevance for high-tech vendor channel managers.

I guess you could view these suggestions as simplistic reminders about how to hold firm when someone from your bean-counting department challenges your budget or suggests that hiring one or two direct sales people could “easily” cover the job handled by your partners in a given region. Here’s what you could counter with:

• Channel partners are worth their weight in gold in terms of the local, customer relationships they bring to the table. From an ROI perspective, this reduces your company’s overall marketing and demand-generation costs. And don’t forget the ultimate intangible: the value of credibility/trust. How many of your direct sales team executives serve on a local chamber of commerce in their region?
• Channel partners get paid by you when you both make a sale. Period. Can your bean-counter say the same of people on your payroll? Nope.
• Channel partners provide invaluable independent feedback, not just on anything that’s wrong with your product or technology but about why something isn’t working from a branding or branding standpoint. You could describe them as a perpetual focus group. One, again, that you pay when they sell your product.
• Channel partners bring valuable third-party alliances to the table: often, the collaborative nature of these partnerships (such as when a VAR teams up with the developer of a healthcare application) will make or break a deal. No partnership, no deal.

I’ll bet many of you with fiscal years that start in the middle of the summer are in deep into the process of justifying your channel investments as I write this. Hopefully just one of these simple arguments directs you to the data and evidence that will help you defend your position.

I learn something new every time I “tweet,” the act of sending out a status update, random thought, link or some other 140-character-limited message on the Twitter social media service.

I am absolutely a Twitter neophyte, someone who only has roughly 220 followers, although that grows by 5 or 6 people every day. One of my ex-CRN colleagues has something like 12,000-plus people keeping tabs on his updates. That’s a lot of responsibility!

I have had many, many debates with vendor channel managers and VARs about the business value of what Forrester Research calls social media. That term covers all manner of things, but I sort of think of it according to the three C’s: Web technology that lets you interact with a Community, Collaborate in real time and participate in Conversations that have relevance for your personal and professional life. As far as I can in my unscientific experience, some VARs, resellers and other IT solution providers are dabbling with social media, but many don’t see how it could possible pertain to their business.

While I think this is short-sighted and somewhat of a generational thing, I can see why. The fact is, many of the sales and marketing types out there in the channel spend a lot of their time in face-to-face meetings or preparing presentations and proposals. To them, social media is a distraction and a time suck. Not to mention the fact that many resellers that I’ve spoken with over the past year about communities and such say they are very reluctant to share what they consider to be “trade secrets” or “their secret sauce” in public forums. I’m not talking about more elite peer groups like Heartland Technology Group. What makes the Heartland Technology Group partnerships work is trust.

Peek over into the technical department, and the story is a little different. Engineers seem to have a totally different ethos when it comes to forums. They are more than willing to share ideas, tips and information that makes everyone’s job just a little bit easier.

My prediction for high-tech vendors that are experimenting with partner communities: You’ll see more traction from the technical sorts at your partners than from the sales types. Plan your content accordingly.

The big factor in community interaction, to me, is this: many resellers are very mobile. They spend most of their time NOT in the office.

Which brings me back to Twitter.

The reason that Twitter might appeal to folks in the channel is the fact that it’s very mobile. Your updates can be sent and received on your mobile phone. Or you can choose to use some of the Web applications that have developed for managing Twitter activity.

Here are three ways you could use Twitter as a channel manager:

• Keep partners informed about new marketing and demand generation tools. You can embed links back to your partner portal for the actual content.
• Share competitive intelligence.
• Alert VARs about technical issues or product news.

And, if you’re a VAR you might want to think about the following:

• Let customers know about new services
• Keep your team abreast of competitive developments.
• Establish yourself as an expert on a topic near and dear to your business.

Finally, I want to direct you to a few bits of extra-credit reading.

Time magazine’s 10 ways Twitter will affect businesses.

A Cisco video blog from this week about how one of its partners is using Twitter.

Coverage of a Twitter seminar.

Older article, but with a great 50 Tips list.

A Twitter primer.

You can follow my own Twitter updates here. Warning: I totally have attention-deficit tendencies, so I ramble all over the place about everything from green technology developments to the fact that I have a robin’s nest, complete with fledglings, outside my bedroom window.