CCIE Emeritus

More good news from Eman over at ccieflyer.com

Inactive, Retired or Celebrated CCIEs

Way back in October of 2008 in the pages of the CCIE Flyer we carried an article by Terry Slattery where he groused/mused about grandfathering CCIEs.  Here are a few excerpts from that article.

A couple of years ago at Networkers, I heard about a proposal to grandfather people who had been long-time CCIEs, so that they didn't have to take the recertification test any more. My first thought was that it would significantly weaken the program. How would you know whether someone was an active CCIE or grandfathered without taking time to gather the relevant information and spend the time to verify it? I felt so strongly about it that I spoke out against the idea.
Upon further thought, I have a suggestion to resolve the dilemma. When a high ranking military officer retires, he or she gets to retain the title, but with the addition of "Retired" (e.g. General Kilroy, Retired). Why not do the same thing for the CCIE program? It shows that the person can think, work hard, excel, and make a difference in their area of expertise. This is exactly what the military moniker conveys and I see no problem with doing the same for the CCIE program. Someday I'll retire and wouldn't mind a business card that says something like:
Terry Slattery, CCIE #1026/Inactive
How does this suggestion help the CCIE program? It would provide an official way for people who achieved the CCIE status to continue to get some benefit as well as let future employers know that the person has useful attributes and experience. It could broaden the program's reach to people who have moved into the management world from the technical world. Imagine a Cisco account team finding that they are working with a CCIE/Inactive manager and being able to immediately get into a level of technical detail. The existing Cisco CCIE validation tool can tell whether someone is in active or inactive status, allowing employers to easily check someone's status.
I've not considered how far back such a program should reach. Should all former CCIEs be allowed to use an "Inactive" designation (or whatever the designation would be)? Off hand, I can't think of a reason to limit it and what measure one would use to set such limits. My intuition is that allowing all former CCIEs to use the "Inactive" designation would generate a lot of good will in the networking community.
What do you think?
-Terry

Well recently I read on many posts about the CCIE Emeritus concept that the forward thinking and receptive folks at Learning@Cisco had decided to launch.  I like it and let me explain why.  I know CCIEs let their numbers expire in many cases when they have climbed the rungs of success to find themselves in management.  The need for the cert is then an object of pride and accomplishment and less a necessity.  Terry himself confided in me before returning to hands on projects that he needed to in order to stay sharp enough to recertify and because he missed getting his hands dirty.   We were having lunch and we discussed this idea he had about allowing a long time CCIE to keep a title on their business cards and signatures that said, “Yes I was a CCIE for over ten years and I am proud of it!”  Well Learning@Cisco has gone a step further and is going to provide a seal/symbol, like the ones current CCIEs emblazon their business cards and resumes with.  The thing I like about it is not the semantics but the price for doing it, no not the $85 per year fee, the mentoring.  Yes remaining in the community of next generation CCIEs as a person of influence is a great thing.  Read this announcement from the Cisco site;

CCIE Emeritus

As the CCIE program continues to grow and develop Learning@Cisco recognizes that the individuals certified within the program are also growing and developing. To recognize the long term members of this program a new level of involvement has been created — CCIE Emeritus. Who is Emeritus for? Long term CCIE's who have moved out of the "day to day" technical work but would like to stay involved in the program serving as ambassadors to current and future CCIE's Emeritus Guidelines: Beginning August 1, 2010 At the 10 year anniversary Cisco will send a letter informing the CCIE of potential eligibility for Emeritus. CCIE's desiring to join the Emeritus program must submit a completed application to the CCIE Emeritus team. Link to application will be provided in the letter. Approval is subject to Cisco's sole discretion. Emeritus status is granted for one year from the date of approval. Candidates must re-apply each year to maintain status. Letters will be sent at the beginning of each month at minimum 30 days prior to anniversary/expiration date. Emeritus Application Requirements: ·         Completed application ·         10 years current and active status as CCIE ·         $85.00 annual fee (subject to change year to year) ·         Summary of program participation (detailed in application) ·         Not affiliated with a Channel or Cisco Partner Emeritus Benefits: ·         Permission to use Emeritus logo — subject to Cisco requirements ·         In situations where logo is not applicable the word Emeritus will follow CCIE number ·         CCIE number is maintained but now classified as Emeritus status ·         Candidate is recognized for technical proficiency and long term status within the program ·         Continue to participate in discussion forums, blogs, groups, etc... as an Emeritus ·         Opportunity to re-enter active CCIE status for up to ten years by taking any current written CCIE exam Emeritus Rules: CCIE Emeritus is a non-active status. As such the following rules apply — ·         DOES NOT provide TAC support privileges or preference ·         DOES NOT count towards Channel / Partner requirements ·         DOES NOT apply towards maintaining status levels for Channel Partners ·         DOES REQUIRE candidates to continue to report violations to the program when encountered **As with the CCIE program itself The Learning@Cisco organization and Cisco reserves the right to terminate at any time without specific notice to the candidate. Individuals who are accepted as CCIE Emeritus must maintain all ethics and guidelines of the program.

This deserves a round of applause Leraning@Cisco and I am a happy supporter of the effort.  We need more role models and mentors in the CCIE ranks!

Keep up the good work Rick Smith and company!

Warning from Eman!!

Beware the Contract that Bites!

My muse, Eve the Career Diva recently posted a piece called, “Don’t Sign Your Life Away For A Gig” which is very topical for me today.  I was on the phone with another unemployed CCIE who had a job with a training company.  His restrictive covenants were absurd and apparently written by a paranoid owner, who has developed a reputation of hiring and swiftly firing his IMMIGRANT trainers.  I have held the belief that some training companies are not concerned with who delivers their curriculum.  A sharp freshly minted CCIE is hunted down, who is not asking for as much money as a more expert one, just to make sure that profits are protected.  After the training materials are updated and made current then they are routinely fired.  I am not surprised that the trainer’s employment agreement (I have in my hands) is written the way it is.

It has been a while since I was involved in discovering some restrictive covenants which were a part of the nightmare that turned into the CCIE Hostage situation I helped resolve back in 2008.  In that situation, the two CCIEs had been hired and relocated to Dubai by a channel partner who almost immediately put them on unpaid leave.  This pair of CCIEs had a contract that prevented them from working for any competitor in the country, as a clause to release their CCIE numbers.  I wrote at that time that this was not unusual in the UAE for a lot of technical and professional roles. 

Well HELLO, it also happens here in the good old USA.  It has reared it’s ugliest of heads, under the guise of being part and parcel of a legal employment agreement.

The pattern is evident.  Hire a CCIE from another country.  Sponsor them to come to the USA to work.  Get them to update the training materials and then fire the CCIE.  The CCIE is left with a nightmare having completely uprooted their lives, families and homes with the promise of a great start in America.  And then the axe falls. 

I have been contacted by several of the CCIEs who have had this same scenario happen.  This is difficult to accept because the CCIE is then left to find new work, a new sponsor and held to restrictive non-compete and non-disclosure covenants preventing them from teaching.  This retards their ability to find a new job.  The employer is completely aware of this fact, this is his MODIS OPERANDI.

LURE, RESTRICT, FIRE

The prospect of being deported to their country flat broke is a reality.   Even in a post 911 era, the US Immigration Service would hold a company like this accountable if the CCIE were to file a complaint.  BUT if they do, the CCIE finds themselves between a rock and a hard place.  The CCIE would then be on the INS’ radar.  Yup, the CCIE is made to believe they cannot win for losing in this situation.  They stay quiet and beg for a job wherever they can find one in hopes of remaining in the new home and the new life they have begun because of the promise; no, because of the lies told them.

Here the paranoia is evident in the verbiage used in the employment agreement;

“Employee shall not, during or after termination of employment, directly or indirectly, in any manner utilize or disclose to any person, firm, corporation, association or other entity, except where required by law, any Proprietary Information which is not generally known to the public, or has not otherwise been disclosed or recognized as standard practice in the industries in which the Company is engaged.  Employee shall. During and after termination of employment, refrain from making any statement or comments of a defamatory or disparaging nature to any third party regarding the Company, or any of Company’s officers, director’s personnel, policies or products, other than to comply by law.”

While speaking to an attorney, (who is sitting at my elbow as I write this), I wanted to tell you all a few things.  First of all THE TRUTH is not “comments of a defamatory or disparaging nature” and remember it has become common knowledge that this is, “recognized as standard practice”  from this training company by those in the networking community.    Let’s look a little closer at this STANDARD PRACTICE.

STANDARD PRACTICE

While recruiting trainers, this company promises the moon, as many employers will do.  The mantra of the potential immigrant employee is that all things are possible in the good old USA as long as you work hard.  When praying upon those who would like to start a new life in America, potential victims line up to be considered.  The contracts are just part of the blur and buzz as the dream is being realized.  The dream of moving to America with a job that pays better than the one left behind is becoming a reality.  We in the USA have a long and proud history of brining hope and opportunity to the world’s “Huddled Masses”.  The dream of moving becomes a reality, the dream of getting the children into new schools with new friends becomes a reality, the new home becomes a reality, the excitement of the spouse who has a chance to spread her wings in a new country becomes a reality, the first pay check, the first new car, the first vacation in the new world… The nightmare is made all the worse because the hopes and dreams were near fruition.  Now the threat of DEPORTATION is the stark reality.  The prospect of losing face by returning home to the motherland unemployed is a huge stone in the gut.  The right thing to do is stop this parasitic practice.  This must not happen in the USA!  The words on your contract have been highlighted upon your exit from the company and are a threat to your well-being.  You are schooled into believing that the authorities are not a sounding board for an immigrant’s complaints.  You must abide the contract, shut up or be deported.   What this employer needs to know is that this is only “recognized as standard practice” for them and them alone.  IT IS WRONG!

IS IT LEGAL?

That can be debated because legal is not always right, just as the “LAW” can be used to perpetrate a wrong.  Now let’s get into the legal aspects of this, “standard practice”.  Just because it’s on paper does not make it legal.   Furthermore a defense to defamation is the truth.   To cloak something illegal under the veil of legitimacy is still illegal.  To that end, there is no legitimate defense of restricting any individual’s fundamental right to free speech.  This is true of course as long as they are not disclosing company confidential information covered by nondisclosure agreements.  No court of law will sanction truisms based upon a conclusion made by an employer as being defamatory.  Remember that lumping everything under the umbrella of defamation by a biased opinion does not make one’s words defamatory.  So “comments of a defamatory or disparaging nature” as defined by law has to be substantiated in some tangible fashion.  In a country where FREEDOM OF SPEECH is guaranteed as an inalienable right, arguing before a judge that an ex-employee “said something bad about me” will not stand up under the light of day.  In the opinion of my legal counsel, “oftentimes an employer, such as the one in this scenario, will use the threat of legal action as a buffer to all things right.”  “Employees will cower and wither under the threat of any kind of legal issue because ignorance of the law in this area is a gold mine for this employer.  One cannot possibly complain under the threat of deportation or being remanded to a holding cell in some remote part of the country.  These stories abound in the immigrant experience and as with any story it gets more gruesome with each telling.  This employer certainly knows this and capitalizes on these factors.”

WHAT TO DO?

Don’t cower or wither, (as my legal eagle says) stand tall and ask for advice.  Tell the world.  Put it on Group Study and let’s get back to why you became a CCIE in the first place!  If you are here on an current visa and are the victim of a situation like this, there are plenty of Cisco Channel Partners that will be happy when I send them your resume!

So, beware the contract that bites, some of them actually do have teeth not just a bark like this one!

A MESSAGE TO THIS EMPLOYER: IF I HEAR ABOUT THIS AGAIN I WILL PUBLISH YOUR NAME AND COMPANY DETAILS FOR ALL TO SEE.

(Many thanks to my legal eagle friend Althea Drysdale Esq.)

Cloud Computing the latest Industry Trend

Another insightful post from the man with his finger on the Industry Pulse - Eman Conde.

Be sure to check out the CCIE Flyer at www.ccieflyer.com

How do I begin?  The days are still running into each other as they scramble to exit my calendar and somehow I remain lucid amidst this chaos.  How I do it sometimes takes reflection.  Yup reflection on where this journey has taken me and glimpses of what might have been.  In London on my last trip I was excited to be in the House of Parliament, me a lowly servant of mankind, in the shadows of history.  Lunching among the MPs (that’s Member of Parliament for those of you who are not familiar with the vernacular) I was amazed at where I was.  Chatting with an MP who was my host I had a surreal feeling of being out of place.  Then I took a call from a DoD (Department of Defense) channel partner that needed 4 CCIEs to help them make Gold status.  I simply took the call, feeling I was being rude at the time only to reveal to my host the significance of that call.  After lunch I was very pleased with how my trip to London was working out.  Back home in Delaware I was still on cloud nine when I received an email inviting me to speak with a staff member of the Obama Whitehouse.  Seems they were looking for help with companies trying to participate in procurement and some of the stimulus dollars being used for a large WiFi effort.  I took a call from the representative and after the call I was again stunned by what I was doing as the CCIE Agent™.  I walked into my living room and sat next to my wife and shared with her my amazement at what I was getting involved in.  Well the initiative with the stimulus and procurement support fell through for me, but still having been called was an honor.  On the heels of this experience I was put on retainer to place CCIEs on two very high profile Top Secret projects.  The success in getting these CCIEs the best pay they could find anywhere in the USA was a real boon for them and their careers.

Trends are a constant as the IT industry evolves.  I just skipped over a few trends for CCIEs with the employment market shifting constantly one trend is more work in the Defense/Government sectors here in the USA, another is the rush for stimulus dollars, and still another the creation of roles that allow CCIEs to make a significant impact on the trends being shaped in general.  My favorite industry trend one I have been keeping an eye on is Cloud Computing.

Recently I was contacted by one of the three companies participating in the VCE Coalition and asked to support the effort with staff as it ramped up.  The Virtual Computing Environment coalition is composed of Cisco, EMC and VMware collaborating as a means to offer a one-stop shop for companies headed into Cloud Computing.  This is a very exciting coalition and a significant move in the development of Cloud Computing.

Accelerate the Journey to Private Cloud Computing

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns1027/index.html

The Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition, formed jointly by Cisco and EMC with VMware, represents an unprecedented level of collaboration in development, services, and partner enablement to minimize risk during an organization's infrastructure virtualization journey to private cloud implementation.

Vblock Infrastructure Packages are integrated IT offerings from the VCE coalition that combine best-in-class virtualization, networking, compute, storage, security, and management technologies with end-to-end vendor accountability. Pre-integrated to provide a new way of delivering IT to businesses, these offerings are validated to help enable the creation of customized solution packages by the channel, partners, and ISVs.

Vblock Unified Customer Engagement includes capabilities for sales, service, and support to help customers understand the business benefits of VCE and deploy Vblock Infrastructure Packages to minimize risk in the journey to private cloud.

http://www.emc.com/campaign/global/vce/index.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yt9VevClrY

There is a lot more being said about this new technology paradigm.  In recent months when speaking with IT neophytes I have been sharing my prediction that Cloud Computing will create a new wave of blended technologist.  How to prepare for this new shift is a great opportunity that I am certain will create a lot of great opportunity across the board.  From Sales through delivery at a lot of levels I think this solution is going to take wing.  

The Good Consultant will see you now.

This month’s topic is one that's rather overlooked in Consultancy: Active Listening.

We're not just talking about hearing what someone (we'll call them The Customer) is saying, but much more than that.  We're not just talking about Listening and responding with the odd umm and ahh and nodding, but again more still.  Active Listening is a skill that has to be practiced and learnt and I'd argue that Active Listening is one of the hardest skills to learn and certainly one of that hardest to master.

But Active Listening is also about asking the right questions so you can listen attentively without having to steer the conversation onto a different track. And The Good Consultant always knows the right questions to ask.

Let's look at an example. You go to see your Doctor, you hear, "the Doctor will see you now" and in you stroll. What happens? He sits you down and you exchange pleasantries to ease the mood. Then what happens?  We'll come back to this example in a moment, but keep it in mind.

Let's look at a parallel example. You're The Good Consultant and you go in to see The Customer. You arrive a little early (The Good Consultant is never late), and you're waiting patiently with a coffee from the receptionist, then you hear "The Customer will see you now". In you stroll. What happens? There are a few pleasantries and you build up rapport with The Customer to put you both at ease and then it's down to business. Then what happens?

Now back to the Dr example. The Expert (in this case the Dr) asks The Customer (in this case you) relevant questions in order to help diagnose the illness. What he'll not do is go straight into describing different medical treatments and their benefits and neither should you.

So a skill The Good Consultant should possess is the same skill as a Doctor – Active Listening.  You need to be able to ask the right questions, so that you can let the customer talk and you have to listen and lead the conversation so that you can find the cause of the issues.  Then you can diagnose and prescribe the solution. 

The first question that I ask when I'm in with a customer is "what are the problems we're facing" (I go with "we" because when you've been selected as a Consulting Partner, The Good Consultant and The Customer are a team). Then, whilst The Customer explains the (usually technical) issues I listen and I make notes. But I'm not just listening to what's being said (that's the easy part), but I'm also listening to what's NOT being said. And that's the really tricky part.

So what do I mean by listening to what's not being said? Well, one of the more straightforward elements to Active Listening is listening to HOW something is being said. Think along the lines of:

"WE'VE got problems on the network" - emphasis on the word "we've"

"We've got PROBLEMS on the network" - emphasis on the word "problems"

Say each of those sentences out loud. Done?  Ok. Now, which sentence sounds like deep concern and which seems like a political dig? I'm no expert in this way of analysis, so my thoughts are from books that I've read on the subject and my own firsthand experience and research.

When I hear "WE'VE got a problem on the network", the bells ring for a politically charged undertone. The "we've" emphasises a sarcastic sentence and would make me think that this is something The Customer has been told to do, or is not overly happy about. Here, I will slightly edge the conversation on to find the underlying issue with a question such as "so The Business thinks the network is slow?" Slow might not be the problem, but it's an anchor from which The Customer can continue the conversation without referring to The Business in his continuation: "not slow, but it's the stability that's causing problems..." from knowing The Business issues, The Good Consultant can then diagnose and prescribe the solution. Think back to the Dr. If you go in and say "I'm struggling when I go up 2 flights of stairs" they need little more than that and they’ll have a good idea of what’s going on.  Back to the anchor question, this also keeps The Customer on track with the conversation that you want to have and doesn’t allow them to break off in a rant about The Business.  Feel free to ask about the technicalities, as The Customer will not be concerned with The Businesses issues.

If the emphasis was on "problems", this will usually be followed by the briefest of blank stares. Here we're looking at real problems and (chances are) ones which The Customer doesn't understand. So my next question will be more direct: "ok, how are the problems affecting The Business?"  We don’t ask about the technical details, as it’s likely that The Customer will just be guessing.  Ask about the affect of the problems on The Business and you’re likely to get a much better response.

There are many more ways to utilise Active Listening. Start thinking about body language; keep an eye on their eyes and always baseline as best you can. Baselining is where you find out what The Customer is like under normal conditions, so you can watch for signals that they're under pressure to get something resolved, etc.  But, to be able to do this on a first meeting with The Customer is very difficult, even for The Good Consultant. You have to be very skilled to be able to baseline in a short period of time. But as you get to know The Customer over weeks/months/years, you'll find it gets easier and almost natural.

Active Listening takes time and practice.  Practice on everyone and you’ll soon start noticing what the real issues are.  Sometimes on a single sentence.

Suggested reading for Active Listening:-

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening

How to win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Steven R Covey

Get People to do What You Want – Gregory Hartley & Maryann Karinch

Don’t be shy in reading these books – you can become The Good Consultant by just reading White Papers!!