The convergence of market transitions, ranging from collaboration and video to virtualization and cloud-based services, is fundamentally changing the way businesses acquire and use technology.

The most successful organizations use training to evolve their practices and seize upon market opportunities, increase growth and build customer retention. In the competitive marketplace, the way to thrive is to arm your employees with the best and most comprehensive skills training.

In fact, certifying the skills of IT staff members is the single biggest predictor of IT project success, according to IDC's December 2014 report, Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide and U.S. IT Education and Certification Services.

All training is not equal, however.

A recent survey of Cisco Authorized Learning Partners found that 63 percent of their customers think that unauthorized training is lower priced. When it comes to training, however, the old adage rings true -you get what you pay for.

The price of unauthorized training might very well be lower, but the quality is also lower. The grey market of unauthorized and unaccredited training is rapidly growing, preying on trusting individuals and organizations. With unaccredited training, there are no Cisco-certified labs and there's nothing to assure the instructors are certified.

Poor training mandates more training, which ends up resulting in more expenditure down the line. The consequences of inferior training can be far-reaching -beyond requiring more training expenditures, it can dilute an organization's reputation for excellence and result in a workforce unable to efficiently and properly use the technology they're tasked with.

When it comes to training, it is not a place to cut corners.

Only Cisco authorized training provides the solid foundation of skills and resources that will enable professionals to design, implement and manage the latest converging technologies and deploy end-to-end solutions with confidence.

Cisco's Learning Partners offer advanced training that enables participants to deploy specific technology and business solutions with greater confidence to increase overall productivity. As learning requirements evolve, learning providers are striving to develop innovative solutions to deliver training in new and exciting ways, such as blended earning, which combines virtual and instructor-led training to enable learners to train whenever and wherever is convenient. Authorized Learning Partners and Business Learning Partners offer the customized training that organizations need to maximize success.

Advanced training enables organizations to deploy technology and business solutions with greater confidence. This in turn helps individuals to achieve successful careers and their employers to profitably grow.

Bottom line -leave the advanced training to the experts.