Page 212 - DCAP201_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_DATA_STRUCTURES

Unit 12: Introduction to Trees

Notes

Case Study Binary Tree Plants its Roots in Cloud Computing to
Accelerate Partner Training

inary Tree is a leading provider of software for migrating from Exchange
2003–2007 and Lotus Notes to on-premises and online versions of Exchange and
BSharePoint. Binary Tree selected Skytap to accelerate and improve the delivery of
its partner certification courses, and provide instant access to demos and proof-of-concept
projects.

Situation
Binary Tree is represented by business partners worldwide who provide specialized
services and a proven methodology for guiding customers through complex IT transitions.
The company has been an avid user of cloud computing services for many years, and
decided to evaluate the cloud to improve its partner enablement and certification process.
Prior to its adoption of the cloud for training, Binary Tree leveraged a combination of
physical and virtual environments to provide partner certification training. This process
was expensive, time consuming, and put the onus of flexibility on the partner because
training classes were only offered on a limited basis. In Q1 2010, Traci Blowers, Director of
Alliances and Business Development, started investigating cloud solutions that could
automate the provisioning of classroom environments and enable her team to:
Accelerate training delivery by quickly spinning up classroom environments to
numerous students at one time
Provide self-service access to virtual classrooms and training sandboxes – no matter
where the partner was located
Improve the partner enablement and certification experience
Challenges

Prior to Skytap, Binary Tree's certification classes were instructor led and calendared
against the availability of Binary Tree's subject matter experts (SMEs). As a result, classes
were limited to one class per quarter. Adding to this challenge, the system could only
accommodate eight students at a time. If a minimum of five students did not register,
classes were cancelled. Binary Tree also struggled to provide partners with hands-on
skills training prior to certification. To become certified, partners were required to schedule
non-billable shadowing engagements under the supervision of Binary Tree's SMEs. This
often resulted in up to six weeks of billable time lost due to delays in scheduling the SMEs.
In addition to the difficulty scheduling these "shadow sessions," partners were required to
pull billable consultants off engagements to sit through multi-day instruction courses
before becoming certified. The situation was equally challenging for Binary Tree because
SME instructors could not be billed out during class time.
Binary Tree also struggled to provide partners with access to virtual images for classroom
training. Binary Tree SMEs had to create and update materials regularly, which involved
crafting virtual images on drives and uploading the images to FTP servers. As a result of
these challenges, Binary Tree experienced significant delays in enablement and certification,
impacting the company's ability to build a worldwide channel of delivery-certified
Contd...

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 205