Considering the fact that virtualization is at a very early stage in India, how is VMware going about with the enabling initiatives for its partners?
Virtualization and cloud computing are growing sectors within the IT industry in India. For a company like VMware that operates through a 100% channel network, it becomes extremely critical to ensure that the partners are not only abreast of the latest products from VMware, but also possess the required knowledge to be able to offer assistance to the customers whether with the purchase decision or during after sales support.
The training and knowledge sharing assumes special significance in a market like India as virtualisation is still at a very nascent stage. Educating partners on how IT is now a critical component to an overall IT strategy and the significance of choosing the right vendor is critical to the business growth.
To achieve this objective, VMware regularly invests in several education programs for channel partners to help them achieve their objectives better. VMware has initiated several industry-recognized certification training programs which allow partners to get access to the highest quality training and education and build customer confidence.
Traditional partner training is standard fare. Do your training modules break the mould?
VMware certifications are not aimed at training individuals to design, install or manage IT. It follows a more holistic objective of empowering the partners with a thorough understanding of the technology and solutions’ transformative capabilities at all levels.
To accelerate their learnings, individuals can simply choose the level that reflects their current status and move forward from there. They simply need to choose their current level of certification – professional, advanced professional or expert and the solution track they want to study, data center virtualization, cloud, end user computing or cloud application platform. Once they have successfully obtained the certification, they can move on to the next level.
For a business, this means less time away from the job; for an individual it means faster career progression.
Also, our programs are uniquely designed to provide the bleeding edge thinking and advanced know-how to employ IT as a strategic business enabler and impart all skills needed to create, operate and maintain an IT environment that flexes and adapts as per the ever-evolving IT environment.
We have recently enhanced the VMware certification with new programs that make it easier and faster to acquire exceptional skills. Role-based training ensures both theory and practical skills are aligned to real world responsibilities.
Do you follow up the training with a mentoring program?
Our training programs are very comprehensive and do not require mentoring.
How does VMware cater to the business growth need of its partners?
VMware specializations enable partners to make better profits by recognizing a partner’s level of expertise in selling VMware solutions into a vertical market segment. These specializations reward partners for the unique value they bring to customers in that market. Specializations are earned through experience in a specific marketplace plus successful completion of VMware training. Specializations give partners access to market-specific pricing, education, and market information, and help them drive cross-sell and up-sell revenue opportunities in their area of expertise.
VMware does elaborate partner enablement program that helps equip the partners with the necessary technical expertise to help to build their competencies. We also conduct many business planning meets along with sales and technical training programs.
Premier events like Partner Exchange on Tour and the Partner Leadership Summit among others help enables our partners and their teams to build their business with us.
As partners deepen their VMware expertise, they benefit more, and so do their customers.
How does the VMWare channel partner program stack up against the industry best practices?
As per the 3rd annual VMware Cloud Index, 62% of Indian organizations are increasing their budgets for training internal IT staff to support their cloud initiatives. Beyond internal trainings, 56% of organizations in India are actively seeking to hire new staff with cloud expertise. This is critical, as nearly 76% of Indian IT professionals believe they risk falling behind their peers professionally if they do not improve their cloud-related skills and gain cloud project experience
VMware has been at the forefront assisting companies to realize the business benefits of virtualization in India and we are committed to enabling our technology to be managed by well-prepared staff by expanding the reach of our training programs.
VMware has 13 training partners in India to meet the rising demand for training in virtualization and cloud computing technologies in India.
As members of the VMware partner network, VATCs gain increased value and visibility as authorized educators for VMware products, solutions and services. VATCs in India include RCV Innovations, Dimension Data India, EMC, GT Enterprises, HP, Infocloud Technologies India, Koenig Solutions, Mercury Solutions NIIT, Quint Wellington Redwood India Consulting, Rooman Technologies, and Venus Technology Park.