Faisal I have enjoyed speaking with you and visiting with your company in Toronto. In fact the mixer I had with your class back in September was great fun. I have the picture of you and your class with me at Dave and Busters on a slide I use at talent forums as part of my presentation. We have come through a tough year for the economies of many countries. I look at you as someone who is a world traveler in your calling as a CCIE Trainer. So I am glad to be able to ask you a few questions about what you have seen and what you are planning in 2009. I am happy to have you on board as a contributor to the CCIE Flyer in 2009!
Q: Why did you choose IT for a career?
A: I have always been a hands-on guy from childhood. Always like to do engineering stuff. However while in High School, I first decided to be an architect as I liked drawing blue prints. I was fascinated by how vision can become reality in architectural world. You have a vision and then you lay it down. However for some reason I end up in a Computer Engineer course back in college. Being new to the country, English not being the 1st language, it was extremely difficult for me to continue in college and catch up with the rest of the class. I was always falling behind or end up copying someone else work since I did not understand. Ultimately, I decided to drop out of college and get a security job for a $8 per hour. While doing security job, I got to learn about Microsoft Certification program. So I decided to continue on that track since I did not want to do security for rest of my life. What really got me in to IT was the money. Since I enjoyed doing networking and loved it so much, at the same time making $50 per hour at age 18 years old, It was like a vision becoming reality.
Q: How did you end up deciding to pursue CCIE certifications and why?
A: While after doing my CCNA, I continue to take up challenge to ensure my skills were up to date. I was never scared of taking up any technology as long as I like it. Cisco product was interesting and I end up deciding to focus on this area. Once I got to learn more about CCIE Program, I started to grow interest in this certificate.
Q: Was the preparation for your 1st CCIE lab difficult? What resources did you use to prepare?
A: All CCIE exams are difficult. I have taught CCIE by myself. Failed miserably several time but never give up.
Q: Did you have a professional mentor back then?
A: My main mentor was ME. I am a self taught engineer/IT professional or even genitor in my own office. I relied mostly on Cisco.com documentation few books from Cisco press etc.
Q: Was the preparation for your 2nd CCIE lab difficult? Did you prepare differently the 2nd time? Was it any easier the 2nd time around?
A: Preperation for 2nd CCIE was bit more difficult since my 1st attempt of the 2nd CCIE was right after my marriage. So as you can understand newly WED, and CCIE does not go together. At the same time I was out of my contract job so no income. It costed me a lot but finished it in 6 month time frame.
Q: When you decided to begin training folks in preparation for CCIE Voice you happened to pick a hot area of focus for my recruiting efforts. Why did you make a decision to focus in that area?
A: Unified Communication is a very interesting field. I believe UC will become an infrastructure which almost all size of companies will rely upon. The most important reason is this technology is FUN to play with. After teaching for 12 years, I realized that industry was missing an important part of the training that was specialization. We focused 100% on Unified Communication to ensure that we are expert in what we do.
Q: How long did it take to realize you had made a good choice in your career?
A: from Day 1. I always love engineering/breaking and troubleshooting.
Q: What advice would you give others who are thinking about a career in networking?
A: Whatever technology you choose, ensure that it will make you part of a elite group not just a group. You need to ensure that your skills are up to date . Do not chase for course that will not give you anything at the end other the general training.
Q: The next generation of network engineers and CCIEs are going to be influential in the changes our society experiences. What do you think will be the single most important technical advancement you have experienced that will influence the direction of the future in networking?
A: As we are becoming more dependent on technology, I believe creating a unified communication platform where you can practically be connected to your corporate office from any other part of the world.
Q: You are the heart and soul of Voice Bootcamp and spend many hours making your dream a reality. Not many people will go to the ends of the earth to make their dreams come true. You have taught in many locations and I know you have a large base of folks who look up to you for your expertise. What are your current plans for new offerings or changes in 2009?
A: After doing industry analysis, interviewing many candidates who are certified or got training from other schools, we realized that something was missing from the industry, a course that shows you the entire picture. We wanted to create a course that will BENEFIT both employee and employer. The dilemma of certification courses is, once employee get certified, it is more beneficial toward the individual. Most likely employee will get a better job once they are certified. Even if they do stay, they got to learn piece of the picture. For employer having employee with half of the skills is not an efficient. Therefore we created a course that will provide an employee with the most intensive hands on training on Unified Communication that covers the entire platform that is deployed in real world thus saves employer further training money from being wasted and employee with more skills for the same amount that he/she paid.
Q: Do you read the CCIE Flyer? What do you like about it?
A: Yes, I do read and visit CCIE Flyers. The think we like the most is its vertical aspect. Since we are also focused on a specific area of technology, I believe this allow us to serve our client better.