Q: What is Symantec Connect?
A: Symantec Connect is an online set of communities, designed to make it easy for partners, end users, and Symantec employees to meet with other users of similar interests to learn, network, share ideas and best practices, and stay up to date on the latest Symantec products and information.
Q: What is the Partner community on Symantec Connect?
A: The Partner community on Symantec Connect is a place where you can ask questions, make suggestions, find technical information, learn and share business-related information beyond the product communities. Designed and managed specifically with Symantec Partners in mind, this business-to-business tool lets partners communicate and collaborate to best serve their needs for business efficiency and growth. Symantec Partner Program staff members in North America monitor this community to answer questions and share news about programs to help accelerate your business. Business topics in the Partner Community include:
• Partner Incentive Programs
• Specializations
• Partner Training
• Partner-to-Partner Collaboration
Q: What is the Partner Group?
A: We created the Partner Group for two reasons: (1) to allow Symantec partners to more easily locate both business and technical content and discussions related to partners for any and all Symantec product communities and business communities, and (2) to provide a place for private conversations among Symantec Partners who desire collaboration and information sharing in a partner-only environment. Partners with a PartnerNet account are automatically associated to the Partner Group. You can post content publicly (default) or privately “for partners only” in any of the Symantec Connect communities by selecting the Partner Group when submitting content.
Q. When should I use the Partner Community?
A: One of eight communities on Symantec Connect, the Partner community is the business- to-business forum created for all Symantec Partners - even those who are currently not members of the Symantec Partner Program. Here, partners can ask questions of other partners or of Symantec staff, they can learn and share public information related to Symantec business, and they can read and share blog posts, articles, and videos. Symantec Partner staff monitor and moderate this community to ensure the latest and most relevant information is provided.
Q. When should I use the Partner Group?
A: You will find a "Groups" tab within each of the eight Symantec Connect communities. In here, you'll see Partner Groups, Developer Groups, User Groups, Product Groups, and Special Interest Groups. The Partner Group is accessible to all members of the Symantec Partner Program. By participating in the Partner Group, Symantec Partners can:
- ! Tag content as being public (default) or private, for partners only
- ! Get answers to business and technical questions from colleagues, often more rapidly than from any other source by leveraging all eight Symantec Connect communities
- ! Share messages, videos, articles, blogs, event information, and ideas
- ! Collaborate with other partners with complementary solutions and services
Approved members of the Partner Group can post content publicly for all Symantec Connect community users to see, or restrict it to private viewing by other Partner Group members only. They also have access to all Partner Group private posts. It’s a great opportunity to have partner confidential discussions on any of the Symantec Connect community topics.
Q. What happened to the Partner Technical Group?
A. The Partner Technical Group (sometimes called the Partner Technical Forum) has been renamed the Partner Group to clarify that both business and technical information is available here. Symantec Connect now supports five technical communities and four business communities. The content associated with the Partner Group can be filtered by content type, allowing partners to view only the activities they are interested in.
Q. Who should use the Partner Group and who should use the Partner community?
A. Technical and Support staff: Partners with technical interests will find the Partner Group beneficial for sharing technical information publicly and privately with their peers.
Managers and Business Owners: For businesses of any size, the Partner community provides a wealth of knowledge for management working to grow a business and improve business performance and relations with Symantec . You will find information on business fundamentals and enablement activities with Symantec. The community also provides the opportunity to share in-depth product competition news. And the Partner Group will let you discuss any and all of these matters privately with a large or small audience of Symantec Partner Program members, as you see fit.
Sales and Marketing staff: The Partner community has hosted Partner Training webcasts and discussions around product marketing, business management, and more. These community topics deliver content to help your business. And for continued discussion and partner collaboration on such topics, the Partner Group lets you speak directly with other partners, or to share private information with groups of your choosing.
Q: How do I join the Partner Community?
A: Go to http://www.symantec.com/connect and create an account on Symantec Connect. It’s that simple. All eight communities on Symantec Connect, including the Partner community, are open to anyone. If you log in using your SymAccount (used by PartnerNet, MySymantec, MySupport, or Symantec Licensing Portal) you will automatically be joined to the Partner Group, allowing you to post content publicly or restrict it to private viewing by other Partner Group members only.
Q: In what languages is the Partner Community available?
A: The Partner Community is currently only available in English.
Q: Why should I join the Partner Community?
A: The Partner Community enables partners to share ideas, tips, and best practices building a data store to quickly find answers to technical as well as partner program-related business questions.
Q: It looks to me like anyone can be in the Partner Community. Why should I consider it anything special?
A: The Partner Community provides all transacting Symantec Partners – whether or not they are members of the Partner Program - an area on Symantec Connect to share business- related activities and find answers on how to effectively do business with Symantec.
Q: Who should I contact with questions regarding the Partner Community on Symantec Connect?
A: Please send any questions to Symantec_university@symantec.com
Q: When can we access the Partner Community?
A. The Partner Community can be accessed anytime, but currently only information related to the North America partner program can be added.
Q: Which web browsers does Symantec Connect and its Communities support?
A: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 and above as well as Mozilla Firefox.
Partner Group
Q: If I’m part of the Partner Community aren’t I also part of the Partner Group?
A: Not Necessarily. Access to the Partner Group is open Only to Symantec Partner Program members. If you log into Symantec Connect with your SymAccount (PartnerNet login) you are automatically joined to the Partner Group.
Q: What if I don’t have a SymAccount (PartnerNet account)?
A: If you do not have a PartnerNet account, please follow these instructions to obtain an account:
• Go to the PartnerNet site https://partnernet.symantec.com/Partnercontent/Login.jsp
• Click on the Regional Email Address link in the lower left of the page for your location.
• Click on the appropriate Regional Symantec Contact link.
• Complete and submit an email request for a User Name and Password to PartnerNet.
Q: In which languages is the Partner Group available?
A: The Partner Group is available in eight languages—English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. You can select your language preference when you enter the Partner Group area.
Q: Suppose I’m not a Symantec Partner Program member. Can I still join the Partner Group?
A: No. The Partner Group is limited to Symantec Partner Program members.
Q: What happened to the former Partner Technical Forum?
A: All content from the Partner Technical Forum now resides within the appropriate product and business communities. Now that we have technical and business content on Symantec Connect, we have renamed the Partner Technical Forum the Partner Group. To view all Partner Group content across all eight communities, go to the Partner Group area on Symantec Connect. You will see all public facing content and, if you are a member and are logged in, you will also see the private content.
Q: What are the benefits of participating in the Symantec Partner Group?
A: The benefits include:
• Partners gain access to technical expertise procured by years of hands-on experience.
• Symantec Partner Group provides partners with a way to be enabled by subject matter experts in the Symantec ecosystem.
• By sharing product and solution knowledge, partners are able to respond to customer needs promptly, resulting in shorter sales cycles, quicker solution deployment, and a greater sales advantage.
Q. Which topics are featured?
A. Symantec Partner Group content can be tagged with all the active topics in Symantec Connect including product topics such as installation, deployment, configuration, best practices, and business topics such as partner incentive programs and specializations.
Q. Which topics will NOT be discussed on the Symantec Partner Group?
A. The moderators on the Symantec Partner Group will not address any technical support questions. All technical support questions will be redirected to the correct support communication channels and removed from the Partner Group.
Q: Which products will be discussed?
A: Partners can post activities to any of the product communities on Symantec Connect and are encouraged to tag them to associate the content with the Partner Group.
Q: Is there a cost associated with accessing the Partner Group?
A: Membership in the Symantec Partner Group is available at no charge to qualified members of the Symantec Partner Program.
Q: How do I know if I’m qualified to participate?
A: If you are a Symantec Partner Program member you are qualified to participate. When you click on the Groups tab in Symantec Connect, if you see the “Partner Group” appear under the “My Groups” heading, you are already a member. If you are an SPP member and are not already a member, log in to Symantec Connect using your SymAccount (used by PartnerNet, MySymantec, MySupport, or Symantec Licensing Portal). You will automatically be joined to the Partner Group.
Q: Why does the Symantec Partner Group appear as a “public” group on the Partner Group home page?
A: The Partner Group is considered public because the group is not by invitation only and partners can post content publicly or privately. By providing an option for members to post secure and private information, we aim to create an environment where partners feel comfortable discussing issues specific to them as resellers and how to best support their customers. And there is still an opportunity for Group members to share information publicly with other members.
Q: What is expected of partners participating in the Partner Group?
A: Partners are expected to exchange technical and business information and expertise on Symantec products and business practices. Personal attacks, slurs, and profanity in messages are forbidden and may lead to the removal of the posts or banishment from participating in any or all of the Symantec Connect communities.
When writing a post, please remember that other community members can't see your facial expressions or hear the tone of your voice. It's easy for comments intended as harmless jokes to be mistaken for harsh, purposeful criticism. While we strongly encourage open debates and discussions, we want to make sure they take place in a climate of mutual respect.
Q: Who should I contact with questions regarding the Symantec Partner Group?
A: Please send any questions to Symantec_University@symantec.com
Copyright © 2009 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 20938021
November 2009 FAQ: Partner Group and Partner Community
For Symantec Partners only. Do not reproduce or distribute.
