I’ve been attending ICT industry partner in-person and ondemand online training events for 26 years. For the most part they’ve remained static, one-way information delivery events. Channel managers and/or sales engineers would deliver a “solution sales” slidedeck monologue and the attending audience of technolgy advisors would fight against the overwhelming urge to fall asleep from lack of intellectual stimulation.
At last week’s West Coast “Emerging Technology Bootcamp” in Coronado California, Geoff Shepstone’s TBI set a new standard for technology advisor training by focusing on “asking” instead of “telling’ which more more closely replicates that actual solution solving scenarios that we all find ourselves engaged in when it comes to answering CxO and IT director’s questions, “How do I choose between different SD-WAN solution technologies based on my company’s unique situation?”
Correctly Match 3 Different SD-WAN Solutions to 6 Different “Which SD-WAN Do I Pick?” Scenarios…
The unique new training standard that TBI brought to the BootCamp Event was powerfully delivered on Day 2 by the GTT presenter & sales engineer Ed Andros and channel sales director Sherry Staiger. Like many other similar SD-WAN solution providers, GTT offeres three different SD-WAN solutions: 1) VMware/Velocloud, 2) Silver Peak, and 3) Fortinet.
Unlike almost every other SD-WAN solution engineering training event since the invention of SD-WAN, Ed didn’t drone on spewing features and benefits of the three different platforms. Instead he asked, “Why is your client even considering a migration to SD-WAN or a switch from another SD-WAN vendor?” Ed answered his own question by leading into six company scenario specific challenges that begged for the unique benefits of one SD-WAN provider over another. He then drove the SD-WAN scenario challenge home by directing all attendees into tabletop groups to then sort through the six scenarios and then best match them to the best of three SD-WAN providers. And then after 10-minutes each table had to deliver their selection report – kind of like a pop quiz to see who was paying attention!
Asking In Place of Telling Better Addresses & Solves Customer SD-WAN Problems…
By “asking instead of telling”, Ed, Sherry & GTT delivered for the event attendees exactly what Dave Landsberger, TBI’s training director and Eric Hills, TBI’s training manager must have had in mind when they asked themselves when planning the TBI 2022 regional bootcamps, “How can we ensure our attendees learn as much as possible in an event that’s barely 27-hours long?”
The challenge of “here’s how to choose, now choose” workshop process was repeated with every vendor presentation over the 2-day event. After the very first breakout session all participants realized that they needed to shift into their “active listening” mode in order to not embarass themselves in front of their peers.
To experience an example of the TBI Bootcamp method that’s setting a new standard for technology advisor training events, click this Powerpoint deck and scroll to pages 9 through 18 and then answer for yourself, “Which of the 3 SD-WAN providers, VMware/Velocloud, Silver Peak or Fortinet is best suited for each of the 6 company challnge scenarios.
TA has invited GTT to present each of the 6 scenarios and why which of their 3 SD-WAN providers is best matched on a recorded webinar which we’ll publish here on the TA blog so check back here soon.
Need a Personalized & Expert SD-WAN Comparison Review Between VMware/Velocloud, Silver Peak & Fortinet?
If you’re a CxO or IT director trying to decide which SD-WAN solution is best for your unique environment, TA & TBI are happy to setup an exploration call with GTT’s SD-WAN solution engineer Ed Andros as well as one or more of TBI’s vendor neutral engineering team to speak to your IT team. Simply email Dan@TelecomAssociation.com with “SD-WAN-Engineering-Consult-Request” in the subject line and a brief description of your situation in the body so we can begin the process of engineering the correct solution for your unique situation.
Learn More About GTT & TBI’s SD-WAN Engineering Success Stories from the Following…
35 TBI SD-WAN Blog Posts
14 TBI Engineering Vendor Neutral Consulting Blog Posts
GTT’s SD-WAN Bootcamp Presentation Powerpoint Slides by Ed Andros
GTT VMware/Velocloud SD-WAN Video Webinar & Powerpoint Slides
GTT Silver Peak SD-WAN Video Webinar & Powerpoint Slides
GTT Forinet SD-WAN Video Webinar & Powerpoint Slides