With the gap of security sales growing between Cisco and the other security competitors, GSSO will need to consider layoffs even though there already has been high attrition. Security competition is growing at a much higher rate and distancing themselves from Cisco in a big way. Layoffs are inevitable as the single digit growth by Cisco is not acceptable. Even the worse security competitors are growing by double digits. CSSs will get bigger territories and bigger goals. TSAs will ultimately be pooled. That is why TSAs are in Click2Expert now so it is an easy transition to the pooled model for phase 2. The current GSSO SLT is completely unable to lead sales and engineering and don’t have the boldness as real leaders to stand up to us and say they made a mistake in 1H. Instead they come up with something that still has not paid out and it is a huge mess with no data to validate if my pay is even right. As a seller, my pay is completely dependent on this and we are ignored by leadership continually. And they wonder why there is high attrition across GSSO. Our poor TSAs have the worst engineering leadership possible who are all about bowing to the Click2Expert disaster that no one wants especially our customers. I talk to my peer PSSs in other architectures and they have made it clear that Click2Expert is a complete disaster and causes them more losses and cleanup. Customers are even complaining about getting a new TSA every time and have to share and answer the same questions. My peer PSSs spend a significant amount of time in internal prep meetings for the Click2Expert TSA.
Literally, security is one of the hottest technologies and top of mind for customers, and GSSO has allowed the distractions of inept executive leadership which has caused mass distractions from goaling, compensation, out of touch with the industry and field, infighting within GSSO SLT, to name a few. This has resulted in ODs, to CSSs to leave in masses. The Click2Expert disaster is making TSAs leave in masses also. Unfortunately, those things above have been the SLT focus instead of actually driving security sales. There is a reason why the competition security sales growth is well in the double digits and Cisco is single digits. The security competitors have taken advantage of the ineptness of GSSO SLT to grow sales at significant double digits distance themselves from Cisco Security. The security competitors are using these distractions with customers and customers are buying into it. That is the reality that GSSO SLT needs to accept whether they want to or not. The numbers don’t lie. The competition is using our sales processes against us to take talent and win deals. They are even using our technical processes against us that happens with other technologies. Many customers ask me if my TSA will still be dedicated to them or will they get a new TSA for each meeting. The competition is literally planting that seed of doubt with customers and it is working. The GSSO SLT is unwilling to re-evaluate and is too inward focus instead of focused in driving security sales.