Not very long ago, vendor certification and training were selling propositions the channel could cash in on. In fact to some extent they are even today. But channel partners are no longer gung-ho about certification, though on an average they do not mind hiring vendor certified employees.
What they are wary of is deputing staff for training where it involves some cost and also the probability that persons undergoing training could later opt for greener pastures.
Several small and mid-market partners do not see much merit in certification any longer often complaining about cost and attrition to delays in getting the final and ‘official’ recognition of a certification.
But look at how things used to be a few years ago. Certification programs had started off on a sound footing and representatives and staff deputed by assemblers, resellers and VARs had something to cheer about programs run by reputed vendors like Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, SAP, Red Hat and others.
In fact, channel watchers would vouch that no other issue had the potential to cement the bond between resellers and vendors as clearly as the platform of training and certification.
Value-added-reseller Allied Digital in Mumbai still believes in all the virtues of the certification ballgame with its director Chairman and MD Nitin Shah insisting that technology cannot be sold like a teabag. He relates certified employees to the need for marketing evident in almost every sphere.
Longtime channel watcher Sharad Shrivastava, Western Digital, agrees with him. He says that somebody who can make end customers understand technology can be an asset for companies setting foot on new turf.
A recent IDC research examined the impact of Microsoft certification on IT performance among 400 IT managers and found that, “Microsoft certification, as a measure of skill, was positively co-related to performance improvement.”
During his recent visit to India, Professor Corey Schou, vice president of the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC-2) had a few points to make.
Indian security professionals, he said, have acquired skill-sets and also have the grit to learn, but what they lack is certification from organizations of global repute. In fact, organizations like the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium or (ISC) can really help solve issues of certification. The certification does add bite and sophistication in professionalism, that can result in both – individual as well as organizational growth.
VARs like Prabhakar Kini, Kinfotech in Bangalore says he takes training and certification for his staff very seriously and does not mind making investments because it gives them the leverage to negotiate with big customers who insist on specialized services.
But in retrospect, a question that haunts partners these days is – why a close bond between partners and vendors has transformed in this way? And as one takes each issue in piece-meal, it is not complacency alone that overshadows certification.
Partners on their part have several complaints. According to them, it is found that the onus is more on vendors to ensure that certification is done on time at an affordable cost. What is also more important is that certification should be uniform across solutions, and not product wise. Over the years, they grumble, vendors had developed certification based on proprietary products and this problem has now assumed an ominous dimension.
This has actually led to a vicious cycle. The pressure of hiring professionals who would be ready to offer services to suit the vendor’s own interest has made vendor certifications more important and this, in turn, has boosted attrition rates in the channel.
There are a significant number of jobs that look for vendor product certifications such as Solaris, Siebel, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Cisco, PeopleSoft and Java.
In fact, from a scenario when having certified professionals could increase a company’s brand value and prospects of getting new customers, product-based certification norms have only been discouraging the channel from the scheme of things associated with certification.
My interaction with assemblers and resellers suggests that many have come to a conclusion that technology changes so quickly and therefore it could be only an impulsive move to depute workers for product-based certifications for a cost.
One Mumbai-based partner was point blank. “Don’t you pity someone who had his staff spend six months becoming certified on an operating system right before the version changed?”
Now, at such a juncture, one’s prescription is simply that a healthy certification mechanism should be revived to give partners the “bankable assets” to meet ever-increasing expectations of customers, both SOHO and niche. In an era known for dog-eat-dog competition, partners must also appreciate that they have to stay ahead in order to survive.
Certifications per se need not help bring in new business, but they certainly give an edge.
Also, certification of various kinds from ISO to Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) can help solution providers provide customers a critical differentiation factor.