Channel competency rewarded by Sun

Reinforcing their commitment to Sun Microsystems SA, five of the global e-commerce player's resellers recently received international competency accreditation.

Sun recognised several of its regional channel partners at an awards dinner held at the Sandton Convention Centre. Representatives of Sun's resellers - PQ Africa, African Legend Solutions, arivia.kom, MGX and ICL South Africa - collected awards relating to the levels of certification they had achieved this financial year.

"We are delighted with the excellent progress made this year in further certifying our channel in SA," says Stefano Mattiello, managing director at Sun Microsystems South Africa. "The awards evening gave us the opportunity to thank the channel as well as formally acknowledge each reseller for the successful completion of their certification."

Sun Competency is a strategic certification and accreditation program for all Sun Authorised Resellers. The program is largely Web-based, designed specifically for the channel, providing them with the technical skills, product knowledge and solution-selling resources that are critical to success as a Sun Partner. The

development of programmes specific to certain types of partners allows the reseller to focus on becoming an 'expert' in product areas and markets, thereby increasing product selling skills and understanding of the end-users' needs.

Sun resellers operating in EMEA are accredited through a two-tier qualification process: a profession and a product qualification. There are three classifications for each process: Workgroup, Enterprise and Datacenter.

The following partners were awarded certification at the event:

• .         PQ Africa; Received Accreditation: Datacenter

• .         African Legend Solutions; Received Accreditation: Enterprise

• .         arivia.kom; Received Accreditation: Enterprise

• .         MGX; Received Accreditation: Enterprise

• .         ICL South Africa; Received Accreditation: Enterprise

The certification process is part of a new channel model being deployed by Sun worldwide to create a competitive, pro-channel and harmonised e-business model. The model, which gives consistent reward to focus and added value, provides increased knowledge of Sun's end-users.

Through the model, Sun is investing heavily in the development of its channel in terms of enhancing knowledge and skills. The Sun Competency training and certification program improves the transfer of knowledge from Sun and introduces the use of new Web, portal and IT tools. To support the channel in the improvement process, Sun is making an effort to reduce complexities of training, such as travel and time away from selling activities, by moving more training and testing to the Web.

Certification establishes a clear and objective target for the skills and knowledge required to operate successfully as a Sun partner. The certification also provides a path for learning and development to assist sales representatives, system engineers and consultants in achieving a much higher level of competency.

"Indirectly, employees of the resellers benefit from this as the certification is an individual attribute that a sales representative or system engineer achieves," continues Mattiello.

"The benefits are twofold - certification provides the Sun reseller with a way to distinguish themselves in the market, based on proven competency and expertise, while ensuring that the level of services offered coincides with Sun's stringent global standards at all times," concludes Mattiello.