11 February 2008
by Alex Scroxton
Following recent criticisms from Cisco customers that key partners have failed to install functioning networks and unified comms packages (MicroScope 28 January), service providers have voiced the view that responsibility for training rests within the channel, as opposed to the vendor community.
Tony Butler, CTO at Cisco Service Extension Partner (SEP) Intact, agreed that a fundamental failure by vendors to educate their channel meant such criticisms were justified. However, he said services firms were willing to fill the gap.
Intact has just launched a programme called Instant Managed Service Provider (Instant MSP) to help smaller Cisco partners taking their first steps beyond tin, but not fully aware of what managed network services entails.
"It was born out of my frustration at building a NOC [network operation centre] for a partner and then seeing it fail for technical reasons," said Butler, explaining that the programme was designed to help resellers enter the managed services game at low cost.
Instant MSP includes a white-label NOC service as well as features such as UK-based support desks available around the clock, technical pre-sales training and assistance with marketing and commission templates.
Meanwhile, Gloucestershire-based refurbished kit specialist tindirect has turned up impressive growth since launching a white-label installation and configuration services division called tinservices in November, which works across the company’s Cisco, IBM, Sun and HP business.
"We’re seeing really good demand on Cisco, and we’ll shortly need to recruit to bolster our network engineering side," said managing director Rod Haddrell.
Haddrell believed the skills shortage was on the nuts and bolts installation of kit and suggested vendors have increasingly designated kit as "customer set-up", expecting customers to do more basic installation work.
He continued: "There’s no shortage of consultants to make the network do clever things once it’s installed, but when you actually need to get the screwdrivers out you find people are very much in demand, but that has been left behind by the manufacturers."
For this reason, Haddrell contended that on-the-job training in a services company better suited most customers’ needs.
"The intuitive skills that you pick up here are very different to what you’d learn on a vendor’s in-house course," he said.
Butler at Intact told MicroScope that vendors, including Cisco, were increasingly taking the same view in some circumstances: "Our customers are predominantly Cisco integrators, and our partners do go to Cisco and ask for help on implementing a solution, but while Cisco is good at telling partners about the technology and how to sell it, when it comes to implementation it falls down."
He added: "We get a lot of work through Cisco as it refers its partners to firms like us."
Butler was not concerned by the recent news that Cisco has launched a network design specialisation. "I honestly think it’s a good thing. A good portion of our work is spent putting right things that haven’t been designed properly," he said.
