IBM and Cisco team up on training

BANGALORE: IBM and Cisco Systems have entered into an agreement under which

IBM Learning Services will become an authorized Cisco Learning Partner. This new

agreement builds on the overall alliance between IBM Global Services and Cisco

completed last summer, which was designed to complement each company’s core

strengths and deliver solutions that provide enhanced network and systems

performance.

"Businesses today increasingly rely on networking, e-commerce, and

e-learning as essential elements of their success," said Tom Kelly, Senior

Director of Worldwide Training at Cisco. "The goal of the global alliance

is to deliver a full spectrum of services and jointly developed solutions for

customers’ e-business and networking needs," said Rick Horton, General

Manager of Learning Services for IBM.

This agreement represents the next level in solidifying the benefits of that

alliance, and will enable IBM to manage the internal education components of its

Cisco Channel Partner contract, while meeting the rapidly growing need for Cisco

Career Certifications training in the marketplace. IBM will deliver Cisco Career

Certifications training in e-learning and classroom format to internal IBM

employees, IBM's global customers, and to professionals in the networking

industry.

Cisco, on the other hand, will provide world-class, up-to-the-minute, highly

evolved training content for delivery by their training partners on an

e-learning and classroom basis. Cisco’s e-learning platform is a

standards-based, scalable, and networked system delivered by partners who can

offer training solutions quickly and economically. These solutions draw from the

extensive expertise and experience of Cisco, its partners, and its customers.