Two Approaches To Channel Certification

Last week, American Power Conversion announced that it is providing a new, vendor-neutral certification program for data center design. APC's "Associate Certification Designation" is aimed at giving solution providers and data center architects a generalized stamp of approval for specializing in power, cooling, racks, cabling and other technical aspects of the data center.

Hewlett-Packard is taking what appears to be a different approach. HP wants to make sure that solution providers become experts not just in certain technologies, but in certain product offerings within those technologies. Susan Underhill, on her HP blog, explains it this way:

I hosted a session on training and certification, and toward the end we had an open discussion about the (HP OpenVMS Ambassadors)' experiences in working with our channel partners. They told me that the credentials our partners earn help make them extraordinarily qualified in the discipline in which they've earned their credential, but not for product or solution areas where they have not studied, practiced and earned a credential.

For example, someone who holds only the HP credential Accredited Systems Engineer " ProLiant Servers [2005] is well prepared to design, support and integrate the components of an enterprise solution based on HP's industry standard ProLiant server platform. However, this individual is not fully qualified to design and configure an enterprise storage solution, which requires knowledge of components well beyond the ProLiant platform.

(Emphasis in original)

She adds:

In authorizing our partners to sell specific HP products and solutions, HP does require that each partner attain (and retain) a certain number and mix of certified professionals. In most cases, however, the partner companies would better serve their customers and their overall business if they aligned their workforce skills/capabilities to the size and scope of their business. In the case of HP, I believe our partners need to staff well beyond the certification requirements in order to be successful.

HP's strategy under Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd is to make every effort to have channel partners lead with HP in every aspect of IT, and the phrase "vendor-neutral" has been somewhat de-emphasized.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION (added Feb. 1): APC informs that the Data Center University, vendor-neutral training is not a part of the company's official channel training program, but a spokeswoman notes that it may be "used by solution providers to further educate on data center design but would not effect a partners status or focus with in partner programs.

APC's channel program focuses heavily on educating solutions providers on both the industry technologies and the specific product offering within each echnology."