Larry Walsh Posts

One of the big stories coming out of last week’s Interop show in New York was the number of vendors offering IPv6 enabled and compatible devices. The word on the street: IPv6 is not just coming to market, but an imperative for adoption.For solution providers who have suffered through the steady decline in networking gear margin erosion and commoditization, IPv6 may be a godsend. Nearly the entire IT infrastructure is standardized on IPv4 – the standard that reconciles numeric IP addresses with o ...

Once upon a time in the quiet, Windows-dominated Channel-Lands, we would hear a whisper about Apple and its consumer-oriented products. Oh, sure, they were fine for musicians and graphic artists, but hardly suitable for corporate power users. That’s changing, as evidence in this past week’s channel news, which saw a teeter-totter between the rivals in Silicon Valley and the great Pacific Northwest.Apple Hardly FallingHow successful is Apple in its strategy to take over the world? It’s not just r ...

Apple is the new king of technology, and we should all hail the success of the company that just a decade ago was on the precipice of oblivion, needing a lifeline from rival Microsoft just to stay alive. Today, Apple – with a market cap of $290 billion – is the second most valuable company in the United States and third most valuable in the world. And Monday, the company announced its first $20 billion quarter, a feat that puts it on track to overtake Microsoft in annual revenue.The success of A ...

Good news, market research firm Gartner is forecasting global IT spending to top $2.5 trillion in the coming year, up roughly 3 percent over 2010. By 2014, spending on IT goods and services will rise to $2.8 trillion – well above the previous pre-recession high set in 2008.So that’s the good news. But Gartner goes further to state that enterprises will shift their spending in new directions. According to a presentation given by Gartner senior vice president Peter Sondergaard, businesses are redi ...

Channel-Lands started last week with the Microsoft’s release of Windows Phone 7, because the world needs another mobile operating system. But that was just the beginning of a busy week, which saw the McAfee partner conference, FalconStor’s new CEO promising changes and rumors of Oracle contemplating a mega-acquisition. Windows Phone 7 Launched, FinallyMicrosoft’s much-anticipated launch of Windows Phone 7 finally came this past week. Microsoft has much riding on the successor to Windows Mobile 6 ...

Microsoft’s Scott Charney says we should treat malware-infected PCs in the same manner as 19th century public health officials treated victims of typhoid, tuberculosis and cholera: quarantine. Yes, the head of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing believes malware infections are so pervasive and destructive that isolation is the only means for protecting the greater good. Perhaps, but I have a better idea: recall.First, let’s review Charney’s idea – quarantine.“Governments, industry and consumers sh ...

Just when you thought the good times were back again, Cisco comes out with an earnings report and forecast that don’t exactly instill confidence in the tech world. That’s just one of the big stories in the Channel-Lands this week, and thankfully not all the headlines are grim. Cisco Earnings Shake Tech Confidence Cisco Systems has long stood as bellweather of the tech market’s health, so it came as no surprise when Wall Street analysts were spooked by the networking company&rsq ...

As a person starting a small business, I know first-hand the difficulties of getting started. When you conceive of a venture, you think of all the important stuff: products, customers, operating model, sales model, revenue targets, staffing, responsibilities and resources. That’s where I started when I founded The 2112 Group and Channelnomics. Often overlooked are the little things – particularly forms and legal documents.A new benefit for CompTIA members is a rich library of legal document temp ...

Is there no stopping the juggernaut known as Apple? Apparently not the old fashion way through innovation and superior products to market. The continued ascent of Apple is driving numerous lawsuits, alliances and potential mergers. The impact on the Channel-Lands is potentially enormous. Microsoft, Adobe Start DatingThe long wait is nearly over. Next week will bring the launch of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s best hope for competing against Apple in the increasingly lucrative mobile handheld mark ...

Earlier this week, CompTIA released this interesting little statistic: 55 percent of businesses have a comprehensive, written IT security policy. Think about that for a moment. The statistic means that roughly one-half of all other organizations do not have a security policy in place.October is National Cybersecurity Awareness month, a celebration conceived nearly a decade ago to elevate the level of understanding of Internet and computer security threats. The idea behind this awareness month is ...