Tech Data Canada is giving its partners an opportunity to go back to school.
What it calls Tech Data University, a series of one-day seminars in three cities, will be offered next year to resellers with courses in storage and servers, security and networking.
“It’s the first time in some time we’ve offered advanced training for these three areas,’ said Greg Myers, the distributor’s vice-president of marketing.
Aimed at account managers and senior sales reps, the free classes will be taught by certified trainers from a number of vendors.
“These are not introductory courses,” Myers said. “They’re to provide managers with up-to-date information on technology.”
The storage course, for example, will cover blade technology, multiprocessor configurations and integrating products into solutions.
While there won’t be a charge, enrolment is by invitation only. Myers said sponsoring vendors are targeting small and medium resellers where they are “less engaged,” as well as specialized VARs.
Courses will be offered in Toronto, where there will be 120 seats, as well as Montreal and Vancouver, where there will be 90 seats each.
The courses will be in addition to the regular reseller marketing programs the distributor offers every year. These include system builder, security, storage, peripherals, consumables and software products and are delivered through the partner Web site as well as workshops in major cities.
TechSelect members will again have the opportunity to sponsor customer events in one of five cities.