Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

You’re all acting like this is new. GSSO and SBG have sucked got many years. We’re in the end game now, but you’re acting like it’s just starting to sink.

Been in GSSO for 5 years as a CSE/TSA. Been at Cisco since late 2000s and security focused almost 2 decades. I 100% agree that the new hires' security skill set is far inferior. Most have no field experience or operational knowledge.
I am seeing the competition hire ex-Cisconians that have the experience, knowledge while Cisco seems to be backfilling with cheap, inexperienced candidates.
Cisco also seems to be painting this "Best place to work" and "Be you with us" motto and focus so much on diversity, which is great, but seems to have lost the focus on technology and being a technology innovator and leader. That last part ki--s me.
Time will tell how this will unfold but 1 thing is for sure, there is a mass exodus of skilled, experienced people to the competition.

Security is getting beat everywhere in Enterprise. SB’s investment into SMB is d-mbfounded. I have never seen a person so unqualified as SB is.

The reason this is happening is because senior leadership do not understand technology at a deep level. There is no real technologist on the ELT - they are all sales people and as such they only understand sales. They think anyone can pick this techno stuff up, after all, even their 10 year old kid can drive an iPhone right and is doing computer stuff in the 5th grade... So how hard can this technology stuff be and why do we need all these expensive experts? That's their mindset, regrettably.

Fragile TSA ???

Whether or not that was Eric K is debatable but one thing that is not debatable in that message is that the competition is hiring and Cisco is not.

No way that post is from EK, just saying….

MK - If that was really you, the best thing you can do to improve is to get rid of it. We all know that goes against you kissing up to EK. Our customers DO NOT want Agile TSA.

The GSSO MK is destroying GSSO Engineering cause he is kissing up to EK too. And you all want to know why the best talent is leaving and why security is only growing 1%. How about focusing on actual selling instead of focusing on your career next move. How about standing up and saying let’s pause and re-evaluate. Nope, not with EK, SB, and the MKs, they are forcing everyone down the path of a disaster.

Agile TSA is a train wreck. Every TSA I know has left or currently leaving. Agile TSA has and is driving our best and brightest talent away and nobody at Cisco cares. EK just continues to shove it down everyones throat.

Not all TSAs are created equal, some are better than others. TSAs should be allocated based on the dollar value of the deal being pursued. You get what you paid for.

Agile TSA is a disaster. Just ask any of my peer AMs or SAs. Understand that no Director or AVP or EK is going to admit that nor do they want to hear it cause it goes against their personal promote me agenda. It would be nice if Directors and AVPs would actually take customers into consideration. That is why the competition is taking out Cisco more and more cause the competition is very customer focused and not internal personal agenda focused. Agile TSA does not allow for technical relationships beyond the opportunity. The way that Engineering leadership is treating our SAs and TSAs are embarrassing. I would not have been successful in the past without SAs and TSAs that are invested in my accounts.

If GSSO is going Agile TSA as it seems based on OP, then I will not be able to sell security into my account base. Our customers do not want Agile TSA. Why do you think the competition is getting more traction and winning. Our competitors are cheering on Agile TSA cause they know their customers have had horrible experiences with it. When I have to apologize for Agile TSA after most meetings then that is telling in and of itself.

Everyone knows that Cisco is trying to lower the cost of technical pre-sales in the field whether you are an SA or TSA.

RE: "We have many examples of this costing us deals." - If you would be willing, I would greatly appreciate you sharing these with me. I want to continue to understand what we should/can do to better improve Agile TSA, and that can best be done through continued open dialog. Sincerely, Mike Kraus

Agile TSA is a great example of how we have made it difficult to provide customer success. Agile TSA is causing us to lose more than ever before. We have many examples of this costing us deals.

RE: "The requestor will only get the same TSA if the TSA being requested has "capacity"." Entirely true, but if you think it's best that a given TSA still support the opportunity. I would encourage you to reach out to the TSA and/or their manager to support, I've seen good results there as most want to do the right thing.

The requestor will only get the same TSA if the TSA being requested has "capacity". That is an entirely arbitrary metric and is set on a TSA by TSA basis. The flip side to this is some TSAs get engaged to the point of over capacity while others only get engaged when the requestor has little choice. In a perfect world all engineers would have the same technical chops, lab access, presentation skills, and engaging personalities....but we do not live in a perfect world.

In Agile TSA, the requesters picks which TSA they want. I would always try to engage the TSA who has previous experience with the customer (assuming they have the right technical background). And, the engagement is until the opportunity is technically closed (that can be years, it's totally fine). If you are getting a different TSA every time, something is broken and you should escalate.

No LRs on the horizon for the next 9 months, stop with this fear mongering.

Agree with OP. Truth hurts don’t it. Let the facts speak for themselves. Every security competitor is growing double digits but Cisco is not. Cisco puts someone in charge of global sales for an organization that has never been a sales person and never had a sales leadership role at any level. Not very hard to figure out that layoffs are coming to GSSO.