Training has become an ongoing process, especially because security, wireless and convergence are making the network increasingly complex and more tightly woven with the applications in use. IT managers need to ask about training and their channel partner’s approach to keeping their teams up to date.
I’ve always been a terrible cook. This was never a major problem until my wife recently had foot surgery, which has pretty much confined her to the couch. Now mealtime has become the culinary equivalent of that B movie where the pilots are unconscious and Joe Schmoe has to land the plane with instructions radioed from the tower. The results of her coaching and my hands-on execution have been, well, at least edible.
Success in the kitchen is nowhere near as definitive (or important) as success in landing an airliner, but the point is the same: Translating processes into step-by-step instructions is a very detail-oriented task, and very hard to do in real-time – especially when the instructor does something all the time and assumes many of the specifics are second nature to everyone.
That’s why a lot of network vendors are getting more serious about training programs for value-added resellers, integrators and other channel members who make technology work for end users. Now that the industry has moved beyond the screaming-technology-as-a-differentiator phase, doing the little things correctly makes all the difference in the world.
Some vendors have even changed the way they compensate their channel partners. It used to be a “selling more is always better” kind of environment, in which partners received escalating product discounts as their volumes crossed certain thresholds. These days, partners are much more likely to be compensated based on their investments in training and skilled personnel. Smart people are recognizing that customer relationships are more like a marathon than a sprint. After all, what good is it to sell 1,000 VoIP systems if 989 of the customers are now screaming at tech support, vowing they’ll never buy from the partner or vendor again.
Sure, the vendors still care about volumes, but that, to an extent, takes care of itself. Once a channel partner ponies up the money for the necessary training and certifications, it has its own reasons for wanting to demonstrate return on investment. So the volume pressure is now largely internal to the channel organization.
So training has become an ongoing process, especially because security, wireless and convergence are making the network increasingly complex and more tightly woven with the applications in use. IT managers need to ask about training and their channel partner’s approach to keeping their teams up to date.
This is pretty straightforward when you’re interviewing a potential new channel partner, but somewhat trickier when dealing with someone with whom you’ve worked for a long time. It’s important to know that they’ve got a systematic approach to staying up to date. If you’re embarrassed to bring it up, try mentioning this column and ask them what I’m talking about. That will at least get the discussion going without specifically asking if they still know what they’re doing. If they have a solid explanation, your confidence is probably well placed. If they don’t, tell them you know someone who needs some short-term kitchen help.
Presti is research director of IDC’s Network Channels and Alliances service. He can be reached at kpresti@idc.com.
