Cisco’s advocacy neighborhood, Cisco Insider Advocates, brings our clients collectively and supplies a method for them to make highly effective connections, increase their skilled and private networks, and study from prime consultants of their discipline. Considered one of our targets with our advocacy neighborhood is to deepen {our relationships} with our clients. Our Q&A sequence permits us to shine a highlight on a few of our most passionate buyer advocates as we study extra about their tales and backgrounds.
As we speak, we’ve got one of many friendliest faces locally becoming a member of us for a chat. I’m excited to welcome Damian Erni from Swisscom.
Welcome, Damian! Let’s kick issues off by speaking about what you needed to be whenever you have been 16 years previous?
That’s an attention-grabbing query. In Switzerland, you often begin your apprenticeship or your research whenever you flip 16. At the moment, I used to be very taken with mechanical engineering or constructing development.
An apprenticeship is a really hands-on strategy to mix schooling and profession. Talking of careers, the place did you begin yours? And what skilled determination or alternative helped lead you to your present position?
That’s a protracted story. I began my skilled profession within the printing and promoting enterprise as a typesetter and graphic designer. Throughout all these years, I at all times maintained and supported the IT infrastructure of the businesses I used to be working for. It was type of a passion on prime of my common job, which was nice enjoyable with plenty of studying. In 1999, throughout a go to to an IT truthful, I met somebody from Cisco, who was recruiting for a networking boot camp. I signed up for that chance and shortly began my IT profession as a venture engineer, constructing massive MPLS networks globally.
Wow! You and Cisco have had a connection for fairly a while. How has partnering with Cisco helped you in your profession and your present position?
All of it started with the very fact that Cisco made it doable for me to start out my profession in IT, a few years in the past. I’m nonetheless grateful for that chance. As we speak, a few years later, I proceed to be linked to Cisco as an advocate and ambassador of Cisco Insider Advocacy packages, that are improbable. For the day by day enterprise, I can depend on the native Cisco workforce right here in Switzerland.
What’s been your greatest problem in your organization not too long ago, and the way did you overcome it?
My job is at all times evolving and that’s what makes it nice. After all, there are many challenges on this fast-turning business, however one of many greater challenges we face is the scarcity of expert IT staff. At Swisscom, we’ve got a number of packages to draw younger expertise, together with our “junior program,” which exposes individuals to profession alternatives in a spread of fields. For instance, these in this system for system engineers can grow to be licensed engineers for Cisco, Dell, or Microsoft with specializations in areas like information middle engineering or community engineering.
Let’s transfer on to our buyer advocacy neighborhood! How would you describe Cisco Insider Advocates to those that aren’t aware of it?
The Cisco Insider Advocates neighborhood is a gaggle of individuals which are obsessed with what they do. The all have an intrinsic motivation to study and discover expertise and are captivated with Cisco. I met a few of them at Cisco Dwell, and it felt as if we had identified one another for a very long time. All of us had a good time in the course of the occasion and are nonetheless involved since then.
You’re one among our neighborhood “Rockstars,” Damian. What made you wish to be part of, and the way has being a part of this neighborhood impacted you each professionally and personally?
I joined about 4 years in the past after I was on the native Cisco workplace for an occasion. They promoted Cisco Insider Advocates, and I used to be curious and signed-up. At the moment, I didn’t know what to anticipate. Throughout my time locally, I obtained increasingly concerned in several actions, from being a part of a problem to participation at a panel dialogue at Cisco Dwell. I believe for each, the private {and professional} aspect, I get extra visibility for my work, and I can depend on the assist and data of an enormous and extremely expert neighborhood.
Cisco Dwell 2024 is only a few months away! We’d like to know extra about your expertise at Cisco Dwell 2023 Amsterdam this previous February. If you happen to may describe your expertise in a single phrase, what would it not be? How did it evaluate to earlier Cisco Dwell conferences you’ve attended?
Inspiring can be the very best phrase to summarize my expertise. If I evaluate it to different Cisco Dwell occasions, my favourite remains to be the one in Barcelona in 2019. However each Cisco Dwell has its personal highlights, which I don’t wish to miss.
Throughout the convention, you spoke at one among our buyer panel sessions. How was your expertise, and what did you focus on on the panel?
It was an incredible expertise, getting out of my consolation zone and being within the highlight. We have been a gaggle of 5 advocates. We spoke in regards to the intersection of buyer expertise and buyer advocacy and the way we see that taking place in follow by means of the Cisco Buyer Expertise and buyer advocacy packages and initiatives.
You additionally had an opportunity to fulfill for the primary time or reconnect with friends from the Cisco Insider Advocates neighborhood, in addition to a few of my colleagues from Cisco’s International Buyer Advertising workforce! How did you take pleasure in that reconnection?
As I discussed earlier, it felt like we’ve identified one another for a very long time though we’d by no means met in individual. The day we met felt like seeing previous associates. You are feeling that all of them share the identical ardour. We had nice enjoyable. I’m wanting ahead to seeing all of them once more in 2024 in Amsterdam.
We will’t wait to host you once more, Damian! We’re nearly on the finish of the interview and we’d love to complete with three issues you’ll be able to’t dwell with out?
- My household and associates
- Having a job the place I can study one thing new each day
- A humorousness
Nice checklist! It’s been a pleasure and thanks once more for becoming a member of us, Damian!
Learn extra advocate interviews
You would possibly take pleasure in this interview with Jyrki Halonen.
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