CRN Exclusive: Ingram Micro Aims To Boost Partners' Business Acumen Through University Of Phoenix Alliance

Solution providers can sharpen their skills around managing and discussing financials through a new slate of training and degree programs offered through Ingram Micro.

Starting in January 2016, the Santa Ana, Calif.-based distributor is teaming up with for-profit college University of Phoenix to offer resellers in the U.S. access to professional development courses, certificates and full degree programs in areas such as business administration, finance, human resources, marketing and entrepreneurship.

Educational services offered through the Ingram Micro-University of Phoenix partnership also will include popular certification courses such as Six Sigma and Project Management Professional (PMP), as well as trainings for vendors such as IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco.

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"Resellers struggle to keep up with the business side of their businesses," Greg Richey, Ingram Micro's director of professional services and training, told CRN exclusively. "In many instances, they don't understand how to fully market the organization."

These courses should help accelerate partner growth by providing tips for financial tasks such as building a profit-and-loss statement or completing a balance sheet. The training also aims to teach company founders with a technical background how to discuss the financial aspects of their businesses, which Richey said should open up doors to better lines of credit.

From the University of Phoenix's standpoint, Ingram Micro can provide a hand with programs and certifications that can bring employees up to speed quickly on the latest IT-related skills, according to Dennis Bonilla, executive dean of University of Phoenix's College for Information Systems and Technology.

"You can't have great business without great technology at its foundation," Bonilla said.

Ingram Micro should be able to offer significant discounts to resellers for University of Phoenix courses and packages, Richey said. Since the courses will be made available through Ingram Micro's learning management system, Richey said partners can save money by leveraging the lines of credit they have through the distributor.

The partnership initially will focus on bachelor's degrees for employees of Ingram Micro partners, as well as a little non-degree and post-bachelor's work, Bonilla said.

Sam Barhoumeh, founder and CEO of Ready Networks, plans to take advantage of the partnership to help his 20 employees fill technology knowledge gaps around routing and switching, cloud virtualization and disaster recovery strategies.

The Evanston, Ill.-based company also plans to have both new and experienced employees get training in areas such as technology sales and IT development services.

"Education needs to be continual, and no one knows everything," Barhoumeh said. "This partnership enables employers to look for help."

PUBLISHED NOV. 16, 2015