|
Newsletter Home > July, 2008
|
Cisco Unveils Social Learning Community
|
Recruitment of technology talent has emerged as one of Cisco's key initiatives, as described at this year's channel summit in Honolulu. There has been much discussion about shortages in trained personnel, impacting both Cisco and its customers as well as the indirect channel companies that sell Cisco's gear. To help fill this gap, Cisco is planning a number of initiatives, one of which was rolled out at the "Cisco Live" events in Orlando, Florida.
The new Cisco Learning Network (www.cisco.com/go/learnnetspace) has been designed with two objectives in mind. First, it is a venue for information on Cisco technologies through which private individuals can interact with one another, share ideas, and exchange technical advice. Features include document sharing and open forum discussions and blogs in a dedicated environment.
“We have a community of over one million networking engineers working with our customers, partners, and Cisco,” said Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, general manager of “Learning@Cisco,” which is responsible for the company's technology training. There is a huge need for a consolidated view that includes all the different avenues of information that can help them prepare to either install a network, or design something new, or get to the basics of what IP is all about.”
Everyone in the community can contribute and rate the content which, in addition to Cisco-specific information, will also include information on non-Cisco products that relate closely to the network. Most of the non-Cisco piece will likely be driven by end-users and channel partners in search of solutions-level designs and best practices.
“We're going to leave the community to police themselves,” added Belliveau-Dunn. “The only thing we're going to be watching out for is inappropriate behavior, flaming, and things like that.
“We're also looking for this community to be a way to bring more people into IT networking. We try to make it educational and informational at the same time, and make it very well organized. People will be able to talk about what it is that they do and how they do that, and we believe that will help to draw more people in. And we hope it will bring more to people into the IT industry that maybe haven't considered it before. A lot of younger people don't realize that the network is behind all the cool things that they love, so getting that word out through our technical community is also part of our charter.”
Aside from this recruitment component, Cisco also hopes the community will appeal to the high-end technologists by helping them stay up-to-date with their training, interact with one another, and mentor those who are developing their skills.
At the moment, there are no costs or requirements to joining the community. But as time goes on, Cisco intends to add higher-value education services for which the company will charge a fee.
In other news, Cisco is also adding new CCNA certifications for security, voice and wireless. "To address the growing need for networking talent, we estimate that we will need to double or even triple our certified individuals over the next five years," said Beliveau-Dunn. "With the expansion of the CCNA portfolio and the launch of the Cisco Learning Network, we have added two more critical components to our companywide initiative to address the global IT talent shortage, accelerate the development of the information economy and improve the productivity of this vital technical community."
|
ProCurve Appoints New General Manager
|
ProCurve, the networking unit of HP, has named Marius Haas as its new senior vice president and general manager. He will report to Shane Robison, HP’s executive vice president, chief strategy and technology officer.
Haas replaces John McHugh, who vacated the position in late May under undisclosed circumstances.
Previously, Haas served as senior vice president of strategy and corporate development for HP. As part of that role, he led the execution and integration of all acquisitions since 2004. He also oversaw the company’s strategic planning process, new business incubation and strategic alliances.
Haas joined Compaq in 1995 from Intel Corporation and has held a wide range of senior operations roles. His teams have developed and deployed enterprise software solutions, Internet and e-commerce capabilities, content management applications, IT services offerings, marketing programs and complex cross-company strategic programs.
Although this will be Haas’s first role at a networking company, Wenceslao Lada, ProCurve’s vice president and Americas general manager, is not concerned. “Altogether we have something like 175 years of experience in networking,” Lada explained. “So we were looking for someone who could really help us with the next steps in developing the business. We believe he can take us from a $1 billion company to one that is worth three to five billion dollars.
Haas received a BSBA from Georgetown University and an MBA in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Glendale, Ariz.
Brian Humphries will replace Haas as senior vice president of strategy and corporate development for HP. Humphries, who previously served as vice president of finance for HP Services, has held several finance roles during his 14-year career with HP, Compaq and Digital Equipment Corporation.
Lou D'Ambrosio Steps Down as Avaya CEO for Medical Reasons
Avaya’s President & CEO, Lou D'Ambrosio, has stepped down, citing medical reasons for his departure. A long-time channel professional, D’Ambrosio has had a key role in shaping the company’s go-to-market strategy.
A full-scale search for a replacement is currently under way. During the interim, former Cisco veteran Charlie Giancarlo has assumed the role. D'Ambrosio will maintain an advisory role to the company.
Avaya Names Jeremy Butt to Lead Worldwide Channels
Avaya has named Jeremy Butt as its new vice president of Worldwide Channels, managing more than 3400 system integrators, service providers, distributors, value-added resellers and solutions providers.
Butt recently served as vice president of worldwide channels for Motorola’s enterprise mobility business. At Motorola, he helped to evolve channel programs on a regional and global basis. He has also held executive tenures at WatchGuard Technologies, Cisco Systems, and Hayes Microcomputer Products.
Nortel Appoints Ricardo Hoyos as Business and Channel Strategies Manager for SMBs in Latin America
Nortel Latin American and Caribbean President Alvio Barrios has appointed Ricardo Hoyos as the company’s Business and Channel Development manager for small and medium businesses in the Caribbean and Latin American region. Hoyos is now responsible for developing new SMB strategies in the region for the company as well as for the LG-Nortel joint venture.
Hoyos joined Nortel in 2004 to oversee the company's relationship with Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) and Banco Popular in the same country. He helped increase Nortel's revenues with PRTC by 30 percent during his first year and 34 percent the second year. Hoyos has also served as Caribbean sales manager for Multimedia Applications and Unified Communications, responsible for Nortel and Microsoft's Innovative Communications Alliance with the objective of advancing its market presence in the region.
Hoyos is an electrical engineer graduate from the Metropolitan University of Caracas where he specialized in telecommunications and electronics. He also collaborated in the development of the Masters in Communications at the University Ana G. Méndez in Colombia.
|
On The Other Hand - Software as the New Frontier
|
By: Ken Presti
Every now and then, something happens in the IT industry that causes wholesale changes to the way we do business. The advent of the Internet is the most recent example of how revolutionary technologies and concepts have such far-reaching effects. We now have a new one staring us in the face. As Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), online software purchases, and all of the various permutations begin to gather steam, a lot of questions are reopened regarding how IT products will be bought and sold.
This is the new frontier for go-to-market strategies, and will dramatically impact vendors, channel partners, and end customers alike-- albeit in different ways.
For the vendors, the key is to revise their services strategies in such a way that they can leverage the opportunity while at the same time avoiding the alienation of the channel partners by absorbing too much of the profit that under the current model would go to the channel partners themselves.
For customers, the model becomes a virtual candy store for sampling software in a quick and highly efficient manner with the option to try before you buy. For some, this will be a great opportunity to make the best possible software choices. For others, however, this model gives them an opportunity to damage themselves through their own lack of knowledge. When point-products are dropped into a solutions-based world, one had better know what they're doing because useful help from the vendors will likely be hard to come by.
For example, a long time ago Microsoft issued an update that destabilized one of the applications I was using. I called the application vendor who seemed very familiar with the situation. The tech support guy led me through a series of instructions that included a modification to the OS. Before I made the change I asked him if this would have any other effects. He assured me that he does this all the time without any problems. Only seconds after I made the change, error windows started popping up all over the place. I told him what was happening and he said, “That's a Microsoft problem. I don't support Microsoft."
I could easily imagine the sort of thing happened in a software-a-la-carte world.
Although changing software models seem likely to disrupt the channel and possibly disintermediate it for the short term, I can also see a longer term scenario in which the role of the channel is actually strengthened by the end customers' need to have someone in their court who can maintain the context of the overall solution and function as the honest broker among the vendors.
Sound familiar? The more the role of the channel changes, the more it stays the same. But channel programs are likely to change to accommodate the new model. And how those programs will need to change in order to maximize results is exactly the question that is keeping vendor executives awake at night.
> Newsletter Home Page
Web site and all contents © Copyright Presti Reseach and Consulting 2008, All rights reserved.
|
