Eight-level Certification Aims to Give Partners, Customers and Security Professionals In-depth Expertise on Full Range of Fortinet Network Security Products
SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 28, 2014 − Fortinet® (NASDAQ:FTNT) − a world leader in high-performance network security − today announced a comprehensive new technical certification program, the Network Security Expert (NSE), that is designed to enable partners, customers and security professionals to demonstrate expertise on the full range of Fortinet’s network security product offerings, while helping them to boost value and expand into new markets.
“We are pleased to unveil the Fortinet Network Security Expert certification, representing a new industry standard that sets the bar even higher for Fortinet’s partners, customers and employees,” said Joe Sykora, vice president of Americas sales operations and channels at Fortinet. “We have designed the new certification program to help enable participants to greatly expand upon their knowledge and expertise of Fortinet’s expansive network security portfolio, and to better prepare them to enter untapped markets.”
NSE Certification: Setting a New Standard
The new, eight-level certification Fortinet Network Security Expert certification is designed for all technical professionals interested in independent validation of their network security skills and experience. Open to everyone, including the entire partner community and 190,000+ Fortinet customers, the new program will enable participants to fully leverage the entirety of its network security platform and be recognized in the industry among an elite group of security professionals.
Altogether, NSE includes a wide range of self-paced and instructor led courses, as well as practical, experiential exercises that demonstrate mastery of complex network security concepts. Topics range from survey-level courses at the lower levels to advanced architectural level subject matter at the high levels. The time commitment varies depending upon course level, with the highest levels requiring extensive experience and study. All of Fortinet’s online courses are free to channel partners.
The new NSE program incorporates newly created content not covered in FCNSA and FCNSP certifications, and over time will eventually replace the existing certifications. Fortinet’s current certifications FCNSA and FCNSP will remain in effect for one year following the NSE launch, with complete benefits for participants. After a year, participants will be required to update their certifications according to the terms of the new NSE program.
Expanding Partner Opportunities
For channel partners, the new program offers additional courses and higher levels of certifications that are designed to help them sell more products and provide higher levels of support. Among other things, an NSE certification is designed to help enable Fortinet partners to:
• Leverage Fortinet’s full range of network security products while consolidating solutions and reducing risk
• Validate network security skills and experience
• Accelerate sales and the ability to offer new services
• Demonstrate value and a desire to stay up to date with technical skills to current and future employers
In addition, the NSE program also offers a number of tangible benefits for partners specific to their level, which include enhanced escalation, invitations to NSE-only events and public recognition.
Fortinet also supports college students and graduates looking to pursue network or security industry professions by working with educational institutions around the world. Fortinet provides these institutions with equipment, subscriptions and curriculum, among other things, which ultimately helps prepare them to meet NSE certification criteria.
“The launch of Fortinet’s NSE program gives partners like Industry Retail Group (IRG) additional resources to further validate our network security expertise to customers,” said Mike Luzio, CEO & president of IRG. “This kind of industry-wide recognition represents a tangible way to demonstrate industry expertise, which will help provide a competitive advantage when approaching new customers for both IRG and Fortinet.”
The Fortinet NSE Advantage
Fortinet is a leading global provider of high-performance network security appliances, serving the majority of the Fortune Global 500 companies and boasting more than 190,000 customers worldwide. In 2013, the company surpassed Juniper as the third largest network security company in the world behind Cisco and Check Point, according to IDC.
For channel partners, service providers, and other network security professionals, the new industry-wide certification recognizes Fortinet’s leadership position in network security and the pervasiveness of its products around the world that serve a large and rapidly growing customer base ranging from distributed offices to large carriers, data centers and multinational enterprises.
“Certification is an industry-wide validation and testament of technical skills,” said John Grady, program manager for IDC’s Security Products group. “Holders of specialized technical certifications are more employable and have higher earning potential than their non-certified counterparts. Further, Fortinet’s Network Security Expert certification provides an important differentiator for partners, allowing them to demonstrate a diverse range of key skills to better service existing and new customers.”
The new certification program is currently available. For more information, go to http://www.fortinet.com/training/nse.html.
