Channel partners agree that the need for education is more important than ever.
Brocade recently conducted a survey among Brocade University students and graduates in EMEA. It revealed that vendor technical training is critical to networking staff, both to do the job they are in now and for career development.
We surveyed almost 600 students and graduates of our Brocade University education programmes, who have taken a Brocade technical course within the past four years. The students surveyed included customers and channel partners.
What we found was that both set of respondents valued vendor education. Almost half (45%) of all respondents stated that education programmes in general were “very important” or “vital” to enabling them to do their job. This finding was further endorsed by the additional two thirds who claimed that they chose to take a Brocade University technical course to “ensure I have the technology knowledge I need”.
55% chose to take a Brocade course to “expand my knowledge and skills of Brocade technology to enhance my career”, while 67% of respondents said their Brocade qualifications had a positive impact on their salary expectations.
These findings clearly show that vendor education is not just a “nice to have”, it is a ”need to have”. This is a good demonstration of why Brocade takes education so seriously.
We believe that vendors who are committed to customers and channel being able to extract the maximum value from their solutions, need to take responsibility for the expertise available in the industry and deliver high-quality training.
As for the quality of our training, we are delighted that more than two thirds of students and graduates rated Brocade University courses an 8 out of 10 or above (where 10 is excellent, and 1 is poor), compared to other vendor courses. When asked which element of Brocade education programmes most stood out in comparison to other courses, 20% stated that it was the quality of the training staff.
This represents a fantastic endorsement of our program, but we can’t, and won’t, stop there. As new technologies continue to come to market, Brocade University will meet them head-on, and continue to deliver training in exciting and innovative ways, meeting your needs, and your high expectations.
This article was written by Dawn Morris, global channel communications manager at Brocade after a survey of Brocade University students and graduates.
