HPE6-A82 candidate - Aruba Certified ClearPass Associate (ACCA) Updated: 2024

The Tallapoosa County Probate Office announced Friday the final list of certified candidates for the March 2024 Primary Election has been approved and submitted for ballot creation. The qualifying local candidates certified by their respective parties and the Alabama Ethics Commission as having completed all of the requirements for candidacy are as follows:

Republican Party:

• Incumbent Probate Judge Talmadge L. East
• Candidate for County Superintendent of Education Casey D. Davis

Democratic Party:

• Candidate for County Board of Education, District 1 Frederick Ford
• Candidate for County Board of Education, District 3 Aaron J. Mace

There were two candidates who had previously been certified by their respective county parties but were later disqualified by the Alabama Ethics Commission due to a lack of a timely Statement of Economic Interests form being filed. Per Ala. Code § 36 25-15(c), any candidate for office without a timely filed SEI on file cannot appear on the ballot. 

Republican County School Board candidate Eric Baker and Democratic County School Board candidate Matilda Woodyard-Hamilton were not certified primary candidates based on this.

“I have spoken with Mr. Baker and Ms. Woodyard-Hamilton, and they are aware that they were not certified by the Alabama Ethics Commission, and will thus be barred from representing their respective parties in the 2024 election,” East said in a release. “They do retain the ability to qualify as Independent candidates, should they choose to pursue that course of action. The local parties and candidates must work in conjunction to ensure all appropriate paperwork is timely filed so that all Primary candidates for office are certified and can represent their parties. In these instances, this did not happen. I have offered my full cooperation in providing these candidates the information necessary to qualify as Independent candidates for the 2024 General Election.”

The Outlook has reached out to Woodyard-Hamilton and Baker for comment. The primaries will be held March 5. Certified candidates who do not have opposition will not appear on the Primary ballot, but will represent their parties in the General Election. Candidates for state office and some judicial related offices are certified by the Alabama Secretary of State.

Industry Editor Craig Zarley spoke recently with Adrian Jones, Hewlett-Packard's vice president and general manager, Americas Solutions Partners Organization, about issues facing HP and its partners. Here are excerpts:

CRN: What are you doing organizationally or programmatically to combat Dell's renewed channel push?

Jones: Dell has to do what it needs to do to win in their marketplace. We are going to continue to do what we need to do with our channel business. For us, we see Dell in the channel a little bit. But we have a very robust channel model and program. It is something that wasn't built in five minutes; it has taken us many years to build the right program and vehicles that we use. Do they keep me awake at night? No, not yet. But I am not complacent. I know that Dell is a large company, and they have been very successful at what they do in the past. We are watching Dell and what they do with their channel programs and their people.

CRN: What was your thinking behind your Fast-Start program, designed to quickly get ProLiant server solution providers to sell EVA enterprise storage?

Jones: The Fast-Start program is simple. When we look at our business and how we can grow incremental storage outside of our existing partner base, we looked at the top 100 ProLiant server guys that were selling everything from EMC storage to NetApp storage to HDS storage to IBM storage, and we said 'How can we get you interested in selling HP storage and drive incremental revenue?'

We went to top ProLiant partners who were selling blades, selling servers and doing well in that, and we wanted to marry the two together and sell storage and servers. The whole premise of this is we want to grow incremental storage revenue. We have a big push in storage. And we believe this was an opportunity where we would not get channel conflict by going after server resellers and that's what we've done.

CRN: But why should your enterprise storage partners invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in technical training and certifications when someone new to the program can just watch a video and then get certified in six months?

Jones: If you look at how EMC or NetApp go out and recruit partners everyday, they say, 'If you are HP-certified, you can go out and sell our product tomorrow.' And the reason we went down this path—we particularly chose the low end of our EVA storage product, the 4000 [to] 4100 range of products—we wanted to create more emphasis on the low end. We decided that was a good space to go after, and we believed it wouldn't be detrimental to our existing partners. The question about certifications is that we are only giving these guys a six-month program. After that six-month process, if they feel they have a need from their customer base to sell HP storage, they have to go through the same process that every other partner does. We are really hooking partners with this today, but they will have to go through the exact same certification process after the six-month pilot process we are putting out there.

CRN: HP Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd seems to want to work with fewer but more-loyal channel partners. Is there any plan by HP to reduce the number of channel partners that you work with?

Jones: I don't think there is any proactive move to reduce the number of channel partners. Channel partners change by nature of attrition. Some partners may drop out because of a credit reason or they got out of [the] business. There are 25,000 partners in the Americas and 140,000 worldwide. You are going to get attrition no matter what you do. As far as far as making our HP-exclusive partners more loyal to HP, we've done a lot of things in the PartnerOne program to deliver additional benefits for selling more HP products. If you're selling more HP and you're exclusively focused on all three business units—IPG [Imaging and Printing Group], PSG [Personal Systems Group] and TSG [Technology Solutions Group]—you are definitely going to see the benefits by selling the whole range of products.

HP on Wednesday debuted a new training program for channel partners focused on converged infrastructure solutions, and also a range of new network planning and migration services.

The program, dubbed HP ExpertOne and formally announced at Interop NYC, will address those HP partners looking to help fulfill the company's converged infrastructure vision -- that is, the intersection of networking, storage, servers, software and PCs to drive the enterprise data centers of the future.

Data center solutions training, HP argues, can't be product- or segment-specific any longer, because the solutions themselves aren't in silos, they're converged.

"The change is quite rapid and requires IT professionals who understand how to architect and implement converged infrastructure," said Lyle Speirs, director, sales and marketing, Global Certification and Learning, HP.

ExpertOne, which HP has been rolling out to partners over the past six months, will be delivered by more than 150 independent learning centers and academic institutions around the world, and its courses can be taken online or in-person. Partners with existing HP certifications in particular areas -- storage, for example, or networking -- will see those certifications transitioned into HP ExpertOne, according to Speirs. HP will also continue to invest market development funds in helping partners achieve certifications.

Next: First Up: The Networking Piece

The first announced piece of ExpertOne is the HP ExpertOne Network Certification portfolio, which includes 14 certifications across five skill levels, and is intended for partners who want to build converged networks, Speirs explained.

Partners seeking HP ExpertOne Networking certifications can be fast-tracked through different training areas depending on where their expertise lies already. A partner proficient in HP storage and servers, for example, wouldn't have to train in those areas as he looks to add networking competencies.

The training, according to HP, also reflects HP's role as one of many vendors that play a role in data center architecture. "These are open, multivendor environments," Speirs said. "It is a multi-vendor world."

One specific certification is HP's ExpertOne Master ASE -- Converged Infrastructure Architect, which combines training on business processes and investment analysis with technology training and implementation skills.

"It includes not only the technical side of the job role, but also the totally unique business technology and process competency role," Speirs explained. "Not only are we looking at a board exam that says you have to understand how to analyze and recommend and design a converged infrastructure solution, but we also want to ensure we can measure the ROI on that for the enterprise."

Next: More Strengths, More Services

In addition to thee ExpertONE certifications, HP has launched what it's calling Open Standards Network Planning and Migration Services, a consulting program offered through its HP Technology Services unit.

Further, HP ExpertOne certified partners will gain membership into Connect, an online community of IT experts using HP enterprise offerings.

HP has been working with its top 400 partners on the ExpertOne rollout, and additional certifications and program enhancements will come later, according to Mike Galane, senior director, ESSN Channel Marketing and Strategy, Americas, at HP.

The networking piece is only the beginning, in other words.

"ExpertOne is the umbrella, if you will, for what we're going to be working on here," Galane said. "There will be many more announcements coming. It's not a bunch of silos anymore, and it's really about pulling all of the pieces together. Networking is what the first round of excitement will be."

Four residents so far have been certified to be candidates in the April election for seats on the Joplin City Council.

Five seats are to be filled April 2, three general seats and those in zones 2 and 3.

Incumbent Keenan Cortez is certified for an election bid for his general seat. Another general seat holder, Christina Williams, has not declared interest in reelection.

Those who have obtained petitions for candidacy for the four-year general seats are Joshua Bard, Natasha Klue-Michael and John Thomas Buck.

The incumbent in Zone 2, Charles “Chuck” Copple, also has completed gathering the required signatures of Joplin residents to run for reelection. Michelle Cramer also has petitions circulating for Zone 2.

Veteran council member Phil Stinnett has not declared interest in running again for his Zone 3 seat by obtaining signature petitions.

William Ryan Jackson has been certified as a candidate for Zone 3, the seat currently held by Stinnett. Another resident, Steve Urie Ross, obtained petitions indicating interest in that seat as well.

Doris Carlin is certified as a candidate for the two-year term left open by the resignation of Kate Spencer from her general seat.

Others who have picked up petitions to potentially run for that unexpired two-year term are Jeffery Salem and Joe Johnson.

Dec. 26—Four residents so far have been certified to be candidates in the April election for seats on the Joplin City Council.

Four seats are to be filled April 2, two general seats and those in zones 2 and 3.

Incumbent Keenan Cortez is certified for an election bid for his general seat. Another general seat holder, Christina Williams, has not declared interest in reelection.

Those who have obtained petitions for candidacy for the four-year general seats are Joshua Bard, Natasha Klue-Michael and John Thomas Buck.

The incumbent in Zone 2, Charles "Chuck" Copple, also has completed gathering the required signatures of Joplin residents to run for reelection.

Veteran council member Phil Stinnett has not declared interest in running again for his Zone 3 seat by obtaining signature petitions.

William Ryan Jackson has been certified as a candidate for Zone 3, the seat currently held by Stinnett. Another resident, Steve Urie Ross, obtained petitions indicating interest in that seat as well.

Doris Carlin is certified as a candidate for the two-year term left open by the resignation of Kate Spencer from her general seat.

Others who have picked up petitions to potentially run for that unexpired two-year term are Jeffery Salem and Joe Johnson.