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IBM Systems

IBM Storage systems certification updateNew ways to earn credentials for success

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Certifications geared for workloads and use cases

New deep-dive certifications aligned to the solutions you sell

Process for engaging in IBM programs

Information and resources

IBM Storage systems certification update

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3 Certifications geared for

workloads and use cases New deep-dive certifications

aligned to the solutions you sell Process for engaging

in IBM programs Information and

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We want our IBM Business Partners to succeed in today’s dynamic marketplace, and for that reason we’re revising our storage systems certification program to better align with the demands of modern workloads. These certifications open the door to new sales opportunities by demonstrating your personal skills and the skills of your company, and they better help you to provide technical advice to customers and prospects.

Today’s businesses find themselves in the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) eras, and storage needs to be always on, designed specifically for these eras and able to rapidly scale to accommodate growth without service interruption. Tremendous opportunity exists to help customers meet these goals, and the credentials you hold can be a determining factor in opening up new opportunities. IBM storage certification offers credentials for success in multiple sales areas available for IT professionals.







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Many organizations are adopting multicloud architectures for AI solutions, and storage systems and software play a critical role as an enabling foundation. These solutions empower enterprises to drive significant storage revenue in several ways. Examples include:

• Helping improve data economics with virtualization• Transforming business analytics with storage

arrays equipped with flash technology• Improving management and protection of

business-critical data• Allowing easy management of large data volumes

and scaling software-defined storage (SDS) for cloud and analytics

Reflecting these realities, we’re supporting new and revised 2018 Storage Competencies with new certifications as a way to demonstrate skills and meet the requirements for participation in the IBM Business Partner program. Overall, IBM storage solutions encompass several categories in a comprehensive solutions portfolio that aligns with a taxonomy for sales conversations.


http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/





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Scale-out file Scale-out block Scale-out object Virtualized block

IBM Cloud ObjectStorage system

IBM Elastic Storage Server

IBM XIV Gen3

IBM StorwizeV5030F

IBM StorwizeV7000F

IBM StorwizeV5000

IBM StorwizeV7000

IBMFlashSystem

V9000IBM

FlashSystemA9000

IBMFlashSystem

A9000R

SAN VolumeController

High-end server Tape andvirtual tape

IBM TS7700Family

IBM TS2900Autoloader

Tapelibraries

LTO-8 andtape drives

Acceleration

IBM FlashSystem 900

IBM DS8884

IBMDS8884F

IBM DS8886

IBMDS8886F

IBMDS8888F

Backup and archive Management and cloud

Infrastructure

Cluster virtualization

Backup

Archive

Virtual machinedata availability

Monitoringand control

Privatecloud

Hybrid clouddisaster recovery

High-performancecomputing

High-performanceanalytics

New-generationworkloads

Copy datamanagement

Available as VersaStack solution by Cisco and IBM

Networking

IBM Storage and SDI solutions constitute a comprehensive, award-winning portfolio.





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IBM Cloud Object Storage

Certification titles and content align the portfolio with a new taxonomy for sales conversations and solutions.

IBM FlashSystem 900

Application acceleration

VersaStack

IBM PurePower

Converged infrastructure

IBM FlashSystem V9000

IBM Storwize V7000F

IBM Storwize V5030F

IBM Storwize V7000

IBM Storwize V5000

IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC)

IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Virtualized storageBlock storage virtualization with

enterprise data services forheterogeneous environments

Grid-scale cloudBlock storage purpose-

engineered for public, private and multicloud solutions

IBM FlashSystem A9000R

IBM FlashSystem A9000

IBM XIV

IBM Spectrum Accelerate

Business critical Highest availability, business-critical storage for mainframe

and open systems

Big dataHighly scalable storage for growing oceans of

file and object data

Management and cloud

Backup and archive

IBM Spectrum Archive

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

IBM TS7700 family IBM TS2900 Autoloader

IBM TS7700 family

IBM Spectrum Protect

IBM Elastic Storage Server (ESS)

IBM Spectrum Scale

IBM Spectrum NAS

IBM Spectrum LSF

IBM Spectrum Symphony

IBM Spectrum Conductor

Cluster virtualization

Integrated solution

Software

Cloud service

Appliance

Specialty

Converged infrastructure

All flash

IBM DS8888F

IBM DS8886F

IBM DS8884F

IBM DS8886

IBM DS8884

Tape libraries

LTO-8 and tape drives

IBM Spectrum Control

IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management

IBM Spectrum Virtualize for Public Cloud

IBM Spectrum Access






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The new Technical Sales certifications align directly to the virtualized storage, grid-scale cloud and business-critical data offerings. These and the Storage Technical certifications cover software-defined computing, converged infrastructure, application acceleration, data protection, archive and retention, and more. Visit the IBM Professional Certification Program page for details.

How systems certifications are changingTraditionally, we have divided our systems certifications into three general types:

• Sales certifications (new workload and traditional workload certifications): Designed to support company authorization to sell and for individuals to demonstrate their storage sales capabilities, these certifications now relate to the problems you solve for customers and how to position and talk about our systems.

• Cross Storage, Technical certification: This certification is a requirement for Competency program participation and authorization. The content is sales oriented but with more technical information.

• Deeper technical certifications by product and solution family: These certifications require deep technical skills and are optional for Competency participation.

New workloadsales

Traditionalworkload sales

Storagetechnical

Virtualized storageIBM Storwize,

IBM FlashSystem V9000 and IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Grid-scale cloudIBM XIV, FlashSystem A9000 and IBM Spectrum Accelerate

Business-critical storageIBM DS8000 and

Enterprise SAN

Helping individualsdemonstrate skills

Helping companiesparticipate in programs

Storage solutionsales skills

Broad storagetechnical sales skills

Deeper technicalsales skills

Required for authorization to sell and for the storage competency program

Optional for the storage competency program


http://ibm.com/certify





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The new model helps simplify these certification areas. First, new workloads such as web apps, social media and big data are based on cloud-era architectures, while traditional workloads such as SAP, Oracle or Microsoft on premises are based on n-tier application architectures from before cloud. The new certifications reflect these differences.

Second, the technical certifications needed for authorization to sell are no longer divided into enterprise and midrange, but are combined into the one storage technical offering designed for today’s market opportunities. At a higher level, this offering includes all of the technologies covered in more detail in our deep technical offerings.

And third, instead of five deep technical offerings designed to show skills based on individual products, we are moving to deep technical offerings in three key solution areas: virtualized storage, grid-scale cloud and business-critical storage.

Enterprise sales

Midrange sales

Enterprise technical

Midrange technical

IBM Storwize

IBM FlashSystem

IBM XIV

IBM DS8000

Tape storage

Combine product contentDivide by solution/

workload New workload

sales

Traditionalworkload sales

Storagetechnical

Virtualized storageIBM Storwize,

IBM FlashSystem V9000 and IBM Spectrum Virtualize

Grid-scale cloudIBM XIV, FlashSystem A9000 and IBM Spectrum Accelerate

Business-critical storageIBM DS8000 and

Enterprise SAN

Older certifications New certifications

Storage solution sales

Broad storagetechnical sales

Deeper technicalsales






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New deep-dive certifications aligned to the solutions you sellThe new deep technical certifications typically cover software products supported by a choice of appropriate hardware infrastructure. For example:

Virtualized storage certification (see Virtualized storage infrastructure on page 10) covers IBM Spectrum Virtualize software plus IBM Storwize and IBM FlashSystem hardware on which it is integrated and deployed. Customers also have the option of deploying on select non-IBM hardware.

Grid-scale cloud storage certification (see Cloud on page 11) is based on IBM Spectrum Accelerate software, which is designed to enable cloud environments and allows rapid deployment of block storage services. This certification also covers multiple hardware options.

Business-critical storage certification (see Business critical on page 12) covers high availability storage for IBM Z and IBM i, with a choice of midrange and enterprise hardware offerings.






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Virtualized storage infrastructure Enterprise data services for heterogeneous environments

All-flash, hybrid and software-only solutions built on IBM Spectrum Virtualize software virtualize external storage under single management and extend rich data services to externalized capacity to reduce both CAPEX and OPEX.

Integrated solutions Appliance Software

IBM FlashSystem V9000

IBM Storwize V7000IBM Storwize V7000F

IBM Storwize V5000IBM Storwize V5030F

IBM SAN VolumeController

Entry Midrange Enterprise

Available as VeraStacksolution by Cisco and IBM

Entry-level hybrid and all-flash block storage

Midrange hybrid andall-flash block storage

IBM FlashCoretechnology optimized

Enterprise all-flashblock storage

EconomyA low-entry cost, fully integrated solution for traditional applicationsand general-purpose

databases

Scalability A highly scalable, high-

performance virtualizationsolution for traditional

applications and general-purpose databases

PerformanceA solution that offers

the highest performance and fully integrated

virtualization

FlexibilityA solution that virtualizes

data centers to helpimprove existing storage

without addinginfrastructure

VersatilityAn offering that deploysand runs on industry-

standard serverswith low-cost virtualization

Enterprise virtualizationof flash and hybrid

block storage

Enterprise software-only block storage

virtualization






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Cloud Simple-to-manage, consistent performing cloud applications

Highly parallel block storage purpose-engineered for cloud and managed services

Integrated solutions

IBM FlashCore technology optimized Built with

Software

IBM FlashSystem A9000 IBM FlashSystem A9000R

Cloud service

Best performance with full-time data reduction

Software-definedblock storage

All-flash block storageAll-flash block storage

IBM XIV Gen3

Hybrid block storage

Capacity-optimized,tuning-free performancefor dynamic workloads

For cloud service providers, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and VMware workloads

For mixed workloads,VDI/VSI at scale

A managed service and software that run on

commodity x86 serversoffer advanced features

that are well testedand help deliver consistent

performance, even withmixed workloads






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IBM DS8884IBM DS8884F

All-flash

All-flash

All-flash

IBM DS8886IBM DS8886F

IBM DS8888F

Business critical Highest availability and reliability

For mission-critical databases and applications that analyze transactional data on IBM Z and IBM i systems

Fully integrated solutions

Midrange Enterprise



Enterpriseall-flash block storage

Low-entry cost,business-class storage

for midrange enterprises

High-performance, enterprise-class storage

for large corporations

High-performance,analytics-class

storage solution

For storage sales, our competitors may be forced by necessity to overstate the suitability of their products for certain use cases. In contrast, our

comprehensive hardware and software storage portfolio delivers the coverage and capability enterprises need with highly optimized solutions.

Our new deep technical certifications back you up with the knowledge you need to apply these solutions in today’s data centers.






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In addition to revamping our certifications to reflect current sales conversations, we also look forward to these changes motivating increased Business Partner participation. Acquiring certifications helps Business Partners progress through levels of IBM PartnerWorld membership, gaining benefits that range from increased support to greater sales margins.

The process for engaging in our certification programs is straightforward:

• Go to your PartnerWorld portal dashboard or work with your IBM representative to check your certification status

• Explore the full range of certifications offered for IBM storage systems

• Register for the IBM Certification training of your choice

• Access complimentary online courses and tutorials to prep for your certification test

• Share your IBM Certification transcripts with others







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Showcase your skills in social media with an IBM Professional Certification badge:

• You need one or more competencies to attain silver, gold and platinum levels

• To attain the storage competency, you need to hold storage certifications

• Two levels of competency exist: Specialist (4 technical and 4 sales certifications required) and Expert (8 technical and 8 sales certifications needed)

We want to help as many Business Partners as possible to sell more products, and certification training that is highly relevant to today’s customers

and their needs offers a powerful method for success. Our certifications focus on driving business and new solutions with Business Partners, building software-defined and solution skills with current hardware sellers and providing solid support to help reduce Business Partners’ cost of sale.

As always, we are dedicated to working with PartnerWorld and distributors to help willing Business Partners grow with IBM.






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Information and resourcesAre you ready to expand your reach, open new revenue streams and build your brand? Get started today. Be aware of the timing of certification changes, and download valuable resources to help you get started.

Timetable for certification program changesAll new certifications are and have been available since the end of August 2017 (see details at ibm.com/certify). New certifications immediately count toward competency, and they also count toward authorization to sell, if applicable in your geography. From April 30, 2018, older versions of certifications are no longer accepted for competency or authorization to sell.

If you support or manage your company’s partner programs, then checking to see how these changes impact your organization is critical.

Your links to success • Go to the Business Partner console to check your certifications and

program status• Get more information about the PartnerWorld program • See the details on storage competencies • Look at a listing of sales and technical certifications • Use these administrator tools to update employee profiles once certified • Read this IBM Channel Communication letter on recertification

planning requirements

Get startedIBM Certified Specialist education roadmaps for six IBM Storage Systems certifications

Information and resources

IBM Traditional Workloads Sales V1 Series: C9020-660PW code: 32002401https://ibm.co/2DyaF0K

IBM Grid-Scale Cloud Storage V1 Series: C9020-661PW code: 23003007https://ibm.co/2G55Omc

IBM Virtualized Storage V1 Series: C9020-662PW code: 23003605https://ibm.co/2DvlQrD

IBM Business Critical V1 Series: C9020-663PW code: 23002406https://ibm.co/2Dxh2lV

IBM New Workloads Sales V1 Series: C9020-667PW code: 32002501https://ibm.co/2n11Umh

IBM Storage Technical V1 Series: C9020-668PW code: 24108213https://ibm.co/2F3rVIq

http://ibm.com/certify

https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/console/web/index.html



https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/mem/ContentHandler/partnerworld-program-levels

https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/mem/ContentHandler/program-competencies-storage-systems

http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/partner/mem/na/index.shtml

https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/ContentHandler/pw_com_pwp_relationship_management_resources

https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/mem/ContentHandler/ccletter/CC1802-017USEN

https://www-304.ibm.com/services/weblectures/dlv/Gate.wss?handler=Default&sequence=1&action=roadmap_page&customer=pwuv18&offering=sys&offering_requested=sys&roadmap=cass_184&from=short_url&category=cass_184&itemCode=&curriculum=

https://www-304.ibm.com/services/weblectures/dlv/Gate.wss?handler=Default&sequence=3&action=roadmap_page&customer=pwuv18&offering=sys&offering_requested=sys&roadmap=cast_113&from=short_url&category=cast_113&itemCode=&curriculum=



https://www-304.ibm.com/services/weblectures/dlv/Gate.wss?handler=Default&sequence=11&action=roadmap_page&customer=pwuv18&offering=sys&offering_requested=sys&roadmap=cass_187&from=short_url&category=cass_187&itemCode=&curriculum=


© Copyright IBM Corporation 2018

IBM Corporation New Orchard Road Armonk, NY 10504

Produced in the United States of America February 2018

IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Cloud Object Storage System, DS8000, IBM Elastic Storage, IBM FlashCore, IBM FlashSystem, IBM Spectrum, IBM Spectrum Accelerate, IBM Spectrum Archive, IBM Spectrum Conductor, IBM Spectrum Control, IBM Spectrum Protect, IBM Spectrum Scale, IBM Spectrum Storage, IBM Spectrum Symphony, IBM Spectrum Virtualize, IBM Z, LSF, PartnerWorld, PurePower System, Storwize and XIV are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml

This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided.

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