Hitachi Data Systems unveils specialist VAR training categories

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is hoping that a deeper education and training of its VARs will lead to an uptake in sales.

The vendor will train VARs in six specialist categories, which range from disaster recovery to storage consolidation. This forms part of a pan-European plan that will enable its VARs to pitch to end-users with more confidence, the firm claimed.

The plan, which bolts onto the vendor’s existing channel programme, will enable VARs to operate in as many of the categories as they wish. HDS added that following the training VARs will have more in-depth knowledge about the technology and should be more likely to make a sale.

Philippe Fosse, senior director of EMEA channels at HDS, told CRN that the vendor does not currently have enough resellers and that channel partner numbers could increase following the creation of the six categories.

“We want to have the right partner for every customer,” he said. “We’ll train partners so that they can go to the end-user knowledgeable on all six areas. This will filter down into sales.”

Fosse added that HDS also intends to develop a specific UK version of its six-category plan at a later stage.

Nigel Dunn, open storage division manager at Bell Microproducts Europe, said similar sales strategies from other vendors have worked well.

“When selling [storage] technology it is easy to get bogged down in the technicalities of the product. But basing end-user talks around a solution and topic area, such as disaster recovery, is a very good way to open up a sale,” he said.

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