Vendor University: Is It Getting Better?

STORAGE INTEGRATORS HAPPY, IBM PARTNERS HAPPIEST OF ALL

When it comes to vendor-sponsored training programs, solution providers in the storage arena were the most satisfied of any group, and of those working with major vendors, IBM storage partners were the happiest of all, according to CRN research.

At the same time, they were less likely to get reimbursed for training expenses than solution providers in areas such as networking and security. Only 32 percent reported receiving free vendor training. One reason for that may be the bevy of smaller vendors and emerging technologies in the storage arena.

"Relative to other technologies, the total universe of storage solution providers is a little bit smaller, and the quality of education you get from vendors like FalconStor [Software] and QLogic is much higher," said Greg Knieriemen, vice president of marketing at Chi, a Cleveland-based storage integrator. "Out of our primary vendors, I've never been through a training program that I didn't think was of high value."

If Knieriemen has any beef with training and certification programs, it would be with major vendors' programs aimed at improving vendor loyalty and attach rates. "You can develop 'vendor lock' with some of those types of programs," he said.

While Knieriemen may steer away from what he described as drinking a particular vendor's punch, there are plenty of other solution providers that find aligning themselves with one of the major vendors a plus. One reason for that is the quality and breadth of training programs for increasingly complex storage solutions.

Among the major vendors, VARs gave IBM the highest satisfaction rating for training and certification in one of the CRN Channel Champions storage categories. Its rating of 74.3 out of 100 points for training in network storage hardware topped the ratings of Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance, EMC and Hitachi Data Systems.

Solution providers said IBM offers classes on its storage technologies, both on-site for solution providers and at IBM training locations, at a cost of between $1,000 and $3,000 each. The company also offers e-learning tutorials on CD-ROM, as well as free tutorials on storage product installation. Certification exams cost the test taker between $120 and $200 and are administered worldwide. Solution providers also said IBM gives partners credits based on sales volumes that solution providers can put toward training.

Cost is not an issue for Todd Bowling, president and CEO of Solutions-II, a solution provider in Littleton, Colo. "It's worth the investment," he said. "A lot of people's compensation in the partner community is tied to the number and levels of [employee] certifications on the product line."

IBM's ability to integrate its storage training with its other systems sets it apart, according to Ricky Kumar, director of storage technology and services for MSI Systems Integrators, Omaha, Neb. "They have a large, large offering, starting from operating systems all the way to storage. Other storage vendors are more focused on just the product they have, but they don't have a complete solution," Kumar said.

MSI also benefits from IBM sessions that describe the company's technology road map. "Especially for systems integrators like ourselves, we strive to be on top of technology, so when we compose a solution for our customers, we take future technology into consideration," Kumar said.

Storage integrators say training has become increasingly important as storage has moved from a peripheral concern to being incorporated into the fabric of network and software infrastructure.

"Storage isn't like it used to be five years ago," Bowling said. "It's probably one of the more complex solutions out on the market today. Instead of going out and selling by drive speed or tape capacity, you've got to incorporate everything from network-attached storage to SAN-attached storage to different types of software, making sure it fits into the backup-and-recovery plan. Storage touches every part of the enterprise computing environment."

Jennifer Lawinski