Cary, N.C. – January 26, 2009—Two highly respected
technology companies, Global Knowledge and Firefly, are providing
data center education and consulting solutions to Cisco channel
partners and customers through a worldwide alliance announced
today. The companies’ consulting and training services will blanket
the entire new technology lifecycle, from early adoption to late
market maturity. Global Knowledge is a leader in IT training, with
a robust portfolio of courses and a strong, worldwide marketing and
sales foothold. Firefly offers targeted consultative education and
professional services that help its customers continually evolve
their IT architectural strategies to take advantage of new
technologies rapidly, while ensuring that technology decisions
remain aligned with their business objectives.
“We’ve launched a ‘one world’ alliance with
Firefly,” said Global Knowledge President and CEO Joseph Cece.
“It’s a connection that recognizes the talent, infrastructure, and
commitment required to enable the use of cross-functional and
interoperable technologies that empower the success of our
customers.”
Manufacturers, value-added resellers (VARs),
customers, and educators need to work together throughout the
technology lifecycle, especially in the innovator and early adopter
stages. "The best ideas flourish in an environment where
collaboration is the driving force,” said Firefly CEO Pat Bodin.
“What we’re trying to achieve with this partnership is to help
manufacturers, VARs, and customers achieve a solid grasp of their
mutual goals and keep up with the fluidity and pace of our industry
throughout the technology lifecycle," he added.
Global Knowledge, a worldwide Cisco Learning
Solutions Partner award winner, will employ its marketing, sales,
instruction, and training course delivery tools and techniques to
drive the market infusion of the latest in converged data center
virtualization training solutions.
Firefly targets its services to manufacturers
and channel partners that are engaged in developing and delivering
new products to market. As an education and consulting services
organization, the company mentors early adopter customers and their
channel partners.
“Through this collaboration, we will
accelerate the adoption of technology by helping our customers
bridge the gap between their business requirements and technical
solutions,” said Bodin. “Once that happens, customers can rely on
the proven ability of Global Knowledge to deliver volume training
worldwide to drive mainstream adoption,” he said.
“This alliance offers positive, bottom-line
results for our customers that can be directly attributed to
combining Firefly’s mentoring and consultative relationships with
our worldwide IT training delivery mechanisms,” added Cece.
Currently, Global Knowledge and Firefly are
collaborating on the design and development of integrated
virtualization solutions training from leading technology companies
including Cisco and VMware.
About Global
Knowledge
Global Knowledge is the worldwide leader in
IT and business training. We deliver via training centers, private
facilities, and the Internet, enabling our customers to choose
when, where, and how they want to receive training programs and
learning services. Our more than 700 courses span foundational and
specialized training and certifications. Founded in 1995, Global
Knowledge employs more than 1,200 people worldwide and is
headquartered in Cary, N.C. The company is owned by New York-based
investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe. For more
information, visit http://www.globalknowledge.com/.
About
Firefly
Firefly Communications,
LLC is the leading global provider of advanced technology training
and consulting solutions. Offering expert-led classroom
instruction, state-of-the art remote lab access, and educational
consulting services, Firefly has developed and delivered innovative
learning solutions for numerous Fortune 500 and FTSE 250
companies. For more information, visit http://www.fireflycom.net/.