Should You Get Certified With an ISV?
While certifications are generally something an organization should aim for, it’s important to evaluate what’s worth the training time for your teams. After all, learning in the context of work should always be done with business goals in mind, not just for the sake of learning itself.
In this episode of P2PNow, we discuss:
- If getting certified with an ISV is worth it
- How to assess what’s the right choice for your organization
- Why aligning your goals with learning opportunities is so important
Transcript
Sam: The question for this episode is: Should you get “certified” with an ISV?
Christian: This seems like a pretty straight forward question. The immediate answer would be “yes” right?
Sam: That would be the knee jerk reaction. We always want to say yes to education. However I want to challenge folks on this. When it comes to spending time for your sales and technical teams to go through time-consuming trainings and certifications, start with No. Then move to Why.
Christian: Ah yes. Having an initial reason for the training makes sense. Could you elaborate more on “start with no?”
Sam: Absolutely. We often want to just say yes and sign up for action items when we’re having calls and initial meetings to partner. Then we see that common lull in getting people in the portal. Or we notice that folks aren’t holding to timelines on completing courses if they do login. This is often because – learning a new solutions typically doesn’t trump current business. So, start with no.
Christian: So what’s a good plan of attack when a vendor throws a list of trainings at your in your kick off meeting?
Sam: Politely say no. Until the knowledge you plan to attain can be assigned to dollars. You need to be able to #1 commercially justify the time investment. Then #2 dedicate protected time to completing those certs. Following that, #3 you should set an expectation for an ROI on your teams time. If you have the time to do complete those three motions. Then you can say yes.
Christian: This also really places the pressure on the vendor. Because if they can clearly help you understand points #1 and #3 then they’ll have more people completing their trainings.
Sam: Correct. To be clear – we aren’t learning for the sake of learning. All activities partners allow sales or technical teams to participate in should be aligned with the goals of the business.
Christian: Excellent. Thank you for that overview, Sam. There you have it folks. Start with No. Before committing to vendor training, make sure you start those activities with the outcome in mind. Then protect the time to ensure you get an ROI. As always, to find out more about AvePoint’s Partner Program, visit www.avepoint.com/partners.
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An Office Apps & Services MVP and Microsoft Regional Director, Christian Buckley is an internationally recognized author and speaker and runs the community-focused CollabTalk blog, podcast, and tweetjam series.
Sam Valme is Senior Director of Partner Experience at AvePoint, working out of our Arlington, Virginia office.
