Case Study: Speedy Course Development Boosts IT Sales Training Academy
Client: Rackspace
Industry: Cloud-based Computing/Software, Information Technology
Project Life: 2012 to Present
Background
Cloud infrastructure-as-a-service is an intensely competitive marketplace. To distinguish itself from multi-tenant, public cloud competitors, Rackspace offers managed services along with cloud services. The San Antonio-based company provides multi-tenant public cloud, hybrid cloud, private cloud, and single-tenant dedicated hosting services to more than 300,000 customers worldwide, including many of the Fortune 100.
The Rackspace Partner Program enables channel partners to offer customers cloud hosting along with their in-house products and services.
Channel partners are compensated for reselling Rackspace products and solutions or for referring customers to Rackspace. In addition, the program offers marketing and training resources though the Rackspace Partner Academy, which has more than 2,000 partners around the world.
The Issue
The Rackspace Partner Academy’s success in motivating and informing resellers also created a problem: demand for new courses quickly outstripped the capacity of the lone instructional designer managing the program. On a tight budget, Rackspace initially turned to a third-party training vendor. However, high project management overhead combined with a slow pace of development prompted Rackspace to reconsider.
Indeed, the high-touch cloud services provider found that it needed a high-touch learning provider; one that could manage the development of a series of highly technical online sales training courses. Quickly.
That’s where Microassist came in.
The Solution
Rackspace needed a learning partner that could execute quickly.
Microassist’s interdisciplinary team created a series of engaging elearning courses that enable channel partner sales reps to learn and review the messaging, features, and benefits for a variety of Rackspace offerings. The overall goal? With a little bit of help, resellers could confidently sell their customers a much wider suite of services.
All of the courses have extensive narration. To counteract particularly noisy environments, closed captions are also available. Learners are called on to read, listen, study illustrations, click options, and review the objectives of each course. This interactive, media-rich design enhances engagement and improves the “stickiness” of the information.
The Results
With Microassist’s help, sales training could keep pace with new products and services.
- Microassist enabled the Rackspace Partner Academy to rapidly scale and reach channel partners with important, high-quality sales training.
- Rackspace channel partners were able to quickly get up to speed on the proper messaging, important features, and benefits for a long list of products and services.
- Rackspace Partner Academy was able to quickly augment its large library of online sales training seminars.
By educating its channel partners, Rackspace expects to grow its customer base much faster than it can alone.
For More Information
For more than 25 years, Microassist has provided broad-spectrum learning services for enterprise and government clients seeking to share important knowledge and skills with their employees, constituents, and customers. Our Applications Development team offers world-class mobile app, database, user experience, and accessibility expertise. At Microassist, we’re focused on building long-term partnerships with demanding clients seeking to prosper.
