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Best Vendor Training Programs for Partners
Luladude
Member Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
I work for a national reseller which, I'm sure a number of you guys in this forum do too. A big benefit to working for a reseller is getting access to alot of free online training! 
My question is... vendor-wise, who provides the best FREE e-learning/training for CHANNEL PARTNER SEs/Architects?
I have been looking around for a few and I've come up with a list of them. (Note that I'm a storage guy by trade, which will explain all the storage vendors) If anyone has experience with any other vendors please feel free to chip in.
Best:
Cisco:
One acronym: PEC (Partner Education Center). Everything you need to pass CCNP-level & Specializations on down. On-demand e-learning for NP/SP/VP/DP... etc. Everything you need to get certified. Top to Bottom best e-Learning and online Labs available.
IBM:
Top Gun Training! The best free online training resources along with Cisco's PEC. There are on-demand e-Learning modules and online recorded classes for most if not all of their certifications. Everything you need to get certified in IBM's extensive product line is available.
Sun:
SunTAN - the Sun Training Access Network. I Haven't gone through their edu program, but from what I can see, they have an extensive collection online e-Learning modules directly mapping into ILT certification classes.
Average:
NetApp:
NetApp's Partner Learning Center provides access to free e-Learning modules dealing with alot of NetApp fundamental technologies. Great free online demo lab. There are a couple free/cheap accredidations available to study for online, but certification still needs a $$$ classroom ILT. If you're tight with your Partner Tech Mgr, you can probably get a class or two for free.
Symantec:
Free Accreditation for Sales and Technical resellers; SSE+ and STS programs. Good free fundamental online trainings on their entire product line. $$$ for real certification classroom ILTs though.
VMWare:
Free VMware Technical Selling Professional Accreditation (VTSP) training online. Covers the technical overviews for their entire product line. Still requires $$$ to attend their mandatory VI3/VI4 classes for VCP certification though...
Nickle and Dimers:
EMC:
Education.emc.com is a great Edu program... but they not give out alot of freebees beyond 101s/201s. They have a year long education subscription program available which gives you access to certification ILTs, VLTs, and e-Learning modules. That is if you can get your company to pay for a ~$10k subscription...
Microsoft:
There are some free sales/tech sales training at their new Partner Learning Center, but no Freebees for certifications... stick with the all the downloadable CBTs, .pdfs & .chms. If you're lucky, you might have access to a free TechNet partner subscription. Don't pay the $$$ for classes... duh.
Red Hat:
Free fundamental sales/tech sales training is available on their partner login site, but nothing substantial. Stick with the books & CBTs. $$$ for certification classes.
Brocade:
Free SAN fundamental e-Learnings available on their training site. There are some free "exam prep" classes for their super-valuable Fabric Pro/Design/Mgr certifications, but unless you have extensive experience implementing & designing Brocade technology, they're utterly useless. Fitting 5 days worth of material into a 4 hour webinar = fail. $$$ for real certification classes.
Unknown:
Oracle:
I haven't signed up for their partner login, but I will update when I do.
HP:
Same with HP... I will update when I get a chance.
My question is... vendor-wise, who provides the best FREE e-learning/training for CHANNEL PARTNER SEs/Architects?
I have been looking around for a few and I've come up with a list of them. (Note that I'm a storage guy by trade, which will explain all the storage vendors) If anyone has experience with any other vendors please feel free to chip in.
Best:
Cisco:
One acronym: PEC (Partner Education Center). Everything you need to pass CCNP-level & Specializations on down. On-demand e-learning for NP/SP/VP/DP... etc. Everything you need to get certified. Top to Bottom best e-Learning and online Labs available.
IBM:
Top Gun Training! The best free online training resources along with Cisco's PEC. There are on-demand e-Learning modules and online recorded classes for most if not all of their certifications. Everything you need to get certified in IBM's extensive product line is available.
Sun:
SunTAN - the Sun Training Access Network. I Haven't gone through their edu program, but from what I can see, they have an extensive collection online e-Learning modules directly mapping into ILT certification classes.
Average:
NetApp:
NetApp's Partner Learning Center provides access to free e-Learning modules dealing with alot of NetApp fundamental technologies. Great free online demo lab. There are a couple free/cheap accredidations available to study for online, but certification still needs a $$$ classroom ILT. If you're tight with your Partner Tech Mgr, you can probably get a class or two for free.
Symantec:
Free Accreditation for Sales and Technical resellers; SSE+ and STS programs. Good free fundamental online trainings on their entire product line. $$$ for real certification classroom ILTs though.
VMWare:
Free VMware Technical Selling Professional Accreditation (VTSP) training online. Covers the technical overviews for their entire product line. Still requires $$$ to attend their mandatory VI3/VI4 classes for VCP certification though...
Nickle and Dimers:
EMC:
Education.emc.com is a great Edu program... but they not give out alot of freebees beyond 101s/201s. They have a year long education subscription program available which gives you access to certification ILTs, VLTs, and e-Learning modules. That is if you can get your company to pay for a ~$10k subscription...
Microsoft:
There are some free sales/tech sales training at their new Partner Learning Center, but no Freebees for certifications... stick with the all the downloadable CBTs, .pdfs & .chms. If you're lucky, you might have access to a free TechNet partner subscription. Don't pay the $$$ for classes... duh.
Red Hat:
Free fundamental sales/tech sales training is available on their partner login site, but nothing substantial. Stick with the books & CBTs. $$$ for certification classes.
Brocade:
Free SAN fundamental e-Learnings available on their training site. There are some free "exam prep" classes for their super-valuable Fabric Pro/Design/Mgr certifications, but unless you have extensive experience implementing & designing Brocade technology, they're utterly useless. Fitting 5 days worth of material into a 4 hour webinar = fail. $$$ for real certification classes.
Unknown:
Oracle:
I haven't signed up for their partner login, but I will update when I do.
HP:
Same with HP... I will update when I get a chance.