Arrow ECS IBM Group Newsletter

Information Management Top Gun (Classroom Workshop)

IBM Top Gun training is designed to increase sales, solutions, competitive and technical skills for I/T Industry professionals. It involves unique class themes, stimulating lectures, stand-up exercises, hands-on labs, quizzes, and product demonstrations.

Announcing ICS Basics Virtual Top Gun!

Want to learn how to help clients transform their businesses with IBM social collaboration solutions?  Want to better understand the concept of an  "exceptional web experience" or "exceptional work experience" ? Need to hear the latest announcement from Lotusphere 2012?

2012 PartnerRewards, Mid-Market Co-Marketing Call - Feb. 8

The 2012 PartnerRewards, Mid-Market Co-Marketing and SWG Co-Marketing programs have been rolled out.  Funds for eligible partners have been loaded into the IBM Co-Marketing Center (CMC) tool.  The Primary Relationship Contact (PRC) for eligible partners should go into the CMC tool to accept their funding offerings and associated terms and conditions. 

Great News! 2012 Education and Test Vouchers are ready for requesting!

The 2012  PartnerRewards Program offers eligible business partners education vouchers that will cover 80% of the published tuition on STG classes and conferences and 100% discount off ILO (Instructor On Line) classes in the U.S.

We are offering Prometric Test Vouchers in addition to your STG Education vouchers. Your Prometric Test vouchers will cover the full price of STG Certification Tests at any Prometric Test Center or IBM Technical Conference where testing is available. 

Education and Test Vouchers are valid January 20, 2012  through December 28, 2012.

To request your STG Education and Prometric Test Vouchers go to www.ibm.com/training/partner/rewards.

Pulse 2012

Discover how to Be Bold. Be Tivoli. Be Limitless. at Pulse 2012, March 4-7.  Build skills, network and fine tune your strategies for growth through the Business Partner Summit on Sunday, March 4, the Business Park Cafe, 100's of educational sessions and more.

2012 IBM Software Business Partner Kickoff Virtual Summit - January 31st.

Join me IBM at our Virtual Summit as we host the 2012 Business Partner Kickoff on January 31. We have designed the content with the sole purpose of helping you "Turn Opportunity into Profitability." You will walk away with the information that will enhance your ability to deliver value to clients, and understand key programs and incentives.

DataPower and Security Integration Call - January 27th, 11:00 am EDT

Security is a major concern of EVERY client as it impacts business results, brand image, legal exposure, audit risk and more.  This session will discuss prospecting and selling WebSphere DataPower appliances to provide a secure environment for your customers business. Register

2012 Quick Start Call on Selling Storage Services: What's selling today and what's new in the Portfolio - Jan 25

IBM Business Partners are encouraged to join IBM Global Technology Services, Storage and Data Services, for a webcast to learn what's new in storage product services and to hear more about the benefits and features of tape, network attached storage, disk and storage software services. Recent storage services "wins" will be shared for Business Partner sellers to help build pipeline and drive revenue for implementation and migration services.

Make a New Year's Resolution to Sell Data Center Site and Facilities Services in 2012 - Webinar Jan. 18th

IBM Data Center Site and Facility Services help clients effectively implement, optimize and manage their data centers by focusing on improvements in capacity, cost, availability and environmentals.

Did you know that Data Center Site and Facility services are designed to enable you to provide your client with the following benefits:

• A comprehensive solution(s) to clients by leveraging both partner and IBM skills
• Potentially increase total revenue and client satisfaction when you add your infrastructure services to the sale
• Build relationships with local IBM practices

2012 Maintenance and Services Modification: Authorizations to Sell IBM Hardware & Software Maintenance Services

Effective January 23, 2012, consistent with the removal of customer value on IBM Power Systems (including IBM System i or IBM System p) servers or MES model/processor upgrades, IBM Global Technology Services is modifying the Authorization to Sell IBM Hardware Maintenance and IBM Software Maintenance services. Modifications to requirements will be reflected in the February 2012 IBM Business Partner Exhibit.

Please join this very important webinar, presented by Lezley Barth from IBM, to understand:

• What it takes to be authorized to sell IBM HWMA and IBM SWMA services
• The replacement of the Customer Value Requirement on Power (old VAE) with the new Sales of Qualified IBM Hardware
• MMS for General Business guidelines and transition information
• New Groups of products for maintenance and services

IBM and the Arrow Compliance team will be on-hand to answer any of your questions.  Click here for call information.

See the attached for additional information:

• Requirements - Authorization to Sell IBM HWMA and IBM SWMA
• Q & A Document
• PR Documentation