Apple Consultants Network

Has anyone tried joining the Apple Consultants Network? They have two paths, which basically you can support OS-X based systems or OS-X based systems with iOS devices for business/consumer. I was thinking of joining, but I wanted to see if it was worth getting the certs for it. The one with the iOS requires quite a few but it might be good if I'm running my own repair shop or consulting business, which I'm thinking of doing.

Details: http://consultants.apple.com/downloads_09/ACN_JoinRequirements.pdf

I need the ACSP 10.6 and 10.7 to join for the B2B and if I want the B2B/B2C one, I need a whole lot more.

Any input would be appreciated for anyone who is trying to join or already has. I'm just curious about it and it sounds good on paper but I don't know if it really helps with you getting some business.

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varelg

At the bottom of the pdf you linked to, "Additional training upon membership activation...". How much is the membership activation if you feel comfortable disclosing it?
There are several Apple shops around here where I live, plus one PC repair shop right in my neighbourhood that is brandishing Apple logo, so I think the market is covered. Might be a good investment for you to pursue some of those certs listed in the document, even if you later change your mind about partnering with Apple.

ptilsen

The ACN Mobility Technical Competency only requires one of the certs on that list. Anyone with a Network+ earned after 2008 qualifies. It's very easy. You pass some pre-requisite online classes and go to training. It's fairly interesting and makes you aware of all the ways to deploy and configure iOS devices, but it doesn't give you any deep technical knowledge.

As far as the real value, that's hard to say. It's not a certification, technically. Being an ACN member can potentially increase your customer exposure, but so far I haven't seen a lot of evidence that it really will. More realistically, taking your existing customer base and offering them an MDM product can get some extra money coming in, but you don't need to join ACN to do that.

Either way, you're basically looking at $400, about 3-4 days worth of your time, and passing Net+ or any of the other prerequisites.

Just to reiterate and clarify, yes, Net+ is truly sufficient to meet the prerequisites, even though another option is CCNP Wireless and CCNP Security. The team that put this together did not really do any serious research into certifications.

I don't believe there were any costs other than the $400 training. They even give you a discount towards an iPad when you pass, or at least they were doing that a few months ago.

n0fx

varelg wrote: »

At the bottom of the pdf you linked to, "Additional training upon membership activation...". How much is the membership activation if you feel comfortable disclosing it?
There are several Apple shops around here where I live, plus one PC repair shop right in my neighbourhood that is brandishing Apple logo, so I think the market is covered. Might be a good investment for you to pursue some of those certs listed in the document, even if you later change your mind about partnering with Apple.

I think the straight MAC doesn't have the option but if you do the Mobility one, the bottom says $400 for some 2 day workshop but the online part of it is free.

I think I might go for it, since there is no Apple consultant around my area but I just wanted to see if it worked for anyone else that might have joined the program here in the forums.