820-605 exam - Cisco Customer Success Manager (CSM) Updated: 2023

Earning specialized certifications is a surefire way to advance your career in the IT field, regardless of industry or current career level. The right certification validates your skills and knowledge, which makes you more desirable to future employers who want to attract and retain the best employees. Below, we’ll explore the top IT certifications and share how to examine your goals to choose the right path forward. 

Defense personnel are often unsung heroes—potentially putting their lives on the line to serve their communities. Giving back to those who choose to serve, or are transitioning out of the armed forces, is clearly the right thing to do. We’re proud that Cisco Networking Academy partners with organizations around the world looking after the unique needs of current and former military service people.

Training-up down under

Soldier On is a not-for-profit organization delivering support services that enable current and former Australian Defence Force personnel—and their families—to lead meaningful civilian lives. It does this by providing psychology support services, employment support, education programs, and community-building activities.

Amy Cooper, CEO of Soldier On, is particularly aware of those needs—her father-in-law and partner are respectively former and current Australian Defence Forces personnel. Amy also sits on the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide reference committee, which gives her an even greater insight into the challenges facing current and former veterans and their families.

In Australia, a Royal Commission is a public hearing, independent of government, with broad powers to summon witnesses or seize documents and receive public submissions. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide was established in 2021 to inquire into systemic issues and risk factors relevant to veteran deaths by suicide, or other lived experience of suicide risk factors, and to provide a systemic analysis of the contributing factors. To date, the Commission has received more than 4,000 submissions.

Unique challenges

“One of the interesting pieces that have come out of the Royal Commission is the fact that around 80 percent of the veterans go on to have really successful civilian lives,” says Amy. “Unfortunately, 20 percent face really significant challenges.”

She says this is significant because an increasing number of service people are transitioning out of the armed forces. “Those numbers have traditionally tracked around the 5,000 mark,” she says. “This year it’s anticipated it will be closer to 7,000 people making that transition, and that number has risen over the last three years.”

“We’re also seeing trends with younger veterans discharging, so from an increased number from 25-year-olds right up to mid-30s, which changes the nature of the support that might be required for transitioning veterans.”

Soldier On is supporting around 11,000 service people, veterans, and their families this year, with programs designed to aid with health and wellbeing, employment support, and education, as well as helping make connections within the community.

Values-driven

“What attracts people to serve their nation is often very values-driven,” says Amy. “It’s about being able to serve and support the community and often they’re looking for roles that have that same altruistic service or are an intrinsic value to them.”

“Cisco Networking Academy is a strong part of our mission, particularly for our veterans and family members to thrive,” she says. “It is really focused on that positive aspect of being able to offer practical support through a range of education opportunities that the partnership provides… the courses have been a great opportunity to get many of our participants into the IT industry.”

“The very nature of the program, being very skills directed, provides good options for participants as they balance serving, or starting to think about that transition time, which is often a very busy time with relocating,” says Amy. “I think that’s a tremendous investment in veterans and their families.”

Helping veterans around the world

Soldier On is not alone in its mission to help veterans transition into new careers. In the UK, TechVets is another Cisco Networking Academy partner that helps more than 20 people per month to start new careers in IT. TechVets was founded to address a fast-growing skills gap with the rise of tech, and a national issue with unemployment and underemployment within the British Military Forces community.

And in the US, Cisco—which has consistently been recognized as a Top 10 Military Friendly Employer—has a range of veteran programs to assist veterans transitions into meaningful IT careers, including Onward to Opportunity, a program run by Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) to help service members, veterans, and spouses on their journey to meaningful employment after military service.

IVMF is also a Cisco Networking Academy partner, dedicated to serving military personnel and part of CyberVetsUSA, a fully-sponsored “veterans-first” workforce development initiative, do amazing work helping veterans transition into in-demand tech jobs.

Cisco also runs CX Apprenticeship Programs in the US and India to develop networking skills for non-traditional candidates leading to the opportunity to interview for the highly technical, customer-facing role of a Technical Consulting Engineer in Cisco’s Customer Experience organization. Around a third of the current cohort are veterans.

Cisco Networking Academy success stories

In France, Arnaud found he wasn’t academically-inclined and joined the Army, where he realized that his colleagues’ lives depended on reliable communications. After serving his country, Arnaud knew his future was in IT, and after undertaking Cisco Networking Academy training now works for a French ISP as a Network Engineer.

Vanessa was in the Brazilian Army while doing postgraduate studies in Computer Networks. Unfortunately, that knowledge wasn’t required for her job. After leaving the Army she became interested in cybersecurity, eventually taking the CyberOps Associate course with Cisco Networking Academy and landing a job as a cybersecurity analyst.

Michael joined the fire service to contribute to his community, but was called up twice to serve in Iraq. An injury ultimately ended his firefighting career, leading him to pursue a career in cybersecurity incident response. Through Cisco Networking Academy training, Michael has found a new passion in the field, driven by his commitment to service and continuous learning.

Transition to tech with

Cisco Networking Academy

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PR Newswire

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 5, 2023

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced it is making changes to its product categories and customer markets to simplify and enhance its reporting to investors and other stakeholders.

Effective Q1 FY 2024, Cisco will report its product and service revenue in the following categories: 

• Networking
• Security
• Collaboration
• Observability
• Services

The reclassified and previously reported product category revenue by quarter for fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2023, as well as other information is available on Cisco's Investor Relations website at https://investor.cisco.com/investor-relations/financial-information/Financial-Results/default.aspx

Cisco will report its customer markets in the following categories effective Q1 FY 2024:

• Enterprise
• Public Sector
• Service Provider & Cloud

These revised product categories and customer markets will be used in the Q1 FY 2024 conference call scheduled for Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

Cisco's reportable segments will continue to be based on its geographies which consist of the Americas, EMEA, and APJC.

About Cisco

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals. Discover more at newsroom.cisco.com and follow us on X at @Cisco.

Copyright © 2023 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

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SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. fell more than 11% in extended trading today as the company warned it will likely miss analysts’ expectations in its fiscal second quarter by a wide margin.

The company expects this to have a knock-on effect, and its forecast for the current fiscal year also came in low.

The disappointing guidance came in the wake of a solid earnings beat. The company reported first quarter earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of $1.11 per share, with revenue up 8% from a year earlier to $14.67 billion. The results were better-than-expected, with analysts looking for earnings of just $1.03 per share on sales of $14.61 billion.

All told, Cisco reported a net income of $3.64 billion for the quarter, up from $2.67 billion a year earlier.

Cisco said its problem is that it has experienced a notable slowdown in new product orders during the quarter. This is because many of its clients are currently busy installing and implementing products that were delivered recently, over the prior three quarters, Cisco Chief Executive Chuck Robbins (pictured) said in a conference call with analysts.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had been stuck with a backlog of unfulfilled orders caused by component shortages. But its supply chain constraints eased rapidly about a year ago as China exited its lockdown strategy, leading to a glut of product deliveries over the last four quarters. Now, customers have their hands full implementing all of those products.

“Our customers and our sales organizations have been very clear with us over the last 90 days that this is the issue,” Robbins said, though he also admitted that sales cycles are still longer than is usually the case.

According to Robbins, “customers are now taking time to onboard and deploy these heightened product deliveries,” hence the slowdown in new orders. He said it’s mainly larger enterprises, service providers and cloud customers that are facing these challenges, adding that the issue was “most pronounced in October.” On average, Cisco’s biggest customers are waiting to implement one to two quarters’ worth of shipped products, he added.

Cisco had a good quarter, but is now suffering from its post pandemic high, when it was finally able to deliver pandemic orders it could not fulfill due to supply chain challenges. Now that it has fulfilled those orders, the demand has weakened as enterprises are implementing and the channel reducing inventories. The good news is all product lines are growing, which has not been too often the case, and Cisco delivered approximately 1B more in profit on roughly 1B more in revenue, which means Chuck Robbins and team have kept costs constant and EPS per share are up a quarter. Let’s see if this trends continues.

Because of these customer issues, Cisco could only offer a much lower forecast than Wall Street analysts had been anticipating. Officials said they’re looking for earnings of between 82 and 84 cents in the second quarter, with revenue of $12.6 billion to $12.8 billion, implying a 7% decline from one year earlier. That compares very badly with the Street’s forecast of 99 cents pre share in earnings and $14.19 billion in sales.

For the full year, Cisco is reducing its revenue forecast while bumping up its view on earnings. The company now sees full-year earnings of between $3.87 and $3.93 on revenue of $53.8 billion to $55 billion. Previously, it had forecast a range of $3.19 to $3.32 in earnings and $57.0 billion to $58.2 billion in revenue. In any case, the new forecast is not great, as Wall Street is hoping for earnings of $4.05 per share on sales of $57.7 billion.

The after-hours stock decline masks the fact that Cisco delivered strong quarterly results, thanks to it finally being able to deliver pandemic-era orders that could not be fulfilled earlier, said Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. “But now those orders have been shipped, it is faced with weakening demand as enterprise implement those products and the channel reduces inventories,” he explained.

Charles King of Pund-IT Inc. said Cisco has been caught on one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations”, because it did a great job in recovering from the pandemic-related supply chain chaos and has gotten back its manufacturing mojo. However, he said many of its customers have been slower off the mark. “Many are still struggling to deploy and configure the new kit they ordered months ago, so you can’t really blame them for slowing or stopping orders to deal with the backlog,” King said. “But investors appear to be blaming Cisco anyway, for failing to live up to analysts’ consensus. That may be short-sighted, but no one ever said that life, let alone the markets, are fair.”

In the longer term, Cisco’s prospects do look better. During the quarter, it announced that it intends to buy the data analytics and cybersecurity software giant Splunk Inc. in a bumper $28 billion deal, which would be its largest-ever acquisition. The move catapults Cisco, which is best known for its networking gear as well as other data center equipment, to the leading ranks of cybersecurity providers.

Robbins said at the time the deal was announced that the combination of Cisco’s and Splunk’s data would have real value for enterprises, allowing them to “move from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention.” He said it will enable Cisco to become one of the world’s largest software companies.

Besides its cybersecurity ambitions, Cisco has a lot of hope for artificial intelligence in the longer term. During the conference call, Robbins told analysts that his company believes it can win more than $1 billion worth of orders in fiscal 2025 for AI infrastructure from cloud providers alone. He said cloud providers are looking to move to “more of a standard, broad-based technology like Ethernet, where they can have multiple sources” to support AI networking workloads.

Mueller said it’s also notable that Cisco is running a tight ship in terms of its business expenditures. “Investors can be pleased that all of Cisco’s product lines grew during the previous quarter, which has not been the case too often,” he added. “That allowed Cisco to deliver approximately $1 billion in profit on almost $15 billion in revenue. That shows Cisco has kept its cost base constant, resulting in increased earnings per share. Cisco needs to continue this trend.”

The after-hours stock decline means that Cisco’s shares are now up just 12% in the year-to-date, trailing the wider S&P 500 index, which is up 17% for the year.

Photo: Fortune GLOBAL FORUM/Flickr

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) published its 2023 Consumer Privacy Survey, an annual global review of consumers’ perceptions and behaviors on data privacy. This year’s survey highlights how younger consumers are taking deliberate action to protect their privacy, as 42% of consumers aged 18-24 exercise their Data Subject Access Rights, compared with just 6% for consumers 75 and older. Many say they have lost trust in organizations because of their use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and 50% of respondents look to the government to set rules and enforce privacy protections. The survey also provides early insights on Generative AI (Gen AI), revealing that only 12% of respondents identify as regular users.

Artificial Intelligence and Privacy Concerns

From shopping to streaming services and to healthcare, 48% of survey respondents agree that AI can be useful in improving their lives. A majority of respondents (54%) said they are willing to share their anonymized personal data to help Boost AI products and decision-making.

Nevertheless, 62% of surveyed consumers expressed concern about how organizations are using their personal data for AI today, with 60% saying that they have already lost trust in organizations because of their AI use. Organizations can implement measures to (re)gain customer trust, such as auditing products and solutions for bias, being more transparent and explaining how the AI works, ensuring human involvement, and instituting an AI Ethics Management Program.

“The world is watching how companies will approach AI in a responsible way,” said Dev Stahlkopf, Cisco Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. “For Cisco, this means keeping a desparate focus on respecting privacy and human rights as we incorporate AI technology.”

Generative AI: The Privacy Contradiction

The survey also provides an early snapshot of the use of Gen AI and some of the potential risks and privacy challenges. Generative AI is still relatively new to most people. Over half (52%) of survey respondents said they were not aware of it.

Of those that use Gen AI regularly (12%), only half indicated that they were refraining from entering personal or confidential information into Gen AI applications. It is notable that the other 50% may indeed be entering personal or confidential information. This is despite 88% of respondents indicating that they would be “Somewhat” or “Very” concerned if their data entered in Gen AI were to be shared.

Young Consumers Championing Data Privacy

This year, 33% of respondents qualify as “Privacy Actives”: they care about privacy, are willing to act to protect it, and have acted, for example by switching companies or providers because of their data policies or data sharing practices. Younger consumers are the most willing to take action to protect their privacy. Forty-two percent of consumers, aged 18-34, are Privacy Actives, a percentage that steadily decreases with age.

The percentage of consumers requesting data deletions or change rose to 19%, up from 14% last year. Again, this is highly correlated with age: thirty-two percent of consumers aged 18-24 make data deletion or change requests compared to only 4% of older consumers.

Public awareness of privacy laws continues to be relatively low with 46% of respondents aware of their country’s privacy law. Those who are aware of the law are more likely to feel they can adequately protect their data: only 40% of those unaware of their country’s law feel they can protect their data compared to 74% of those who are aware of the law. Sixty-eight percent of consumers aged 18-24 feel they can protect their data, and this gradually declines to 47% of consumers over age 65 saying so.

Role of Laws and Governments

Many consumers look to the government to set the standard of care and enforce privacy protections. Half (50%) of respondents said national or local government should have the primary role in protecting data, whereas 21% said private companies should be primarily responsible for protecting data.

“As governments pass laws and companies seek to build trust, consumers must also take action and use technology responsibly to protect their own privacy,” says Harvey Jang, Cisco Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer.

Consumers are split on the value of data localization. Most have heard about such requirements, and 76% indicated initially that data localization might be good. However, when considering the cost associated with it, thereby making products and services more expensive, only 44% were in favor of data localization.

Brisbane-headquartered managed service provider Data#3 has been named Cisco Asia-Pacific, Japan and China (APJC) customer experience partner of the year.

The company was honoured at Cisco's partner conference in Miami, where it also picked up the software partner of the year award for the sixth consecutive year.

"We are very excited to be named APJC CX partner of the year," Data#3's national manager for annuity and customer success Amanda Toogood said.

"This is fantastic recognition for the team within Data^#3 who work tirelessly with our customers, helping them to maximise the value from their technology investments."

"This award further solidifies the unique lifecycle approach we've developed with Cisco, which is a cornerstone of our strategy." 

The award recognises Data#3's commitment to delivering outstanding customer experiences in collaboration with Cisco.

"Data^#3 has been on this CX journey with Cisco for many years, and we are delighted to be recognised by Cisco in this area of joint strategic transformation," Data#3's COO John Tan said.

"We've built a strong customer-centric business with Cisco to ensure our customers benefit from the value and outcomes made possible with Cisco technology." 

HERNDON, Va., Nov. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ePlus inc. (NASDAQ NGS: PLUS – news) today announced it has been named the Global Customer Experience (CX) Partner of the Year at Cisco Partner Summit 2023. Cisco's Partner Summit Global Awards recognize top-performing partners across 21 categories demonstrating innovation in delivering solutions that help customers succeed in new ways.

Awarded to partners for standout success and exemplary sales and service, Partner Summit Global Awards are the highest form of recognition for Cisco partners.

"We have a services-led and customer-first approach to countless daily interactions where we provide innovative solutions that help our customers drive adoption and extract value from their investments in technology," said Darren Raiguel, chief operating officer of ePlus. "We are committed to enabling our customers to leverage technology and achieve their desired business outcomes. We spend the time to deeply understand our customers' challenges as well as their goals, always keeping their best interest at the core of what we do. We're honored to be recognized for our results-driven focus on behalf of our customers and the tremendous value we provide."

"The theme at Partner Summit 2023 is 'Greater Together' and our Partner Summit Global Award winners are fantastic examples of our shared success and the power of partnering," said Jeff Sharritts, EVP and Chief Customer and Partner Officer at Cisco. "Congratulations to ePlus for being Customer Experience Partner of the Year for 2023. You have demonstrated your ability to deliver outstanding results, respond to customers' challenges, and lead in a dynamic competitive landscape."

ePlus carries multiple Cisco Master Specialization Certifications across Data Center and Hybrid Cloud, Collaboration, Networking, Service Provider and Security. The company also has earned advanced architecture specializations in Collaboration, Advanced Enterprise Networks, Customer Experience, Data Center, Unified Contact Center Enterprise, Service Provider and Security, and holds specializations in Hyperflex, IOT, IOT Advantage, Umbrella for MSSPs, Webex Contact center, Collaboration SaaS, Environmental Sustainability, Full-Stack Observability Solution, Hybrid Work from Office Solution and Secure Access Service Edge Solutions. ePlus also carries Cisco Powered Service designations in Cisco SD-WAN, Meraki SD-WAN, Meraki Access, Webex Contact Center, Cloud Calling, Cloud Managed Security, Managed Business Communications, and Managed Security.

Earlier this year, ePlus, as well as its London-based subsidiary, IGXGlobal UK Limited, successfully achieved renewal of the Cisco Gold Certified Provider Partner and Gold Integrator designations.

For more information about Cisco solutions from ePlus, visit www.eplus.com/cisco.

About ePlusinc.

ePlus has an unwavering and relentless focus on leveraging technology to create inspired and transformative business outcomes for its customers. Offering a robust portfolio of solutions, as well as a broad range of consultative and managed services across the technology spectrum, ePlus has proudly achieved more than 30 years of success, carrying customers forward through adversity, rapidly changing environments, and other obstacles. ePlus is a trusted advisor, bringing expertise, credentials, talent and a thorough understanding of innovative technologies, spanning security, cloud, data center, networking, collaboration and emerging solutions, to organizations across all industry segments. With complete lifecycle management services and flexible payment solutions, ePlus' more than 1,850 associates are focused on cultivating positive customer experiences and are dedicated to their craft, harnessing new knowledge while applying decades of proven experience. ePlus is headquartered in Virginia, with locations in the United States, UK, Europe, and Asia‐Pacific. For more information, visit www.eplus.com, call 888-482-1122, or email info@eplus.com. Connect with ePlus on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. ePlus, Where Technology Means More®.

ePlus®, Where Technology Means More®, and ePlus products referenced herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of ePlus inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of other companies, products, and services mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains information about management's view of ePlus' future expectations, plans and prospects that are not historical facts and may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements." genuine and anticipated future results may vary materially due to certain risks and uncertainties. Certain risks and uncertainties that may affect such "forward-looking statements" are detailed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially under the heading "Risk Factors". All information set forth in this press release is current as of the date of this release and ePlus expressly disclaims any duty or obligation to update this information, except as may be required by law.

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SOURCE EPLUS INC.