Partner: “So, you’d say that’s the best option for us?”
Sergio (Cisco Virtual SE): “Well, if your aim is to update now and maybe scale up in the future, it’ll work out best.”
It’s 3pm GMT and I’m sitting at my desk in London, helping a Chilean partner, who’s trying to make a sale to one of his customers.
I spend most of my day speaking, in English, with people from all four corners of the globe, but Cisco makes good use of my native Spanish too and I often help out the LatAm team.
A pretty normal 3pm at Cisco then.
Chilean customer: “Yeah, so we’ll need at least 3 devices with 24 mouths to replace our existing, right?”
Me: Eh? Mouths? Ok then.
Chile AM: “Um, yeah, I’m sure our engineer Sergio can confirm… right Sergio?”
Me: Um… “un momento, por favor”. Our engineer Sergio is slightly adrift at this point. Mouths? (¿Bocas?)
I rifle through the filing cabinets of my brain – what are they on about? – until I finally get it… puertos!
They’re on about puertos – ports! Obviously. Ports are for ships. What could be more obvious than a switch with mouths?
After a moment that could be the dictionary definition of awkward pause, I recover myself and begin.
“Well, Miguel, the Catalyst 2960X…”
Honestly, I know I don’t speak the Queen’s English but I never thought I’d see the day when the only people I manage to misunderstand are speaking español!
Seriously though, one of my favourite things about working in Cisco is the internationalism. It’s testament to the ability of Cisco to enable communication around the globe.
I can start the morning by helping a partner in Japan with a question about licensing before my calendar reminds me to attend a training session in the UK about the newest version of Cisco Active Advisor. Then, maybe it’s time to jump into a WebEx meeting with a Finnish partner to discuss the latest development in CMX (Connected Mobile Experiences) to help him pitch the solution they are prepping.
After lunch, another WebEx where I demonstrate, say, Cisco Energy Manager (a personal favourite – I love that Cisco technology can make businesses greener by reducing their carbon footprint) using the dCloud resources for a company in Colombia. All the while answering questions from my GVSO colleagues using Cisco Jabber. Then finishing the day by following up requests that I answered yesterday to make sure everyone’s happy with the resolution.
I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even explained what GVSO is! Well, at Cisco we do like an acronym – technically, I’m a VSE working in the GVE section of the GVSO (part of GPO) after graduating from CSAP, which gives opportunities in CPOC Lab and EBC in addition to GVE.
Got it?
What all that means is that I did the Cisco Sales Associate Programme (CSAP), a graduate scheme where you can rotate through the Cisco Proof of Concept Lab (CPOC), the Executive Business Centre (EBC) and Global Virtual Engineering (GVE). I stuck with the last, working with the rest of the Global Virtual Sales Organization (GVSO), part of the Global Partner Organization (GPO).
My job is as a Virtual Sales Engineer (VSE) and I can confidently say that I love it.
The virtual role gives me the chance to work with so many different people using so many different platforms. I still find mind-blowing the scale and pace of working virtually from a single desk in London. I’d recommend it to anyone.
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3 Comments
Drink all that in, only except the Spanish spice 🙂
As a LATAM colleague of Sergio, I can relate to all the points. Love the job and the ability to make a difference virtually all around the world thanks to technology!
Awesome article! There will always be room for humor in these multi-language, global engagements. Our Chilean friends are somewhat correct, too! ‘Boca’ means ‘an inlet’, as described in this history lesson from the City of Boca Raton: http://www.bocahistory.org/our-history/