http://www.thevarguy.com – There are literally thousands of technology service providers and resellers offering basically the same stuff, making it extremely challenging to distinguish their services and really stand out. It’s not for lack of trying. I’ve seen some well-intentioned tactics: funny ads, clever graphics, pages and pages of product information. But it’s not about working harder. It’s about working differently. (IT news)

http://www.thevarguy.com – CompTIA Breakaway 2012 has attracted several hundred VARs and MSPs this week in Las Vegas. So what’s the chatter here in the halls? Beyond cloud computing, CompTIA is now focused on Big Data and Machine to Machine opportunities for partners, said CEO Todd Thibodeaux. Also, he called on the U.S. (IT news)

http://www.talkandroid.com – Next week Samsung and Apple go at it in the courts again. I know, what else is new? Anyways, the Wall Street Journal posted some excerpts from Samsung’s trial brief. Of course Samsung’s argument is that they didn’t copy Apple’s iPhone one bit and that they were working on the next generation of mobile phones in the Summer of 2006, months before the iPhone was announced. (IT news)

http://www.thevarguy.com – Of the terrestrial worries modern businesses have to face, threat intelligence and prevention are among the most important, and Silicon Valley-based security specialist AlienVault is addressing that concern with the launch of its Unified Security Management 4.0 (USM) platform, which combines 30 security tools in one management console. The USM platform is based on five key security capabilities th (IT news)

http://www.thevarguy.com – Move over, Oracle and HP Autonomy. IBM Software is betting big on business analytics and cloud software. Indeed, IBM (NYSE: IBM) will hire roughly 1,500 sales representatives from now through the end of 2012, according to CFO Mark Loughridge. (IT news)