Tech Data on Tuesday launched its Digital Security Practice Builder, an online version of the Security Practice Builder that the company has been offering for more than a year. Development of the Digital Security Practice Builder got underway in mid-2019.

The Digital Security Practice Builder is an outgrowth of Tech Data’s Practice Builder methodology introduced in 2017, to help partners minimize risks and costs as they explore next-generation technology markets. The new digital program is for North America and Latin America.

Tech Data’s Alex Ryals

“We designed the new curriculum where we engage partners in a very high-touch model,” Alex Ryals, vice president of security solution business, North American, at Tech Data, told Channel Futures. “The driving force to develop the digital program was that a lot more partners than we anticipated asked for the program and had a need for our practice builder. The initial Security Practice Builder program wasn’t designed to scale to all of our partners. Digitizing it brings the capability to a larger number of our partners.”

Partners must qualify for the program, then they’re assigned a solutions practice consultant – a former business owner and security executive – who works with the partner for three to six months to build a security business. Tech Data also goes onsite to conduct workshops, offers activities to help rationalize a go-to-market program, financially models a business, and helps with a strategy that might include selecting services and which vendors to work with.

Partners qualify for the practice builder program via a security practice assessment that determines a partner’s security capability level and where that partner needs improvement for growth. Once partners gain an understanding of their capabilities or lack thereof, they gain access to curated security training courses. Best practices across strategy, marketing and vendor-specific execution follow.

There are five modules in the course and more than 20 hours of video content that partners can consume self-service and on demand. There’s also a corresponding website and portal for partners to go to for content.

How long it takes a partner to complete the builder program is unique to an individual partner business. To date, fewer than 100 partners have completed the Security Practice Builder program. Ryals expects thousands to take advantage of the digital version. Best of all, Tech Data offers the Digital Security Practice Builder for free to its partners.

Tech Data also offers a Cloud Practice Builder program and IoT and Analytics Practice Builder program. The Cloud Practice Builder program launched a digital version a year ago.