CRN: JBoss Group CEO Calls For Partner Assistance

“CRN: One of the more popular certifications in the software
space is your JBoss certification for individuals. But now you are
trying to change that. Why?

“FLEURY: Think of us as a BEA or as an IBM, meaning you buy the
software from us except you’re not really buying a license for the
software; you’re buying the maintenance for the software. You’re
just buying the service part of it. People want to buy support
because it’s insurance. Management is more comfortable when they
can call up and strangle someone if something goes wrong. In the
past, the certification program was targeted to individuals. The
problem is that it gave rise to every little company out there
offering JBoss support. It’s open source so anybody can offer JBoss
support. But the reality of it is they would have one guy that
would come through certification and the company itself was not
really capable of doing the support. So we found ourselves in the
bad situation of having the brand lose its value because people
were offering support left and right with no knowledge and no
quality control. So the JASP is really a way to structure how that
service really is done in the field. Our program still includes a
notion of certification, but now we’re talking about reselling
services at the company level as opposed to just certifying a bunch
of individuals. The JBoss certification will only be pursuant to
the JASP program so you cannot be a single, certified agent. You
can advertise that in your resume but it’s the resellers that are
important to us, the JASP partners…”

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