VARmaggedon? Not on my watch

CRN managing editor Doug Woodburn is shocked to hear of a new expression doing the rounds in the channel

Last week I was shocked to hear that a term I'd not previously come across - VARmaggedon (or LARmaggedon as some have it) - is fast making its way into common parlance in the channel. I immediately feared the worst: what catastrophic event is lying in wait to befall the UK's 10,000-plus-strong community of VARs, I wondered? And would the CRN team be required to don space suits and detonators to avert the crisis.

Thankfully, I was quickly assured it is nothing as dramatic. Apparently, the apocalyptic-sounding expression describes the journey many resellers are making to remain relevant in this era of cloud, apps and services.

VARs no longer want to be just purveyors of third-party IT kit but instead known also as vendors of services in their own right, and ones which the customer trusts as much as HP, IBM or Microsoft.

While I salute the sentiment, I only hope it does not weaken the channel's already wavering allegiance to the term VAR in favour of vague, more Americanised terms such as "solution provider" or terms used in other parts of the market such as "service provider". After all, few traditional channel businesses would draw half of their gross profit - much less their revenue - from services, and that is unlikely to change even as the cloud revolution gathers pace.

The very reason vendors have perenially turned to the channel is because of the close bond VARs enjoy with their customers. In other words, the reseller is already the brand the customer trusts the most and the colour of the boxes they're supplying is seen as less important.

Although I'd stop short of detonating a massive asteroid to save the term VAR, it would be a shame if the expression were abandoned altogether.