Symantec's new focus: sales expertise 24 July, 2006 By Steve Wexler

PromoPipeline Exclusive Channel Promotions Find Out How You Can Make Money Today! ENROLL FREE! >> Factory Direct Should Not be Cheaper William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Cloud Ecosystem II: A Candid Conversation with Oracle Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Cloud Ecosystem: A Candid Conversation with Rackspace Hosting Beth Vanni - Amazon Consulting Channel Manager Compensation William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels Financial Expertise William Vanderbilt - Innovative Learning Channels

"We're absolutely committed to coming back to our partner community every quarter to flush out the program. Now we're really crunching through and cleaning up," she said. Coming soon are certification and ultimately, a point-based system to determine what level a partner should be at.

On Monday the company announced its global Sales Expert training program, consisting initially of five new sales training modules and assessments via its online partner portal, PartnerNet. They are Control Compliance Suite, Bindview Policy Manager, IM Manager, Mail Security for SMTP, and Configuration Manager. The modules available by August 4 include Antivirus, Client Security, NetBackup, Storage Foundation, Sygate Enterprise Protection, and Backup Exec System Recovery.

Based on partner feedback, the program offers a more streamlined process for achieving sales accreditation on Symantec's security and availability products. Upon successful completion of each assessment, partners will earn status as a Symantec Sales Expert (SSE), validating their extensive knowledge on that specific product offering. Partners can complete the online assessment without taking the training course and those that have received accreditation from past product training and assessments can complete the new product assessment, once it becomes available, to receive accreditation as a SSE in the new program.

The biggest change in the company's approach to sales training is a product focus, said Parrish. Previously, Symantec and Veritas had a mix of product and solution training and a variety of designations for resellers who had completed the training. The online training has been condensed into one-hour sessions that should speed training and clarify designations, she added.

"We're really trying to increase the efficiency for them," said Parrish. "Everybody will end up with the Sales Expert title." New sales modules will also be added every quarter.

Along with each sales module, there is an online assessment. This figures prominently into Symantec's future plans for the channel, said Parrish. The company ultimately plans to introduce a points-based system, with the points determining a VAR's level within the program. As of next year, the interim step will include assessing the amount of training taken by partners as part of the process to determine their program status.

Originally rolled out in English only as part of the first phase of program integration last March to Platinum and Gold partners, Partner Locator eligibility has been extended to include Silver level partners and now includes 18 languages. Parrish said they've made significant enhancements to the service, including an advanced search capability currently under construction. All qualifying partners are being requested to provide more detailed information so Symantec can populate the tool when it is completed later this year. Customers will be able to search for partners by region, products and market focus.