eChannelLine Daily News 14-October-2009 Cisco announces Cisco Education Specializations by Mark Cox Cisco has announced the availability of Channel Education Specializations. The intent is to help customers to identify Cisco Learning Partners that offer specific, advanced training expertise in increasingly sophisticated network technologies. "The Education Specializations are similar to our tech specializations," said Andres Sintes, global director, Worldwide Learning Partner Channel for Cisco. "The Learning Partner program is almost as old as Cisco but was centered around our certifications. This is the first time we are going deeper into some of the technologies." There are approximately 350 Cisco Learning Partners worldwide, who deliver technical, certification, product and solutions training to both customers and other partners. They are being organized in four levels of technology specializations (Entry, Express, Advanced and Master) each representing greater capabilities in sales, technical and lifecycle services. Education Specializations are aligned with the Cisco Channel Partner Program Advanced Technology Specializations. These begin only at the Advanced level, not the Entry or Express. Learning Partners that achieve one or more advanced Education Specialization are highlighted in the Channel Partner Locator, enabling the identification of Learning Partners with specific expertise to deliver advanced technology training. Sintes said approximately 70 of the Learning Partners will have one or more of these specializations. The following Channel Education Specializations are currently available: * Education Specialization-Advanced Data Center Network Infrastructure * Education Specialization-Advanced Data Center Storage Networking * Education Specialization-Advanced Routing and Switching * Education Specialization-Advanced Security * Education Specialization-Advanced Unified Communications * Education Specialization-Advanced Wireless LAN "This is something we should have done a while back, to make sure the Learning Partners are delivering the very best training, from a certification perspective," Sintes acknowledged. "Things like video, voice and virtualization have made clear the need for more sophisticated training." To find an Authorized Learning Partner visit www.cisco.com/go/partnerlocator