Certification

IBM requires Systems and Technology Group Business Partners to maintain a minimum number of sales and technical certifications on selected IBM products in support of each of the firm's IBM Business Partner relationships. These requirements are in place to ensure the Business Partner has the minimum levels of IBM Sales and Technical product skills to support the marketing and support of its end-user clients. Business Partners are required to report their employee’s certification achievements.

Access the PartnerWorld Profiling System (PPS) by:

• Logging onto PPS at www.ibm.com/partnerworld
• Click on member resources
• Sign in
• Select Update your profile
• Select Update your company profile
• Select the location profile where the employee resides
• Select employee information which is found on the left navigation
• Add an employee or select the employee to update
• Add a Candidate ID
• Enter the Candidate ID supplied on the candidates test score report
• Save/Exit and retain the confirmation number for reference

New Business Partners (or existing Business Partners adding new products from IBM or a Distributor) are required to meet and maintain these certification requirements throughout their contract period and no later than six months from their contract and/or product start date. For the specific requirements, please consult your Business Partner Relationship Managers.

All new and existing Business Partners acquiring these products must meet the applicable product certification requirements by the required deadline and maintain them throughout the duration of their contract.

Reapplication guidelines and process for firms that do not meet certification requirements

Business Partners whose authorization for a specific Product was withdrawn due to a failure to meet certification requirements must wait for 90 days from the date they lost their approval before they can reapply for the specific product authorization. Firms must have achieved and reported the required sales and technical certifications at the time of reapplication. Certifications that were previously reported must be reported again when reapplying to confirm that the certified employees are still employed at the firm.

To begin the process to reapply and report certifications, Business Partners should contact IBM PartnerWorld Contact Services at 000800-610-1040 or pwcs@au1.ibm.com with any questions.

Ongoing compliance with certification requirements

IBM Business Partners are expected to maintain the minimum certification requirements throughout the duration of their approval to market the affected IBM product. The following areas address situations that could cause non-compliance with certification requirements.

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Business Partners must advise IBM within 30 days when certified employees leave the firm and the firm no longer meets the minimum certification requirements of an approved IBM Product.

When a Business Partner notifies IBM within 30 days that a certified employee has left and the firm no longer meets the certification requirement, they have three months from the employee's last work day to again meet the certification requirement by achieving and reporting the required certifications. The firm may continue to acquire and market IBM Products during the three-month period.

If the firm does not meet the certification requirements at the end of the three-month grace period, IBM reserves the right to terminate, with notice, the Business Partner's approval to sell the affected IBM Products.

If the Business Partner fails to notify IBM that a certified employee has left their firm, leaving the firm without certification in a Product area, the Business Partner forfeits the three-month grace period.

When IBM discovers that a certified employee has left the firm, IBM reserves the right to terminate, with notice, the Business Partner's approval to sell the affected IBM Products.

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When new Business Partners do not achieve and report the required product certifications within six months of their contract start, IBM reserves the right to terminate, with notice, the Business Partner's approval to sell the affected IBM products.

Current Business Partners that add a new product to an existing agreement

When a current Business Partner adds a new product to an existing agreement and does not achieve and report the required product certifications within six months of the date the product was added to their agreement, IBM reserves the right to terminate, with notice, the Business Partner's approval to sell the affected IBM products.

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