VAR training, certification

IT professionals seek job security from security certs

Want a job? Get a security certification.

A new study of more than 1,500 IT workers by CompTIA finds that approximately 37 percent are planning to earn some sort of security technology certification over the next five years. About 18 percent of them will go in for an “ethical hacking” certification (I didn’t even know they had official certs for that!) while about 13 percent will focus on security forensics.

Other certification areas in which IT professionals intend to invest include green IT, healthcare IT, mobile technology and software as a service (SaaS) best practices.

The key driver for interest in new certifications is the promise of a career boost: 88 percent of the certification holders included in the CompTIA study said they took them to improve their resume. About the same number cited personal growth as the reason.

You can more information about the study on the CompTIA site.

Training: Why you should be offering it

In my last entry, I cited a survey Symantec fielded last fall indicating that IT budgets would either stay the same or go up in the following 12 months. The survey drilled down a bit on training: 78% of respondents said training budgets would either stay the same or go up in the next two years.

That figure makes sense. Think about it: In the past few years we have thrown a lot of solutions at customers: server virtualization, networked and virtualized storage, archiving, improved data protection, and disaster recovery. Continued »

Who needs IBM? Synnex gets nod for new Fujitsu enterprise storage

After being dissed by IBM last fall, which took away its System x distie business, Synnex got a boost this week for its midrange and enterprise storage practice when Fujitsu Computer Systems tapped it to handle several new products typically reserved for closed-distribution model industrial distributors.

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Will Cisco sit out an appeal in the Infra-Comm case?

Cisco Systems hasn’t yet filed for an appeal in the Infra-Comm case and it only has about six weeks left to do so. Continued »

VMware announces 2nd annual partner show

VMware is making plans for Partner Exchange 2009.

The company’s second annual partner conference will take place April 14-17 at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Last year’s inaugural Partner Exchange attracted more than 1,000 people to San Diego; it will be interesting to see if the economy leads more VMware partners to stay home next year.

EPEAT makes it easier for resellers to be green

Anyone who has any interest in representing green technology is familiar with the EPEAT rating system (EPEAT stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool). At least I hope you are, since the government uses this information to guide procurement choices and many commercial accounts look to it as well for their own green IT initiatives.

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Could hosted services spur tension between distributor and partner?

San Diego — Ingram Micro CEO Greg Spierkel faced a funny question from partners at the VentureTech Network (VTN) conference here Thursday morning: “What do we do that drives you crazy?”

Spierkel’s answer?

“Buying from my competitors.” Continued »

Symantec launches training, SaaS programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Symantec kicked off Partner Engage 2008 today by announcing two new partner programs: Symantec University for Partners and the Symantec Protection Network (SPN) Partner Program.

Symantec University for Partners offers new training and accreditations in both the sales and technical sides. The SPN Partner Program creates two specializations for partners that sell Software as a Service (SaaS), and partners that qualify for the higher Premier specialization can earn higher commissions.

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Laurus Technologies: Symantec’s rookie of the year

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Laurus Technologies, an Itasca, Ill.-based solution provider, won the rookie partner of the year award this morning at Symantec Partner Engage 2008.

Laurus started leading with Symantec products last year and saw its annual Symantec sales increase from $70,000 to $1.5 million. The partner also moved its Wisconsin office into a new building, where Symantec is one of its neighbors.

Symantec COO Enrique Salem presented the award to Todd Wilson, Laurus’ sales director, at the beginning of his keynote address this morning.

Vendors: Invest more in channel sales and less in operations, study says

If you’ve ever felt like the last thing you need from a vendor is yet another channel web portal, and what you’d really rather have is a darn good lead, you’re probably not alone.

A new report is attempting to make your point.

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