Demand for local Cisco skills

By Alex Kayle, Senior portals journalist

Johannesburg, 07 Jul 2009

AT Services, a Cisco professional services subcontractor partner, supports Cisco in addressing the local IT skills gap through the Global Talent Acceleration Programme (GTAP).

AT Services has employed two of the 14 GTAP graduates.

Brian Tarr, MD of AT Services, says: “There is a huge demand globally for SA-trained Cisco specialists, based on their broad experience and work ethic. This has resulted in a large exodus of Cisco skills from SA.

“In addition, there has been a reduction in school leavers wanting to make IT their career which has also fuelled the skills crisis. The tremendous growth in IT in emerging Africa has exacerbated the problem.”

Tarr adds that one of AT Service's Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts (CCIEs) has been credited with training and certifying 52 CCIEs around the world and AT Services is using his experience and skills to develop and grow its skills base.

According to Tarr, AT Services will address the skills shortfall by boosting skills development within its technical staff, as well as further employing and training technicians with Cisco skills.

“Focusing on services and skills is a key differential as we are able to provide services and skills directly to our client base, as well as allowing us to partner with other Cisco partners who may need Cisco skills on an 'as and when required' basis,” says Tarr.

He adds that Cisco's transition from a routing and switching company to a communication services company has resulted in an explosion of new Cisco solutions in SA, particularly around unified communications, security, next-generation networks and data centres.

Skills development

Last year, Cisco introduced the GTAP facility in Johannesburg. GTAP is a long-term Cisco initiative aimed at developing next-generation local network consulting engineers for the company.

According to Cisco, the Johannesburg facility was the second GTAP initiative to be deployed in emerging countries, following the establishment of a facility in Amman, Jordan. It is hoped the Johannesburg facility will eventually act as an IT hub for Africa.

Phil Wolfenden, senior director of Cisco Advanced Services in emerging markets, says: “Demand for technical talent has undoubtedly exceeded supply in emerging Africa. The launch of the GTAP in SA furthers our commitment to support governments in addressing the shortfall.”

Last year, Cisco said it was investing R215 million in the Cisco Innovation Hub Technology Centre (CIHTC), situated in the Innovation Hub, in Pretoria. Cisco says the CIHTC is aimed at fostering and developing local skills, intellectual property, entrepreneurship and solution development capabilities in the local ICT sector. Cisco wants to create more than 200 direct jobs and 800 indirect jobs.