Extreme Networks wants partners to specialise

Networking vendor unveils three specialist certifications to help partners keep pace with market demands

Extreme Networks has bolstered its EMEA partner programme with three specialisations and a badge for resellers operating in multiple territories.

The networking vendor is inviting its managed partners to become specialists in wireless, network automation or data centre technologies.

The introduction of the specialisations was driven by market trends, Extreme said, with virtualisation and the consumerisation of IT requiring partners to exhibit a deeper knowledge of certain technologies.

Laurent Bourgninaud, director of EMEA-SAM channels at Extreme, said: "To address the shift in IT, we need to address the partners' business models."

Extreme said specialist partners would enjoy "additional benefits" but did not go into further detail. The different speciality curriculums are available as of January, while the enhancements are effective from July, it added.

Separately, Extreme announced that Platinum partners operating in multiple territories can now become International Channel Partners, allowing them to draw on Extreme's global resources.

"With this new territory-wide approach, our partners can more easily develop business that goes beyond their country borders. We believe this will drive our mutual success in the global high-performance networking marketplace," said Bourgninaud.