HP says scheme will keep it small

The vendor insists size doesn?t matter in its latest accreditation scheme

Hewlett Packard insists that a new training and accreditation programme for corporate resellers and Vars will not squeeze smaller players out of business.

The HP Star (systems training and recognition programme) is aimed at technical staff working in networking, servers, workgroup infrastructure and network printing.

HP network business development manager Nicky Ayre said: ?It?s important to make sure that those resellers dedicated to selling HP and related network products have fully trained support back-up staff.?

But Ayre stressed that accreditation would not be based on volume, but she was convinced that large resellers would be the first to join. ?A lot of accreditations shake out small companies, many of whom have big contracts. The vast majority of resellers have a small turnover, and we don?t want to cut these people out.?

Networked systems professional training, the first part of the course roll out, will be available through Harley West and QA Training, HP authorised channel training centres. The two-day course is expected to cost #560 per person.

Compaq?s accredited system engineer programme (ASE) has grown over 260 per cent since it was launched a year ago, and the UK now has 500 qualified ASEs.