One key finding: A solid majority of solution providers believe that certification training is no longer just for technicians. In fact, 64 percent of survey respondents said training for their sales forces is 'very important' for solution selling, a figure that varied little among larger and smaller solution providers.

HIRING PREFERENCES VARY. . . (Percentage of solution providers citing each choice)
Larger Solution Providers
	Hire Already Trained	Train In-house
Compaq Accredited Systems Engineer	49%	51%
Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE)	66%	34%
Oracle Certified Professional--DBA	76%	24%
%A0
Smaller Solution Providers
	Hire Already Trained	Train In-house
Check Point Certified Security Administrator (CCSA)	38%	62%
Check Point Certified Security Engineer (CCSE)	59%	41%
Sun Developer For Java	73%	27%

The rise of the solution-based business model and the ever-growing complexity of solutions has made certification a growing imperative for individuals that sell the solutions, as well as for those that implement them.

In general, solution providers report that they prefer to hire individuals that are already certified, as opposed to bringing in uncertified personnel and training them in-house, the research showed. This is especially true for certifications from established vendors such as Cisco, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems.

But there are notable exceptions to this rule.

For example, 56 percent of smaller solution providers said they prefer to hire individuals with Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification, while 62 percent of larger solution providers said they prefer to provide training for this certification in-house.

This trend even extends to different certifications from the same vendor. For example, while 62 percent of smaller solution providers prefer to provide training in-house for the Check Point Certified Security Administrator (CCSA) certification from Check Point Software Technologies, 59 percent of those solution providers prefer to hire individuals that already have the Check Point Certified Security Engineer (CCSE) certification.

. . . AS DO PREFERRED TRAINING METHODS (Percentage of solution providers citing each choice)
Larger Solution Providers
	Online	Classroom	Self-paced	Other
Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD)	30%	40%	26%	4%
Compaq Accredited Systems Engineer	23%	46%	29%	2%
Oracle Certified Professional--Application Developer	17%	55%	26%	2%
Smaller Solution Providers
	Online	Classroom	Self-paced	Other
Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA)	32%	38%	28%	2%
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)	18%	44%	38%	0%
Check Point Certified Security Engineer (CCSE)	15%	63%	22%	0%
BASE: 22 TO 50 SOLUTION PROVIDERS FOR EACH CERTIFICATION SURVEYED IN AUGUST SOURCE: 2001 CRN CERTIFICATION STUDY

Several factors, including cost and return on investment (ROI), figure into this finding. Hiring personnel that are already certified saves the cost of training, but doing the training in-house yields the additional flexibility some solution providers need to tailor the training to the specific needs of their clients, thereby raising the ROI.

Finally, when it comes to the method of certification training, the data clearly shows times are changing.

While the classroom is still the preferred method of training for both smaller and larger solution providers, and regardless of certification, other methods such as Web-based training and self-paced courses are rapidly growing in importance, particularly for smaller solution providers.

For example, 32 percent of smaller solution providers prefer Web-based training for the Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) certification, nearly as many as the 38 percent that said they prefer traditional classroom training.

Larger solution providers tend to be more wedded to classroom training, but other methods are also making inroads with this group.

For example, 44 percent of larger solution providers said they prefer classroom training for the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification, but another 34 percent said they prefer self-paced programs and 20 percent prefer Web-based training.