EMEA Brocade accreditations proceed apace

Vendor hails results of emphasis on partner education

Resellers have flocked to Brocade's partner accreditation programme in its first fiscal half, according to the vendor.

John Mitchell, EMEA head of channels at Brocade, said the firm has seen a 69 per cent increase across all its partner accreditation, "largely driven" by interest in the six-month-old Brocade Certified Ethernet Fabric Professional (BCEFP) level.

"With many legacy networks now beginning to show their age, businesses are increasingly looking for technology partners to help them deliver next-generation innovation, applications and services; we have designed our accreditations to help our partners seize this opportunity," Mitchell claimed.

Demand is growing for emerging technologies such as software-defined networking, Ethernet fabrics, and cloud, he said. The vendor is planning to further focus on building channel momentum through incentivised sales accreditations in the second half.

The expansion follows an update to its Alliance Partner Network programme and a series of webinars and Partner Academies aimed at educating resellers on emerging technologies and trends.

"Academies are already happening in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, France, UAE and Saudi Arabia, with many more being planned," Mitchell said.