Avnet Technology Solutions Meets Increasing Partner Demand in U.S. and Canada for a Simplified Approach to IT

Posted by Sangaré Mohamed in Technology | 0 comments

TEMPE, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Avnet
Technology Solutions, the global IT solutions distribution leader
and an operating group of Avnet,
Inc. (NYSE: AVT),
today announced that it is launching a new educational program to enable
its IBM business partners in the U.S. and Canada to help their end
customers solve the complexity of enterprise IT, reduce costs and drive
innovation. Avnet’s channel partners will be able to expand sales
opportunities into key growth areas such as analytics, cloud and expert
integrated systems, as well as qualify for technical certifications for
IBM PureSystems – the recently launched family of expert integrated
systems from IBM.

In addition, business partners will now be able to enhance their IBM
hardware and software solutions skills, fulfill their Avnet IBM
Specialty or Specialty Elite certification requirements, and obtain
Avnet IBM Software Sales Mastery certification. Earning these
certifications will enable business partners to better meet the needs of
their customers and leverage incentive programs to increase their
profitability, such as the IBM Solutions Accelerator. Additionally,
qualified Avnet IBM business partners will be able to participate in the
first IBM-sanctioned sales and technical certification training for IBM
PureSystems.

Avnet is hosting more than 250 business attendees from the U.S. and
Canada at its premier education event for IBM Solutions – Avnet
Technology Solutions’ Compass 2012. This event is designed for the
sales and technical staff of Avnet’s business partners, including
solution providers and value-added resellers (VARs).

“We redesigned our annual IBM business partner event to focus on a
growing need in the IT channel for intensive sales and technical
training to prepare for certifications,” said Mark Martin, vice
president of marketing and business development, Avnet Technology
Solutions, Americas, IBM Solutions group. “Avnet is committed to
investing in programs such as Compass 2012 that help our business
partners become more profitable, develop competencies that set them
apart in the marketplace and reduce the costs associated with doing
business. In less than three days, partners attending Compass 2012 will
be able to fulfill key certification requirements, helping them to build
a smarter channel focused on the long-term data center and enterprise
technology needs of their customers.”

Business partners attending the event will be able to prepare for more
than 15
IBM certification tests, including sales and technical
certifications related to IBM’s Power Systems, PureSystems, software,
storage and System x. To help attendees quickly leverage this training,
Avnet’s Compass 2012 will also include an on-site certification lab with
discounted certification tests.

“Avnet’s Compass 2012 is a very efficient way to meet the training needs
of our sales and technical team. We’re planning to send six of our team
members to the event,” said Tom Lewis, president of Vertical VAR, an
Avnet partner that specializes in IBM products and services. “It is
always challenging to have members of the sales and technical team away
from our business; however, the training offered at Compass this year
will provide tremendous value, and an efficient way to combine product
education and required certification testing. We expect great return on
investment to our company from our time at Compass. We appreciate Avnet
providing this cost-effective way to help us enhance our skills and meet
our certification requirements.”

While the focus of the program will be on education and certification
preparation, business partners will also be able to learn more about new
services offerings made available through Avnet’s recent acquisition
of Ascendant
Technology, including the Healthcare Provider Portal, Middleware
Infrastructure Automation and Social Business in the Cloud.

“IBM is focused on enabling Business Partners to deliver advanced
solutions to help their clients tackle the most complex business
challenges and grow their businesses,” said Bill Donohue, vice
president, Business Partner and Midmarket, IBM North America. “IBM’s
collaboration with Business Partners such as Avnet demonstrates its
commitment to delivering capabilities such as analytics, cloud and
expert integrated systems that can innovate the way companies do
business.”

Additionally, business partners will be able to visit an interactive IBM
Watson display. Watson was built by a team of scientists to accomplish a
grand challenge – a computing system that rivals a human’s ability to
answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and
confidence. The Watson technology represents a new class of cognitive
systems that can quickly sift through large volumes of Big Data, and
apply advanced analytics to improve decision making across a variety of
use cases and industries. Watson rose to fame in 2011 when it
successfully competed on Jeopardy! in the quiz show’s first
human-versus-machine match-up.

Avnet Technology Solutions’ Compass 2012 will be held August 5-8, at the
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country in San Antonio, Texas. Registration
is available for $299 (USD) per person and can be accessed at http://www.cvent.com/events/avnet-ibm-compass-2012/event-summary-0f30b53a4d0440f18c6246c18adf40e3.aspx.

Follow Avnet Technology Solutions, North America, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AvnetAdvantage.

About Avnet Technology Solutions

As a global IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions
collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver
services, software and hardware solutions that address the business
needs of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For
fiscal year 2011, the group served customers in more than 70 countries
and generated US $11.5 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology
Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com)
is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT),
a FORTUNE 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of
electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving
customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its
partners’ success by connecting the world’s leading technology suppliers
with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing
cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year
ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more
information, visit www.avnet.com.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/avnet-technology-solutions-meets-increasing-150000144.html

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