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System x specialty

Business and skills criteria

Specialize and get more benefits
to help you build, market and sell
your System x solutions

System x Business Partner Guidebook


Graphic tabs for System Storage specialty.

Graphic tabs for System Storage specialty.

To qualify for the Systems x specialty, you must meet the minimum revenue criteria, complete the required sales and technical certifications, and provide a verified client reference. Completion of these activities will also earn points towards your PartnerWorld levels.

You are encouraged to visit the Business Partner Technical Vitality (BPTV) Skills Dashboard tool, which can provide you with a customized gap analysis of your progress in completing the System x specialty certification skills criteria. The BPTV tool links to the Partner Profiling System (PPS), reviews certifications your firm has already completed, and provides you with a gap analysis identifying the certifications your firm still needs to complete. Your Authorized Program Administrator (APA) will have immediate access to BPTV. Your APA may allow additional employees to view the scorecard and dashboard by assigning them the “BPTV General” role in PPS. For additional information, contact PartnerWorld.

Required criteria

Business criteria Specialty Specialty Elite
Annual IBM System x reseller revenue (previous calendar year or current year, whichever is greater) - Major markets (NA, Europe, Japan, CEEMEA): $240k total revenue
- Growth markets: $80k total revenue 		- Major markets: $1M total revenue
- Growth markets: $240k total revenue
Client references Two verified client references, must include System x solution and be submitted within last 12 months Three verified client references, must include System x solution and be submitted within last 12 months
Skills criteria Specialty Specialty Elite
Sales certifications - One employee required to take Specialist level certification
- One employee required to take Expert level certification
- One employee required to take Cloud Advisory certifications or an additional certification from either the Specialist or Expert level 		- Any combination of sales certifications listed in table below
- At least 4 employees must have at least one certification.
Technical certifications - Two employees required to take Technical Principals certification
- One employee required to take High Volume Storage certification
- One employee required to take Expert level – Blades or High Performance 		- Any combination of technical certifications listed in table below
- At least 4 employees must have at least one certification
Other certifications Two PartnerWorld points can be obtained from achieving additional IBM certification or other third party certifications in Virtualization, Linux, and Microsoft (only one in each category) as shown in the table below. Two PartnerWorld points can be obtained from achieving additional IBM certification or other third party certifications in Virtualization, Linux, and Microsoft (only one in each category) as shown in the table below.

Certification details

Note: Certifications marked as Withdrawn still qualify for the specialty but are no longer available to be taken at a test center. Those marked Expiring also still qualify for the specialty, but only until the date listed.

  • - Sales certifications
  • - Technical certifications

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