Avnet Technology Solutions Meets Increasing Partner Demand in U.S. and Canada for a Simplified Approach to IT
Avnet Technology Solutions Meets Increasing Partner Demand in U.S. and Canada for a Simplified Approach to IT
| By Business Wire | ||
| July 26, 2012 |
Avnet Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distribution leader and an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced that it is launching a new educational program to enable its IBM business partners in the U.S. and Canada to help their end customers solve the complexity of enterprise IT, reduce costs and drive innovation. Avnet’s channel partners will be able to expand sales opportunities into key growth areas such as analytics, cloud and expert integrated systems, as well as qualify for technical certifications for IBM PureSystems – the recently launched family of expert integrated systems from IBM.
In addition, business partners will now be able to enhance their IBM hardware and software solutions skills, fulfill their Avnet IBM Specialty or Specialty Elite certification requirements, and obtain Avnet IBM Software Sales Mastery certification. Earning these certifications will enable business partners to better meet the needs of their customers and leverage incentive programs to increase their profitability, such as the IBM Solutions Accelerator. Additionally, qualified Avnet IBM business partners will be able to participate in the first IBM-sanctioned sales and technical certification training for IBM PureSystems.
Avnet is hosting more than 250 business attendees from the U.S. and Canada at its premier education event for IBM Solutions – Avnet Technology Solutions’ Compass 2012. This event is designed for the sales and technical staff of Avnet’s business partners, including solution providers and value-added resellers (VARs).
“We redesigned our annual IBM business partner event to focus on a growing need in the IT channel for intensive sales and technical training to prepare for certifications,” said Mark Martin, vice president of marketing and business development, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, IBM Solutions group. “Avnet is committed to investing in programs such as Compass 2012 that help our business partners become more profitable, develop competencies that set them apart in the marketplace and reduce the costs associated with doing business. In less than three days, partners attending Compass 2012 will be able to fulfill key certification requirements, helping them to build a smarter channel focused on the long-term data center and enterprise technology needs of their customers.”
Business partners attending the event will be able to prepare for more than 15 IBM certification tests, including sales and technical certifications related to IBM’s Power Systems, PureSystems, software, storage and System x. To help attendees quickly leverage this training, Avnet’s Compass 2012 will also include an on-site certification lab with discounted certification tests.
“Avnet’s Compass 2012 is a very efficient way to meet the training needs of our sales and technical team. We’re planning to send six of our team members to the event,” said Tom Lewis, president of Vertical VAR, an Avnet partner that specializes in IBM products and services. “It is always challenging to have members of the sales and technical team away from our business; however, the training offered at Compass this year will provide tremendous value, and an efficient way to combine product education and required certification testing. We expect great return on investment to our company from our time at Compass. We appreciate Avnet providing this cost-effective way to help us enhance our skills and meet our certification requirements.”
While the focus of the program will be on education and certification preparation, business partners will also be able to learn more about new services offerings made available through Avnet’s recent acquisition of Ascendant Technology, including the Healthcare Provider Portal, Middleware Infrastructure Automation and Social Business in the Cloud.
“IBM is focused on enabling Business Partners to deliver advanced solutions to help their clients tackle the most complex business challenges and grow their businesses,” said Bill Donohue, vice president, Business Partner and Midmarket, IBM North America. “IBM’s collaboration with Business Partners such as Avnet demonstrates its commitment to delivering capabilities such as analytics, cloud and expert integrated systems that can innovate the way companies do business.”
Additionally, business partners will be able to visit an interactive IBM Watson display. Watson was built by a team of scientists to accomplish a grand challenge – a computing system that rivals a human’s ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence. The Watson technology represents a new class of cognitive systems that can quickly sift through large volumes of Big Data, and apply advanced analytics to improve decision making across a variety of use cases and industries. Watson rose to fame in 2011 when it successfully competed on Jeopardy! in the quiz show’s first human-versus-machine match-up.
Avnet Technology Solutions’ Compass 2012 will be held August 5-8, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country in San Antonio, Texas. Registration is available for $299 (USD) per person and can be accessed at http://www.cvent.com/events/avnet-ibm-compass-2012/event-summary-0f30b53a4d0440f18c6246c18adf40e3.aspx.
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About Avnet Technology Solutions
As a global IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver services, software and hardware solutions that address the business needs of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For fiscal year 2011, the group served customers in more than 70 countries and generated US $11.5 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com) is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.
About Avnet
Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a FORTUNE 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.