Cisco’s advocacy neighborhood, Cisco Insider Advocates, brings our clients collectively and gives a method for them to make highly effective connections, increase their skilled and private networks, and study from prime specialists of their subject. One in every of our objectives with our advocacy neighborhood is to deepen {our relationships} with our clients. Our Q&A collection permits us to shine a highlight on a few of our most passionate buyer advocates as we study extra about their tales and backgrounds.
Right now, we now have 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 wished to be once you have been 16 years previous?
That’s an fascinating query. In Switzerland, you often begin your apprenticeship or your examine once you flip 16. At the moment, I used to be very fascinated by mechanical engineering or constructing development.
An apprenticeship is a really hands-on option to mix training and profession. Talking of careers, the place did you begin yours? And what skilled determination or alternative helped lead you to your present function?
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 honest, 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 giant 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 function?
All of it started with the very fact that Cisco made it attainable for me to begin my profession in IT, a few years in the past. I’m nonetheless grateful for that chance. Right now, a few years later, I proceed to be linked to Cisco as an advocate and ambassador of Cisco Insider Advocacy applications, that are incredible. For the day by day enterprise, I can rely on the native Cisco group right here in Switzerland.
What’s been your greatest problem in your organization lately, 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 larger challenges we face is the scarcity of expert IT employees. At Swisscom, we now have a number of applications 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 turn out to be licensed engineers for Cisco, Dell, or Microsoft with specializations in areas like knowledge 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 bunch of individuals which can be passionate about what they do. They all have an intrinsic motivation to study and discover know-how and are obsessed with Cisco. I met a few of them at Cisco Stay, and it felt as if we had recognized one another for a very long time. All of us had a good time throughout the occasion and are nonetheless involved since then.
You’re one in every of our neighborhood “Rockstars,” Damian. What made you need 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 once 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 numerous actions, from being a part of a problem to participation at a panel dialogue at Cisco Stay. I feel for each, the private {and professional} aspect, I get extra visibility for my work, and I can rely on the assist and information of an enormous and extremely expert neighborhood.
Cisco Stay 2024 is just some months away! We might like to know extra about your expertise at Cisco Stay 2023 Amsterdam this previous February. When you might describe your expertise in a single phrase, what would it not be? How did it evaluate to earlier Cisco Stay conferences you’ve attended?
Inspiring can be the most effective phrase to summarize my expertise. If I evaluate it to different Cisco Stay occasions, my favourite continues to be the one in Barcelona in 2019. However each Cisco Stay has its personal highlights, which I don’t need to miss.
In the course of the convention, you spoke at one in every of our buyer panel sessions. How was your expertise, and what did you talk about on the panel?
It was an excellent expertise, getting out of my consolation zone and being within the highlight. We have been a bunch of 5 advocates. We spoke in regards to the intersection of buyer expertise and buyer advocacy and the way we see that occuring in apply via the Cisco Buyer Expertise and buyer advocacy applications and initiatives.
You additionally had an opportunity to satisfy 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 and marketing group! How did you take pleasure in that reconnection?
As I discussed earlier, it felt like we’ve recognized one another for a very long time though we’d by no means met in particular person. The day we met felt like seeing previous buddies. You are feeling that all of them share the identical ardour. We had nice enjoyable. I’m trying 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 possibly can’t dwell with out?
- My household and buddies
- Having a job the place I can study one thing new day-after-day
- A humorousness
Nice record! It’s been a pleasure and thanks once more for becoming a member of us, Damian!
Learn extra advocate interviews
You may take pleasure in this interview with Jyrki Halonen.
Be part of us!
For our clients who’ve already joined our Cisco Insider Advocates neighborhood, say hey to Damian in case you haven’t met but. And in case you’re a Cisco buyer however aren’t a neighborhood member, take into account becoming a member of. You’ll be capable of:
- Join with friends in a gamified, on-line neighborhood
- Have a possibility to satisfy with Cisco’s executives
- Share your suggestions, questions, and greatest practices
- Get entry to ‘insider’ content material and sources
- Develop your skilled and private model
- Amplify your organization’s success story with Cisco know-how
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Head over to the Cisco Insider Advocates Group and say hey!
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