Partners
In order to deliver the best possible training to our students, we've joined forces with several leading companies in the industry as strategic partners. Through these partnerships, our customers win by receiving quality training from published experts.
Benchmark Learning’s affiliate, Globe University/Minnesota School of Business, grants college credit forcertifications that map to IT courses. Contact the dean of students at any campus for details.
Since 1992, Benchmark Learning has been accredited as a
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. We distinguished ourselves in the marketplace by becoming the
first Microsoft Gold CPLS partner in North America. Benchmark Learning has been recognized byMicrosoft in many ways for our innovation in developing and delivering learning solution to our clients in Minnesota and throughout the globe. We presently hold the following competencies as Microsoft Gold Learning Partner:
- Learning Solutions
- Networking Infrastructure Solutions
- Advanced Infrastructure Solutions
- Active Directory and Identity Management
- Data Management Solutions
- Business Intelligence
- Mobility Solutions
- Information Worker
Over the past 15 years, we have received
numerous honors and awards from Microsoft that include the following:
- 2009 - Benchmark Learning is a finalist for a the 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards in the Innovative Learning Solutions category.
- 2008 - Benchmark Learning's Phil Hinderaker is nominated to be a member of the CPLS Advisor Council.
- July 2006 - Microsoft Learning nominated Benchmark Learning to be a member of an eight-panel group to represent 373 CPLS in North America regarding the development and release of Microsoft Official Curriculum.
- June 2005 - Microsoft awards Benchmark Learning the Central Regional U.S. Partner Field Award for Teamwork.
- May 2005 - Benchmark Learning receives an award for Partner Marketing at the Microsoft Channel Partner Summit in San Diego, California.
- June 2004 - Instructor Bob Krone is nominated by Microsoft to be on the board that governs Microsoft Certified Learning Consultant program.
Benchmark Learning also participates in Microsoft® BizSpark™, a global program designed to help accelerate the success of early stage startups by providing key resources when they need it the most:
- Software. Receive fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools, platform technologies and production licenses of server products for immediate use in developing and bringing to market innovative and interoperable solutions. There is no upfront cost to enroll.
- Support. Get connected to Network Partners around the world.
- Visibility. Achieve global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients and partners.
Benchmark Learning is a nationally-recognized
CALC and a
Citrix Center of Excellence. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, we were selected for the
Citrix Strategic Partner of the Year Award. We have completed several beta projects and focused on having the most up-to-date training offerings.We've partnered to deliver unique, value-add events to explain the benefits of integrating both Microsoft and Citrix products in a heterogeneous environment. Since the beginning of our partnership in 2003, we've participated in accelerated Citrix training launches and provided custom offerings to customers throughout the education network. Our entire Citrix schedule is offered both virtually and with Instructor-led Training.
Fox IT is our chosen partner for ITIL® curriculum. They've been involved with the practical implementation of Service Management techniques since 1981, and many members of Fox IT's Team of Service and Systems Management Consultants have been instrumental in developing ITIL® since its inception. Fox IT was commissioned by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to manage the 2001 update of the ITIL® guidelines and to co-author
Planning to Implement Service Management.
Benchmark Learning is an ElementK-sponsored
Cisco Learning Associate partner and has a
CCIE on staff. Cisco Learning Credits are accepted at Benchmark Learning for 100% of our Cisco course offerings.
Benchmark Learning partners with TrueSec to bring you advanced System Center courses taught by internationally renowned experts.
TrueSec is the leading-edge company in IT-security in Sweden. They have brought together the top Swedish IT-security MVPs with several of Sweden's and Scandinavia’s foremost experts on advanced infrastructure. This means that they have an understanding of how to identify and understand the security problems and to recommend and implement solutions that work in an optimum manner in an existing infrastructure.
It is unique in having this expertise in both those areas where they are so dependent on each other. One is unable to build good infrastructure today if you do not understand IT-security and it is not possible to build optimal IT-security, if one does not understand the infrastructure. All of their activities are characterized by this.
Accentient is our partner for Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and software development practices. Accentient has worked with hundreds of clients, helping them understand, implement, and leverage Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server. They are not satisfied until their clients see an improvement in both product and process. Accentient also works closely with the Microsoft Visual Studio product group to help shape future versions. By doing so, they have gained a unique insight into its capabilities, limitations, and best practices. Accentient’s consultants are Microsoft MVPs, Microsoft Regional Directors, Microsoft Certified Trainers, Professional Scrum Developers, and Certified Scrum Professionals. Accentient is a company that has proven itself within the developer community and continues to exceed the expectations of its clients.
We're proud to feature high-end SQL offerings through our SolidQ partnership. All SolidQ's mentors are experts in their area and work with Microsoft, publish articles and speak at international conferences. They're committed to providing unparalleled service to the SQL Server community, and they have just one goal: offer deep training and mentorship to help your company provide the best service to your customers by maximizing the integrity of your database systems and applications.
Advanced Transact-SQL Querying, Programming and Tuning for SQL Server 2005 and 2008, Itzik Ben-Gan
Itzik Ben-Gan is one of the founders and Principal Mentors with SolidQ. He teaches, lectures, writes and consults about SQL Server internationally for SolidQ. He's been working with databases since 1992 with a focus on SQL Server since 1998. He authored the T-SQL Black Belt column in
SQL Server Magazine, co-authored
Advanced Transact-SQL for SQL Server 2000 and is a columnist at TSQL Solutions.
Enterprise ETL with SQL Server 2008 Integration Services, Erik Veerman Erik Veerman is a Mentor for SolidQ, focusing on training, mentoring and architecting solutions on the SQL Server BI platform. His industry recognition includes
Microsoft's Worldwide BI Solution of the Year and
SQL Server Magazine's
Innovator Cup winner. Erik has designed dozens of BI solutions across a broad business spectrum—telecommunications, marketing, retail, commercial real estate, finance, supply chain and information technology. His experience with high-volume multi-terabyte environments and SQL Server 64-bit has enabled clients to scale their Microsoft-based BI solutions for optimal potential.
We are also honored to work with
Kalen Delaney, Inside SQLearning Inc. She has been working with SQL Server for over 21 years and has been writing about SQL Server for over 15 years. She has, on numerous occasions, been invited by Microsoft to present special internal training. Kalen has spoken at Microsoft Technical Education Conference (TechEd) and worked in the SQL Server Lab at several conferences.
SQL Server 2008 Architecture, Internals and Tuning, Kalen Delaney 
Oakwood Systems Group, Inc. is one of Microsoft’s oldest partners, Gold Certified, Managed, BlackBelt and Award-winning, with fifteen Microsoft competencies and twelve Microsoft Virtual Technical Specialists. They architect, plan, implement, support and manage projects across the Microsoft technology stack.
They are a team of individuals, made stronger by being together. They help each other achieve success so that we can help our clients do the same. They are enthusiastic business people and technologists. And, they have some of the highest customer satisfaction scores of any Microsoft partner, anywhere.
SoftwareONE provides software licensing and asset management solutions that work. As a global Large Account Reseller in business for more than 20 years, they have the local expertise and experience to deliver strategic recommendations, smart alternatives and practical tools to meet your current IT goals and help you plan for the future. Whether working directly with customers or through partners in their VARassist program, they help customers uncover the true value of software licensing.
ONYX is our partner for Oracle curriculum and training. This learning company provides comprehensive, quality, instructor-led training and mentoring for employees developing or using Oracle for business applications. They specialize in teaching SQL for data retrieval and reporting, PL/SQL for programming and database administration. Learning is achieved in different ways: by doing, listening and reading. Courses cover all aspects of learning:
- Listening to educators' classroom lectures, which provide real-world experience
- Doing thorough hands-on computer lab exercises
- Reading the complete Student Guides for reference during and after class
Their team of educators has software development experience, teaching experience and excellent communication skills. Founder Ann Kalin has over 30 years of experience in applications design and development. Their curriculum addresses real work situations as well as prepares the student for the Oracle certifications. So whether you're interested in learning how to program with PL/SQL, advanced querying and reporting, day-to-day database administration or tuning and troubleshooting, Benchmark Learning and Onyx have the training solution for you.
The core mission at Avtex is to help our clients optimize their interactions with their customers, employees, partners and prospects through communication and collaboration technologies. As a
Microsoft Certified Gold Partner and
Interactive Intelligence Platinum Elite Partner, Avtex is the first true integrated interaction solution provider with deep capabilities in portal, collaboration, contact center, CRM, custom application, infrastructure, unified communications and creative design solutions. Avtex has over 1,200 customers across the United States and in six countries with offices in Minneapolis, MN; Milwaukee and Appleton, WI; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, NE, and Cincinnati, OH.
RBA Consulting is a rapidly growing and recognized leader in technology and consulting services with core competencies in Advanced Infrastructure; Business Intelligence; Business Solution; SOA and Business Process; Custom Development; Mobility Solutions and Information Worker. Our broad portfolio of technology and business solutions is based on a solid understanding that technology must deliver positive business outcomes. As a
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, RBA has a great deal of expertise in developing Microsoft solutions that maximize the utilization of the software and providing clients with a solid return on investment.
Virteva designs, builds and runs uniquely efficient IT platforms for business customers nationwide. By delivering
IT On Your Terms™, a blend of premise-based and cloud-based services, Virteva complements and extends customers' IT resources by improving operational performance and reducing IT spend.
Virteva’s thought leadership is endorsed by partnerships including Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, VMware, Quest and leading hosting and cloud service providers.
IDesign’s goal is to affect a change on the software industry, to help it mature into a modern engineering discipline. They focus solely on the design and architecture phases of development. As such they are unique in the market.
All of IDesign’s architects have unmatched experience with designing .NET-based systems and frameworks, as well as world-renowned reputation as industry leaders.
They also believe that design and architecture are inseparable from the underlying technology, just like civil engineering architecture is inseparable from building materials and building codes. To that effect, we offer our customers advanced training and mentoring on the technology at hand (.NET 4.0, Windows Azure platform and AppFabric service bus).
DFC Consultants, LTD is a team of experts who have exclusively sold, installed and supported Microsoft Accounting and Business Management solutions for almost 20 years. In addition to offering expertise for their clients in these areas, they also train and support their solutions by providing continuity and consistency to their clients.
DFC Consultants, LTD work intimately with their clients to become familiar with the organization—and therefore recommend the right solutions, at the right time—and identify the challenges and goals of each specific group.
Benchmark Learning and DFC Consultants, LTD have partnered to offer their clients an extension of training/consulting resources that makes sense for today’s organization. Benchmark Learning provides cutting-edge solutions to DFC Consultants' training center through their remote learning modality. Remote Learning allows students access to the training they need without the expense of travel.
Customer satisfaction is a must-have priority for both CPLS partners, and they seek to offer the most robust solutions. Benchmark Learning and DFC Consultants, LTD can offer you the widest array of Microsoft technical training and support. Contact DFC Consultants, LTD at 701.281.6112 or Benchmark Learning at 952.896.6800 for more information.
Novell
We began our partnership with Novell in August of 1988 as the
first Novell reseller in the Midwest. Not long after becoming a Novell partner, we also became a
Novell Authorized Education Center offering the latest classroom training on Novell products. We offered training on the first commercially available 32-bit operating system for an Intel 80386 CPU (NetWare 386). We've been a
Gold Novell Authorized Education Center since 2003, which means Novell values our relationship as a key partner to provide quality training that our customers can trust. We've seen the value in maintaining our partnership over the years and recently been honored with becoming one of only five
Novell's Linux Centers for Excellence in September 2006.
The International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-supported professional organization. The purpose of the EC-Council is to support and enhance the role of individuals and organizations who design, create, manage or market Security and E-Business solutions. Benchmark Learning is an EC-Council Accredited Training Center.
Ascolta was founded in 1987 to network clients to their enterprise systems. As a leading internetworking firm, their systems engineers and IT professionals designed and supported complex enterprise-wide networks and trained customers how to become self-sufficient. Now, their instructors bring their real-world experience to the classroom to share with you what has been learned in the field over the years.