Zyxel is confident that the introduction of a free online training facility will help it to continue expanding its reseller base.

The Taiwan-based networking vendor has seen its partner community swell by 30 per cent to 322 since the launch of its ZyPartner programme in January. It is aiming to have 500 resellers on board by the end of the year.

The new tool enables resellers to undertake basic product training online before they head to Zyxel’s head office in Bracknell for more intense technical coaching.

Lee Marsden, UK sales director at Zyxel, said: “Some resellers found our technical training was at too high a level, while others said they wanted more. If they’ve all done online training, then we know how to pitch it at the right level.

“We perceive all our partners will dip into it. We hope they will want to make steps up the ladder and grow incremental business with us.”

Partners who successfully complete more than five courses will also move one step closer to gaining a higher partner status.

Marsden hinted that Zyxel, which is hunting for more partners serving the education, hospitality and retail sectors, is also poised to improve its demonstration equipment. “Our priority is to make it easier for partners to get hold of demo equipment,” he said.

Conor McCann, general manager at Zyxel distributor Electronic Frontier, said: “Zyxel is trying to encourage more resellers to undergo basic training on its products to overcome initial technical issues. Anything it can do to help train resellers is a good thing.”