Avnet Technology Solutions, an IT solutions distributor and operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), announced a new training offering for its North American channel partners this week as part of its SolutionsPath strategy, which aims to deliver full solutions to end customers.
The company’s Data Centre University is a three-day course involving both general and breakout sessions tailored to different elements of the data centre for about 75 attendees. “We believe at the end of the day a trusted advisor partner…has to have a deep level of expertise across the entire data centre,” said Tim FitzGerald, vice-president of data centre technology solutions practices. The first Data Centre University will be held on Oct. 18 to Oct. 20 in Phoenix, Ariz.
In July, Avnet also launched cloud workshops for its partners. That training was very focused on cloud, while the data centre program will be focused on how to deliver service to customers, he said.
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“This is a great opportunity for partners that are really interested in accelerating their rate of growth,” he said. “If you’re not an Avnet partner, we want to talk to you about becoming an Avnet partner.”
Growth for its partners means not only technologies, but also competence in specialized verticals, he said. The university will include a panel of five chief information officers (CIOs) representing specific industries, FitzGerald explained, although he was not yet able to be more specific on who the confirmed CIOs are. “What are the things that are keeping them up at night?” will be the question answered there, he said.
Avnet is also offering tailored workshops on about 30 different data centre subjects to some of its partners involved with “strategic competencies,” he said. “We have learned over the last 18 months that there’s a need for partners to have a specifically targeted educational environment for their specific needs,” he said.
The program will include education around the intersection of cloud computing, mobility, network, security, storage, and virtualization technologies. “(It) really emphasizes the fact that…we believe that they’re very connected in how they come together to solve an end customer business problem,” he said.
Partners can seek out Avnet for the one on one sessions or vice versa, but the partners must be interested in creating demand in a “solutions oriented way,” he explained. Each workshop’s agenda will reflect the area where the partner wants to grow and costs for the program will vary.
