D-Link to offer subsidized Foundry training courses to partners

D-Link India through its fully owned subsidiary Intercorridor Technical
Education Center (ITEC) will offer subsidized training courses on Foundry
Networks solutions for systems integrators and solution providers, said Raj
Jadhav, GM-Technical Support, IS.

Systems integrators who use D-Link and Foundry Networks´ solutions
extensively can gain up to 50% off on the courses, which are slated to start
from March 20th, 2005. The courses are geared towards Foundry Networks partners
and resellers end-users. "By attending courses, taking exams and attaining
Foundry Networks Certified Network Engineer (FNCNE) accreditation, SIs can
provide their customers added value in the form of training services," Raj
noted.

There are two certification courses-FNCNE and Foundry Networks Certified
Network Professional (FNCNP). The former is a five-day course costing Rs 40,000
with another Rs 7,000 charged for the Prometric examination. The next level in
the certification is FNCNP, which is yet another five-day course costing Rs
50,000. This course also includes a two-day practical test on the hardware which
costs an additional Rs 40,000 and is held in the US or UK.

IS offers the courses at Mumbai and Raj said that it was difficult to start
operations in other cities a well. "Our current set up has all the
chassis-based hardware and state-of-the-art networking curriculum. This calls
for an investment of over Rs 1 crore, which is not viable at the moment,"
he added.

ITEC is Foundry Networks´ authorized training partner in India and is
positioned to offer these courses to the entire Middle East and South East Asian
countries as well. It is targeted at training network engineers of
telecommunication companies, enterprises and tier-one systems integrators.
"We hope to certify at least 100 people in the first year," Raj
mentioned.

ITEC also offers certification courses on D-Link solutions, including the
D-Link Certified Network Expert, D-Link Certified Network Professional and
D-Link Certified Cable Expert.

VINITA BHATIA