January 26, 1998 Channel Strategies: New 3Com Program Revamped reseller certification plan to focus on `total solutions' and support By Jeff O'Heir, Computer Reseller News 3Com Corp. is revamping its reseller authorization and certification processes to better accommodate enterprise customers. The Santa Clara, Calif., company is replacing its older 3-Wizard reseller certification program with a more solutions-oriented Preferred Service Provider Program, says Steve Pataki, 3Com's director of marketing for the Americas. 3Com expects to launch the program early this spring. It will be made up of three tracks, including pre-sale and post-sale training and instructor certification-all aimed at providing improved services to enterprise customers. 3Com's 3-Wizard program was designed to serve a broad range of resellers, says Pataki. However, the manufacturer has decided that it now needs to create more-defined programs that fit the needs of resellers serving a particular market, he says. Change In Focus The 3-Wizard program was heavy on pre-sale training, with little attention paid to supporting the customer after the sale was made. In contrast, the new certification program will focus more on post-sale service and support strategies. 3Com is also revamping its product authorization by focusing the process on a total solution, such as WAN implementation, network management, or remote access, as opposed to emphasizing a certain product, such as an ATM switch. 3Com is also restructuring its database so program participants will be able to determine the technology that members are certified in. The restructured database will be used to help 3Com grandfather former 3-Wizard members into the new program. 3Com developed the new program after the company polled its business partners on what they needed to successfully serve the enterprise. The program will also include increased marketing and a dvertising efforts geared to reaching the enterprise and to generating sales leads, says Pataki. Although 3Com says it can't afford to turn down large contracts involving systems integrators that are not part of the formal program, the initiative is also designed to help limit the volume of business that these integrators do with the manufacturer. 3Com is trying to give authorized resellers price breaks on products and services, because those partners have invested in 3Com training and certification, Pataki says. Process Change Needed Mike Dillon, IT manager at Quest Systems Inc., a Sacramento, Calif., reseller, agrees that 3Com's restructuring of its authorization and certification processes is necessary if the company wants to effectively serve the enterprise market. "Cisco Systems has a straightforward program," says Dillon. "3Com doesn't have a fixed pattern." As for providing enterprise resellers with the added support they need, Pataki acknowledges that 3Com needs to expand its t raining programs. 3Com resellers complain that sending technicians to remote locations for training has cost them too much in lost billing time. "We knew it wasn't enough to have one instructor on the East Coast and one on the West Coast," Pataki says. "There's a big country in between there." 3Com is working with third-party vendors and current partners, such as distributor Ingram Micro Inc., to provide easy-access training options. In addition, Pataki says 3Com is exploring Web-based training solutions, as well as exceptions to formal certification testing. Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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