Acronis® introduces training and certification programme to support channel partners and end users

Acronis AcademySM launched to supplement new portfolio of disaster recovery products

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, 16 March 2010 - Acronis is introducing a new training and certification programme to support the launch of its latest line of disaster recovery products. Acronis Academy is a professional education programme aiming at providing in-depth technical and sales training for channel partners and end users.

Acronis Academy replaces the existing Acronis certification programme. It will provide a more comprehensive programme, offering technical and sales training at different levels. Some courses will culminate in a detailed online certification test. In addition to the onsite training, Acronis Academy will also include online sales training and seminars. The first two courses currently available are:

Acronis Certified Engineer (ACE) - Technical certification available for individuals in channel or end user organisations. Offering a two day on-site training class, the Acronis Certified Engineer course provides knowledge transfer about its migration and disaster recovery solutions, including the Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 portfolio.

It delivers guidance on project implementation, roll out and troubleshooting. Providing best practice advice on a businesses' disaster recovery strategy and how to take advantage of technologies such as virtualisation and deduplication, it enables administrators to better manage their IT infrastructures and ultimately save costs.

Acronis Certified Trainer (ACT) -In-depth technical certification for IT professionals. To become an Acronis Certified Trainer, you need to pass the ACT course. Distribution partners can run the Acronis Academy training course once their trainer has completed the ACT course. Acronis Academy courses are run by qualified, professional trainers.

Nitesh Bharadia, technical director at reseller b2Lateral Ltd, attended the trial version of the course. Bharadia commented, "The Acronis Academy programme is invaluable. Having the well qualified trainers on hand to educate us and answer questions has vastly improved my knowledge of disaster recovery solutions. It was great to gain a deeper insight into the Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 product portfolio and I am already using this knowledge to boost sales and improve our customers' experience."

"Acronis Academy is a complete programme which equips partners and end users with a wide range of expertise, allowing them to improve their knowledge of disaster recovery scenarios and solutions," said David Blackman, General Manager of Northern Europe, Acronis. "This is part of our ongoing commitment to enhance our customers' satisfaction. For partners, this forms part of a series of initiatives to support their sales process."

For a schedule of training programmes, please visit: https://www.acronis.eu/promo/acronis-academy/public.html Existing ACEs have a grace period of six months to upgrade to the new training programme and retain their certification status. Sales training and additional technical training courses on subjects such as database backup will be launched next year.