Symantec kicks off Partner University

Security and storage vendor says it will begin treating resellers as "part of own company" as it launches Symantec Partner University

Symantec has moved to put its channel partners on an even footing with its internal sales staff with the launch of its Symantec Partner University.

Symantec Partner University, which was unveiled today, brings all the security and storage vendor’s partner training, intelligence and collaboration resources under one roof for the first time.

Accessible through Symantec’s PartnerNet website, it will also hand Symantec’s 40,000 EMEA partners access to a slew of tools previously only available to the vendor's internal staff.

Terrie Anderson, Symantec's senior director value channel EMEA, argued that Partner University marks a turning point in Symantec’s attitude towards the channel.

“We have started treating our partners as internal sales people and SEs,” she explained. “In the past we treated the channel as a separate entity as opposed to integral to our company. They told us they needed something more, something that is easy to find and accessible from one place. Partner University is our response.”

Partner University is split into three tracks: training; intelligence; and collaboration.

In the training track, Symantec is piloting a ‘virtual classroom’ option, so multi-day training sessions can be delivered to partners over the web rather than in a physical classroom.

Instructor-led training will now be outsourced to training giant Global Knowledge, which Anderson said would lead to localised training in more European countries. Additionally, training will now be role-based as well as product-based, so partners can choose the most relevant course depending on their position.

In the intelligence track, Symantec will roll out a range of tools to the channel previously only available internally. This includes SymBrain, a sales tool allowing SEs to determine the best solution for a project, and SymIQ, a web-based knowledge portal.

Finally, in the collaboration track, Symantec is rolling out a partner technical forum where resellers can share best practice. “We have always had a technical forum but not specifically for partners, so this allows them to share information they may not wish to go out to the wider community,” said Anderson.