Success stories

	Aptronic's embrace of HP Certified Professional Program commands customer confidence

Thanks to her natural aptitude for technology and passion for working in Information Communication Technology (ICT), Anthea Nadin certainly boasts the right qualities that enable her to excel in her role as a solutions specialist at Johannesburg based Aptronics (PTY) Ltd.

This was underscored recently, when Anthea attained HP's Master Accredited Systems Engineer (MASE) certification. Even in itself, reaching the level of MASE is no mean feat - something reflected by the fact that of the 103 countries that fall within HP's International Sales Europe (ISE) region, only 10 have accredited MASE engineers. Of dual significance is that Anthea's achievement makes her the first woman in Africa to obtain the MASE qualification.

IT solutions provider, Aptronics (PTY) Ltd specializes in the provision of products, services and skilled support. The 100 strong company offers a total solution area spanning hardware platforms and software applications, as well as initial consulting and customer-need analysis.

An HP Preferred Partner, Aptronics has embraced the value of certification over and above the minimum partner authorization requirements stipulated by HP. Indeed, Aptronics is remarkable in that over two-thirds of its employees are qualified as HP Certified Professionals, making them a significant community in their own right. As such, Nadin received the necessary support and backing to attain certification upon joining the company two years ago.

"In my role, HP certification is very much a prerequisite and provides us, as a company, with a tremendous competitive advantage when selling our solutions. Clients respect your abilities more and are far happier for you to work on their systems once they learn that you are certified, so the qualification itself commands instant confidence.

"In addition to having the HP certification as verification of our expertise, we also have the full support of HP itself and this is not lost on the customer when it comes to assessing our credentials and ability to deliver to their expectations", says Nadin.

This was demonstrated with a recent implementation for a leading telecommunications company, which included 6 EVA servers and four Director Class SAN Switches, as well as the implementation of Business Copy and Continuous Access between them. Aptronics subsequently assisted in the migration from the six EVA's to two XP12000's.

Nadin's MASE certification reflects her exceptional proficiency in network storage architecture and provides her with an added degree of efficiency in responding quickly to client needs: "One of the key benefits for me is that, as an MASE, there are certain channels I can use to access information and resources at a glance. The Certified Professional Connection is valuable for having the right information at your fingertips. It avoids the need of three or four phone calls or e-mails to obtain the information needed", she explains.

Thanks to the number of Aptronics employees who are HP certified, Nadin believes the company's customers are set to benefit from a further enhanced service offering.

"In the storage arena, we offer solutions that comprise high availability, disaster recovery, and both resource and data management that includes Backup and Restore systems. Regardless of the customer and their individual requirement, the common benefits they enjoy include consolidation, redundancy, improved recovery systems and implementation solutions. The training and knowledge acquired from the HP Certified Professional program strengthens the capability of our service delivery in these areas immensely."