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I lead Cisco’s global partner cross-architecture engineering team and develop innovative technical programs and global technical go-to-market strategies with our partners. My main goal is to ensure all our geographical stakeholders are aligned and engaged. Those relationships are critical to our mutual success. In collaboration with a large group of stakeholders, I am responsible for ensuring channel efforts are aligned and being driven in partnership with our development teams, the… Show more I lead Cisco’s global partner cross-architecture engineering team and develop innovative technical programs and global technical go-to-market strategies with our partners. My main goal is to ensure all our geographical stakeholders are aligned and engaged. Those relationships are critical to our mutual success. In collaboration with a large group of stakeholders, I am responsible for ensuring channel efforts are aligned and being driven in partnership with our development teams, the global systems engineering community, and cross-functional teams. I work closely with Business Development and Programs teams to prioritize and target team opportunities, while ensuring everything we do is solution oriented and driven with a life cycle mindset. Show less

Part of a globally consistent, commercial go-to-market model, my focus was on how our organization could leverage business intelligence and insights to create credible and relevant customer engagements. I partnered with commercial sales leadership and teams across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America to accelerate growth and increase market share in our select, mid-size, and small accounts. In addition, our teams collaborated with our worldwide peers, partner development teams, product… Show more Part of a globally consistent, commercial go-to-market model, my focus was on how our organization could leverage business intelligence and insights to create credible and relevant customer engagements. I partnered with commercial sales leadership and teams across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America to accelerate growth and increase market share in our select, mid-size, and small accounts. In addition, our teams collaborated with our worldwide peers, partner development teams, product development teams, and customer experience teams to drive global excellence.As I connected with personnel in the field, growth marketing, and our leadership, we shared common goals to build scale, drive efficiencies, and evolve our digital sales approach. With transparency and communication, we promoted transformation and automated some of our toughest tasks while maintaining and growing our strong customer experience. I acted as a bridge between our sales organization, technical teams, partners, and customers, to simplify the complexity of technology and promote a common understanding of how digital transformation can solve business problems.Whether I was looking to improve Cisco’s operational excellence, company culture, or training programs and methods, I focused on preparing my team so we could anticipate — and be ready for — our customers’ next challenge. I was motivated in my conviction that acceleration of personal growth also accelerates company growth. Show less

As Systems Engineering Director, I directly led a team of 130+ highly skilled pre-sales engineers in Cisco's U.S. Commercial South Area, with dotted-line reports totaling 500 connected team members. I aligned our sales team with our solutions, and functioned as both a chief technology officer and as a business partner to our sales area vice president for this 11-state territory. Our clients spanned verticals such as healthcare, retail, and finance, and included Children's Healthcare of Atlanta,… Show more As Systems Engineering Director, I directly led a team of 130+ highly skilled pre-sales engineers in Cisco's U.S. Commercial South Area, with dotted-line reports totaling 500 connected team members. I aligned our sales team with our solutions, and functioned as both a chief technology officer and as a business partner to our sales area vice president for this 11-state territory. Our clients spanned verticals such as healthcare, retail, and finance, and included Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Dollar General, Chick-fil-A, and pet food retailer Chewy.com.With my direct team, cross-functional teams, and channel partners, we collaborated to help our thousands of customers — regardless of the size of their organization or the industry —digitize their businesses, drive efficiencies, and stay ahead of the competition. Show less

In this role, I acted as the chief of staff for strategy, planning, and operations, which entailed leading the architectures and systems engineering operations for Cisco's partners in the U.S. I set the strategy and execution plans for enablement of Cisco's partners in the Americas, including managing the associated budget and a team of 30 employees and contractors. In close alignment with direct sales systems engineering, I advised on our partner investment portfolio and managed customer… Show more In this role, I acted as the chief of staff for strategy, planning, and operations, which entailed leading the architectures and systems engineering operations for Cisco's partners in the U.S. I set the strategy and execution plans for enablement of Cisco's partners in the Americas, including managing the associated budget and a team of 30 employees and contractors. In close alignment with direct sales systems engineering, I advised on our partner investment portfolio and managed customer satisfaction.I led partner strategy sessions for Cisco's Partner Technology Advisory Board (PTAB) and planned product engineering, marketing, and partner field team strategy interlocks. With Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC), I developed a rotation program engaging partner engineers to learn with Cisco TAC Engineers. I also developed a channels Sales Master's program for Cisco Partner Account Managers and Systems Engineers. For new-in-career and new-to-Cisco sales personnel, I developed and executed Partner University. I also planned and hosted quarterly Partner Tech Talk IPTV broadcasts for product and solution updates.Together with my team, we created post-sales hands-on enablement reaching over 100,000 partner employees annually, and we developed event planning, registration, and extensive reporting strategies that have been adopted worldwide. Show less

My mission, as the manager of a team of six solution engineers, was to create and deploy partner training that would be accessible worldwide. Known as the Cisco Partner Education Connection (PEC), this online e-learning platform provided over $875 million in training value in FY03 to Cisco partner staffs and saved partners valuable time with Cisco product and solutions training. The PEC training and labs also resulted in $40 million in cost avoidance for Cisco in FY03 and $26 million in FY02.

I led a team of eight channel systems engineers to train and ensure the technical proficiency of Cisco's channel partners across an eight-state region. I worked across functions to plan and implement regional sales and technical go-to-market strategies. As a result, my team increased partner certification by 45% year-over-year and earned recognition at Cisco's national sales meeting as the Top Channels Sales Operation in the U.S.

I had worked with Cisco products in my previous roles at the University of South Dakota and with Cisco reseller Daou Systems, so I understood both Cisco's technology and channel partnerships. Joining Cisco as a Channel Systems Engineer was a natural transition. In this role, I trained and enabled Cisco's channel partners located in Iowa and Nebraska to ensure the technical proficiency of our reseller sales staffs. I planned, coordinated, and taught technical training that included… Show more I had worked with Cisco products in my previous roles at the University of South Dakota and with Cisco reseller Daou Systems, so I understood both Cisco's technology and channel partnerships. Joining Cisco as a Channel Systems Engineer was a natural transition. In this role, I trained and enabled Cisco's channel partners located in Iowa and Nebraska to ensure the technical proficiency of our reseller sales staffs. I planned, coordinated, and taught technical training that included certification, product and solutions training on VPNs, multiservice networks, QoS (Quality of Service), and campus networking.Other highlights:• Consulted with resellers on network designs and solution sets• Conducted CCIE preparation study sessions for peers and partner engineers Show less

I managed and mentored a network implementation team for an 80-site healthcare network for Daou Systems, a Cisco reseller and healthcare IT consulting firm that was acquired by Proxicom in 2005. I led the installation and testing of enterprise healthcare network systems, and reported the progress of these projects to customer management and executive staff. I also led the continual maintenance strategy for a multi-protocol network (IP, IPX, SNA) of 75 Cisco routers over a Frame Relay WAN, 10… Show more I managed and mentored a network implementation team for an 80-site healthcare network for Daou Systems, a Cisco reseller and healthcare IT consulting firm that was acquired by Proxicom in 2005. I led the installation and testing of enterprise healthcare network systems, and reported the progress of these projects to customer management and executive staff. I also led the continual maintenance strategy for a multi-protocol network (IP, IPX, SNA) of 75 Cisco routers over a Frame Relay WAN, 10 Fore Powerhubs and 60-Bay System 5000 hubs in FDDI and Ethernet LANs, 6 network management stations, and Cisco PIX firewall for internet access. Show less

I drew on my computer science degree and military communications experience in this role at my alma mater. I frequently advised the University Network Steering committee on the status of its network and analyzed LAN/WAN traffic using network management, analysis tools, and simulation software. With a $500,000 budget, I researched, specified, ordered, and installed all backbone and client network equipment, including a Cisco switched Ethernet backbone to support 7,000 users in a multi-protocol… Show more I drew on my computer science degree and military communications experience in this role at my alma mater. I frequently advised the University Network Steering committee on the status of its network and analyzed LAN/WAN traffic using network management, analysis tools, and simulation software. With a $500,000 budget, I researched, specified, ordered, and installed all backbone and client network equipment, including a Cisco switched Ethernet backbone to support 7,000 users in a multi-protocol environment (IP, IPX, Appletalk, SNA). Show less

I served in Operation Desert Storm with the 1st Infantry Division. During my Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm deployment, I led a 30-person communications unit during combat for which I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Upon return from deployment, I led a 100-person maintenance team that supported more than 200 tank and combat vehicles with a $1 million budget.Other highlights:• Published a communications equipment guide that saved a unit $300,000• Earned… Show more I served in Operation Desert Storm with the 1st Infantry Division. During my Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm deployment, I led a 30-person communications unit during combat for which I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Upon return from deployment, I led a 100-person maintenance team that supported more than 200 tank and combat vehicles with a $1 million budget.Other highlights:• Published a communications equipment guide that saved a unit $300,000• Earned Distinguished Graduate honors at three Army training schools• Selected to attend a special joint training course with U.S. Air Force and Marines officers• Cleared for Top Secret (SCI) material Show less