Interview with Aaron Harrison
A principal engineer with Logicalis in the U.K., Aaron Harrison visits Cisco Support Community when he receives email notification that someone has posted in a Unified Communications forum. He says, “If you post a question, it’s very likely you’ll receive a good response more quickly than if you had opened a TAC case.”
BACKGROUND
Q. How did you get involved in the networking industry?
A. I began my IT career with a company in U.K., providing support for servers and desktops. We were one of the first companies in the U.K. to deploy Cisco CallManager, and I was intrigued. That inspired me to move to work for a Cisco partner and study for my CCIE Voice certification, which I received in 2004.
Q. What’s your current role?
A. I joined Logicalis in 2006. We’re a Cisco Gold Certified Partner covering the full Cisco product portfolio. I’m a principal engineer specializing in Unified Communications and contact centers, acting as part of a small team that works with high-end projects. Our team also resolves technical problems that have been escalated.
CHALLENGE
Q. What challenges influenced you to use the Cisco Support Community?
A. I started visiting the Cisco Support Community when I began studying for the CCIE Voice exam. At the time, only 50 people had passed the voice exam, and study materials were rare. My approach to studying was reading posts to see what problems people were experiencing. If I knew the answer, I responded, and if I didn’t, I’d build a lab to learn the answer.
Q. How do you take advantage of Cisco Support Community today?
A. I’ve signed up to receive email notifications when someone posts to a Unified Communications forum, and respond if I have something to contribute. I typically visit multiple times a day, including weekends!
Q. How does Cisco Support Community compare to other support resources you use?
A. Cisco Support Community has a unique role because it’s so relevant to my work. If you post a question, it’s very likely you’ll receive a good response more quickly than if you had opened a TAC case. When I need information I also visit cisco.com, do Google searches, and refer to books from Cisco Press.
Q. What do you find the most rewarding about contributing?
A. People who are working on a weekend sometimes find themselves in a desperate situation with nobody around to help. On several occasions I’ve been able to make a suggestion that really helped someone out, and that’s quite rewarding.
Q.What do you regard as your greatest accomplishment to date in your networking career?
A. I’d have to say it was receiving the CCIE Voice, and within six months. Of all the certifications I’ve received from manufacturers, the CCIE is definitely the most difficult. In terms of my actual work, I enjoy contact center projects. By thoughtfully designing a contact center, you can help to transform the customer’s business in a very visible way.
CISCO SUPPORT COMMUNITY
Q.What is your overall impression of Cisco Support Community?
A. Cisco Support Community is one of the best technical forums on the Internet because of the quality of the participants. Many NetPros have been part of the community for years, visit nearly every day, and dependably provide answers. If you post a question, the odds are very high that a very bright person will answer it promptly.
Q. Do you have any suggestions for possible changes to the site?
A. Many people post questions that have already been answered. When people start to post, it would be good to prompt them to try searching first.
Q. How about a message for fellow members of the Cisco Support Community.
A. Please rate posts, and always post back with details of what finally resolved your issue. In other forums where people don’t routinely rate responses, visitors have no idea of knowing whether a particular suggestion actually worked, and the threads often just trail off. Rating also helps people quickly identify useful threads during searches.
