Avnet Launches Data Center University
The first session is scheduled for Oct. 18-20 in Tempe and will look to educate VARs so they can better solve customers' business problems, said Tim FitzGerald, vice president of data center technology solutions practices, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas.
"We've been addressing the need of partners sharing with us in terms of where do they grow the company next. We think this addresses the how do I address a business problem that's uncovered at a customer and incorporates multiple areas at a company," FitzGerald said. "Rarely does a company call and say 'Send me some virtualization stuff.' More likely, they call about the utilization of servers and how to incorporate security, management, virtualization and perhaps storage. Data Center University teaches VARs how to solve those problems," he said.
The curriculum includes general session topics and breakout sessions for up to 75 attendees. There are tracks for a VAR's senior leadership team, solutions-oriented salespeople and solutions architects.
"The general sessions apply to the broader audience but the breakout sessions allow us to go deeper into areas like cloud computing for example," FitzGerald said. "We're also holding our first CIO panel to talk about real-life scenarios."
Niral Jhaveri, practice director for user experience at Prolifics, a New York-based solution provider, said Data Center University should help his company improve its business.
"We personally do not have a data center, so with Avnet we can take this initiative to learn more. SolutionsPath is a good initiativie," Jhaveri said.
In addition to Data Center University, Avnet also plans to expand tailored workshops to single partners to help that specific solution provider meet his goals in terms of expanding into a new area of specialization, for example, FitzGerald said.
Avnet has workshops available on more than 30 different data center topics related to cloud computing, mobility, network, security, storage, and virtualization, he said.
"At the end of the day, the fastest area of growth for partners is where they have very specific technology expertise and it's centered on where technology is being most bought. That's high growth vertical industries. We highlight not only the technologies, but also where they're sold," Fitzgerald said.