Portal Introduces Software Certification Program
Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, today introduced the Portal Certification Program. Available to Portal’s customers, system integrators and technology partners, the Portal Certification Program offers training and testing for professionals whose job function includes the installation, implementation and configuration of Portal’s billing and Revenue Management platform. Five-day preparation training courses for the Certification exams are now available through Portal Educational Services. Certification testing will commence in January 2006.
Portal’s customers will benefit from the certification program by ensuring that employees and system integrators managing or maintaining Portal solutions have the knowledge and skills to optimize their organizations’ investment in Portal’s platform and the services it supports. Modeled after successful certification programs of leading enterprise software companies, Portal’s Certification Program credentials are tied to specific versions of Portal’s Revenue Management solution (e.g., Portal 7) to ensure that the individual’s knowledge is current and directly applicable to their IT environment.
Portal will offer two levels of certification: Portal Specialist and Portal Professional. Individuals seeking certifications must complete and pass an examination (or series of examinations) appropriate for the level of certification being pursued. There are three Specialist Certifications available: Portal Server Specialist, Portal System Administrator, and Portal Pricing Specialist. Portal’s education curriculum provides comprehensive training for individuals to prepare for testing. Learning path courses for these job roles are available today from Portal Educational Services.
“Portal’s role-based learning paths enabled the key members of the THUS team to get exactly the training they needed as part of the Portal implementation,” said Mark Dunn, Corporate Program Manager at THUS, one of the UK’s leading network operators. “The training was concise, relevant and delivered to a high quality.”
Exams for the three Specialist-level certifications will be administered by Thomson Prometric, an independent testing company with offices located around the world. Portal Professional certification requires a final project-based exam that will be administered through one of Portal’s global education centers in London, Bangalore and Cupertino.
“Our partnership with Portal is a crucial step in elevating the importance of system integrator certification, which assesses the aptitude and talent needed to support and implement the Portal billing and Revenue Management platform,” said Alex Gray, Executive Director IT Client Services of Thomson Prometric. “As the leader in testing and assessment services, we are able to ensure global delivery of the Portal certification exam via 3000 Prometric testing centers for Portal customers, integrators and partners, as well as offering Thomson Prometric’s innovative Internet-based test for Portal’s employees, providing them with convenient, direct access over the Web.”
Portal’s product-based solution provides leading service providers the ability to support the generation, capture, collection and analysis for any service, any customer type, any payment method on any network. Portal’s certification program will ensure that there are always sufficient skilled individuals in the marketplace that can plan, manage and implement Portal solutions.
“Portal is focused on enabling our customers to achieve their most critical business goals by accelerating time-to-market of innovative services and billing packages,” said Bhaskar Gorti, senior vice president of Portal Software. “Our new training curriculum, paired with the certification testing will provide Portal’s customers and partners with tools to measure the knowledge and skills of their technical staff so that their implementation teams leverage the full breadth of Portal’s industry-leading technology.”
Portal’s certification program will be available beginning in January 2006. Additional information on the program and requirements is available on Portal’s website at www.portal.com/certification.
Related Articles:
- Portal Software Certification Testing Now Available for Customers, System Integrators, and Technology Partners Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, today announced the general availability of published tests for certification of Portal Specialist and Portal Professional consultants through the Portal Certification Program. To date, more than 100 individuals have been certified in the three Specialist Certifications available, which include Portal Server Specialist, Portal Pricing Specialist, and Portal System Administrator, as well as the Portal Professional level of certification. "Portal's role-based training approach enabled us to ramp up our support and implementation teams quickly with the specific skills that they needed...
- Telecom Argentina Selects Portal Software to Bring Voice, Data, and Next Generation Services to Market; Portal Successfully Demonstrates Its Capabilities in One-Tenth the Time of the Competition Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, announced today that Telecom Argentina has selected Portal 7 to power creative pricing and promotion plans and fully convergent services for its customers. Initially, Telecom Argentina will deploy Portal 7 to provide rating for high-speed data and VoIP service offerings to its broadband customers. Telecom Argentina selected Portal because of Portal 7's flexibility and its ability to support both the company's current business requirements and its long term growth plans. Portal was able to quickly demonstrate Portal 7's superior capabilities...
- FASTWEB to Expand Use of Portal Software for Supporting New IP-Based Services; World’s Largest IPTV Provider to Utilize Portal 7 to Sustain Competitive Advantage Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, announced today that FASTWEB is expanding its use of Portal to support its expansion into a variety of next generation service offerings for its customers in Italy. FASTWEB will also be migrating to Portal 7, the latest version of Portal's Revenue Management platform, to support fully convergent services. FASTWEB has relied on Portal since it started offering triple play services over its broadband IP network in 2001 and today uses the platform for supporting its second generation IPTV, VoIP, high...
- Portal Software Announces Financial Update Teleconference Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, today announced that it will hold a conference call to discuss preliminary financial information for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2006 periods on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. PST. To access the call, please dial in to one of the following numbers at 4:50 p.m. EST/1:50 p.m. PST on February 8, 2006: (800) 706-3415 (inside the US and Canada) or (706) 634-1314 (outside of the US). The conference ID is 5045851. The Portal Software, Inc. financial...
- WorldSpace Selects Portal Software to Support Global Satellite Radio Service Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, announced today that WorldSpace, one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, selected Portal to provide billing and Revenue Management solutions for its global operations. Through its subscription-based service, WorldSpace broadcasts news, sports, music, and educational programming to satellite radios in over 130 countries including India, China, South Africa, the Middle East, and countries in Western Europe. WorldSpace will use Portal's Revenue Management platform, Portal 7, to manage billing for all customer equipment purchases, activation fees, and monthly...
- Portal Software Announces Unaudited First Quarter Fiscal 2007 Results Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for the global communications and media markets, today announced preliminary, unaudited business results for its fiscal 2007 first quarter ended April 28, 2006. Selected First Quarter Fiscal 2007 Preliminary, Unaudited Financial Information - First quarter 2007 bookings were $32.7 million compared to $40.4 million for the same period last year; - Cash and investments at April 28, 2006 were $56.4 million (including $12.7 million in restricted cash and investments), down from $60.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006; SEC Filing Update As...
- Oracle Buys Portal Software Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) today announced that it will acquire Portal Software, Inc. (OTC BB: PRSF.PK), a leading global provider of billing and revenue management solutions for the communications and media industry, through a cash tender offer for $4.90 per share, or approximately $220 million. "The combination of Oracle and Portal delivers the first end-to-end packaged enterprise software suite for the communications industry," said Oracle’s President Charles Phillips. "We supply technology and applications to over 90% of communications companies worldwide today, and billing is a logical and complementary addition for those customers." Oracle has had a long commitment to the communications...
- Customer Satisfaction Survey Results from Portal Software Outpace Industry Averages Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, today announced that more than 85 percent of its customers intended to repurchase products and services, with 66 percent of customers looking to upgrade in the next 12 months, according to the latest Portal Customer Satisfaction Scorecard, a semi-annual customer survey conducted by CustomerSat. In contrast, a recent VanillaPlus Magazine and Yankee Group survey of 101 billing and IT executives from a broad range of carriers released in February 2006, found only 53 percent of carriers decided to continue with...
- Convergys Introduces New Software Testing Solutions That Shortens Lifecycle for Price Plans at SunCom Wireless A new suite of software testing solutions from Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) combining consulting services with automated testing software is now available to businesses seeking to strengthen their software testing capabilities. Convergys Testing Solutions combine professional services offerings with Convergys Easy Test, an automated software application testing tool. Businesses using Convergys Testing Solutions can enhance the quality of their products and services by thoroughly testing and verifying changes to mission-critical systems such as billing and customer care. "Reducing the time and cost of introducing new price plans to market, while improving plan accuracy with the help of Convergys Easy Test,...
- Portal Appoints Bruce Grainger as Vice President of Sales for the Americas Portal Software, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PRSF), the premier global provider of billing and Revenue Management solutions for telecommunications and media markets, announced today it has appointed Bruce Grainger as vice president of sales for the Americas. Grainger has headed Portal's sales activities in the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) since 2001 and will now also assume responsibility for sales in the United States and Canada. "Bruce is an exceptional sales executive, and I am confident that he will provide the leadership and execution needed to accelerate sales growth in North America," said Bhaskar Gorti, Portal's senior vice president of worldwide sales,...