How ‘Cloud School’ Helps A Longtime VAR’s Sales Force Move Into New Era

As TRCA actively pursues cloud opportunities, how important has Intelisys' cloud education program, Cloud Services University, been for TRCA staff?

Harding: We are just approaching our one-year anniversary with Intelisys. In order for every new salesperson I hire to maintain their job, part of the elimination process is they have to make it through Cloud university. Not only do they have to make it through the program, but they have to pass an internal [TRCA] test that's based on ... Cloud university to show they've retained that knowledge. We put our people through six or seven (Cloud university) courses, and there are three courses we specifically hone in on that hit our sweet spot. Those are the telecom solutions professional, cloud solutions professional, and UCaaS courses.

All the salespeople in the company have either gone through or are going through the program right now, all the directors have to go through it, as well as national support center representatives and even the marketing [team]. It's a big rite of passage.