Number of questions to pass: 35
Time allowed: 90 mins
Status: Live
This exam consists of 6 sections described below.
Determine New Workload Solutions 15%
Identify potential solutions for the customer.
Gather Customer Requirements 26%
Describe a customer's hardware and software environment.
Describe a customer operational constraints, including power, cooling, personnel, knowledge level, and service level requirements.
Describe a customer's disaster recovery and high availability requirements.
Describe a customer's performance requirements, including throughput and latency.
Describe a customer's capacity and growth requirements.
Describe the process to qualify a customer's expectations, including the decision making process and the business requirement(s).
Describe the financial justification for a system acquisition.
Describe a customer's existing systems environment and new workloads.
IBM Spectrum Family Software 22%
Compare IBM management tools with competitive management tools and techniques to identify IBM strengths.
Describe integration with open software standards.
Describe cloud-enabled solutions.
Identify how IBM Storage software and products help clients solve data management issues through application efficiency.
Describe the use-case of IBM Spectrum family software.
IBM Storage Solutions 5%
Describe IBM Storage solution advantages.
Using Sales Tools and Resources in Support of Solutions 12%
Identify appropriate resources within IBM or through the business partner channel to develop and close business.
Identify the TDA and SAPR responsibilities.
Identify appropriate warranty and service levels and contracts.
Value Proposition 22%
Identify the benefits of IBM flash technologies.
Identify the difference in cost, performance, and reliability of IBM storage solutions.
Identify IBM's competitive advantages.
Identify application and OS integration.
Given a scenario, explain investment protection and TCO of a solution.
Overview
PartnerWorld Code: 32002501
Replaces PW Code: Not Applicable
Status: Live
The New Workloads Sales Specialist identifies opportunities for business and generates and qualifies demand using a consultative approach. This specialist determines and effectively uses available tools and resources to determine and sell storage solutions that meet the customer's needs and requirements. This specialist has a broad knowledge of the features, functions and benefits of IBM storage solutions, and a high-level understanding of competitive solutions from a business perspective. The successful candidate will apply knowledge of the IBM storage solutions portfolio to the customer's environment to solve business problems.
The IBM storage technologies and solutions included in this exam are: IBM software defined storage concepts including IBM Spectrum Suite; IBM Flash Storage Family; IBM all flash concepts and application acceleration; IBM FlashSystem A9000 and grid scale cloud concepts; IBM XIV Storage System; new workload concepts; IBM Storwize family and virtualized storage concepts; IBM SAN Volume Controller; IBM Spectrum Control, IBM Spectrum Protect, IBM Spectrum Archive, IBM Spectrum Virtualize, IBM Spectrum Scale; and Cloud Object Storage; and storage cloud and hybrid cloud concepts. A basic understanding and general knowledge of IBM System Storage DS8000 family; IBM Real-time Compression; Deduplication; SAN technologies; tape solutions (TS7700, TS3500, TS4500); tape technologies (LTO/LTFS); IBM VersaStack and converged infrastructure is also recommended.
This specialist can perform the following tasks without assistance: determine basic product positioning across the full IBM storage solution portfolio; know where to look for IBM marketing and sales initiatives; gather customer requirements; identify and engage correct resources, including technical support, customer demonstration facilities and tools; possess a general knowledge of the competitive landscape for large scale storage products; understand TCO/ROI fundamentals; articulate features/benefits/fit of IBM storage solutions to solve customer problems; identify warranty, installation and support options; be aware of the Solutions Assurance/TDA process; know where to find training materials, sales support materials; and articulate hybrid cloud and analytics basics.
This specialist can perform the following tasks with assistance: drill down into solution specifics; articulate and present the solution to the customer; mitigate competitors; develop the solution; have an awareness of the purpose and general capabilities of tools; define IBM storage solutions relative to private and hybrid cloud implementations; and understand IBM storage solutions from a new workload perspective (e.g., disaster recovery solutions, cloud integration, etc.).
This specialist should be familiar with the following resources: eConfig; competitive sales tools such as COMP database and CompeteCenter; TCOnow!; IBM Executive Briefing Centers; IBM PartnerWorld; sales manuals; sales playbook; storage and SDI essentials; Techdocs; IBM Systems Consolidation Evaluation Tool hosted by Alinean; Arxview; System Storage Interoperability Center (SSIC); FindIT; IBM SmartSeller; Batch Magic, Disk Magic, Capacity Magic; VSI (third-party vendor IBM uses to run assessment on data storage); Butterfly; and Atlantis.
Recommended Prerequisite Skills
Minimum 12 months practical, storage-related experience selling in the large scale storage environment, and three months selling IBM storage solutions.
