Ask Not What The Certification Can Do For You, But What It Can Do For Your Vendor

Back in the 1980s (I can’t believe I can even remember what was happening in the channel back then) Novell introduced its partner network certification program. It was innovative and ultimately became the standard by which the entire channel was measured. The Novell certification seal ended up on countless business cards. Holding a Novell certification meant something, because networks hadn’t been commoditized yet, and the company was the dominant network operating system vendor in a complicated environment.

Back then, Novell was nearly alone in requiring channel certifications, and VARs could use the Novell certification as a selling tool. The strategy was so successful, every vendor in the business wanted to copy it.

But that was 25 years ago. Today, we have a problem. Every vendor wants you certified to their standard. Step back into a vacuum, and it makes sense that the customer and the vendor want some assurance you can perform to a certain level. But the reality is certifications cost money, and some aren’t worth the time or the money. Even if a vendor provides the training and testing for free—and damn few do—there is an opportunity cost associated with taking someone out of the field and putting them in a classroom. The need to carry so many certifications begs a cost-benefit analysis. Today, the vast majority of solution providers I talk to just don’t see the value. Many believe they never get a return on their certification investments.

Matt Medeiros, president and CEO of SonicWall, has a view on this that I have to agree with—and I have to say it’s refreshing to hear someone at his level tell it like it is. Medeiros recommends looking at whether a particular vendor considers solution provider certification as a cost or a profit center.

He has a point there. Fundamentally, the way in which the vendor handles this speaks to its philosophical approach to the channel. If the vendor was training its direct sales force, this of course would be a cost and there would be no getting around it. But when it’s the channel, some vendors see an opportunity to make money.

Part of the problem is that certification programs are not designed for the channel, they are designed for the end user and the vendor. What’s more, vendors don’t take it to the next level and make the certification worth something by making the end user aware of its value.

So what should we do about this? Well, given that these certifications surround technical issues, maybe you ought to have the opportunity to be tested without first being trained. Heck, if you know the material well enough to pass a test, then why do you need to spend time being trained?

Additionally, more vendors have to figure out a way to make the cost of getting certified worth it. That can be done in a number of ways. It could come in the form of additional market development funds, additional discounts, investment in raising the perceived value of the certification, etc.

The channel also has to realize that certifications are not going away, and generic test replacements are not really an option, because at the end of the day most products are different, especially in the software space.

Solution providers need to raise the pressure on vendors to address the certification situation over the long term by migrating toward those vendors that get it right and away from those that don’t.

In the meantime, Medeiros at SonicWall has it right when he says you really only need to look at whether certifications amount to a profit or a loss for vendors to truly understand why we are in this mess.

Make something happen. I can be reached at (781) 839-1202 or via e-mail at [email protected]