Cisco Partner Career Day 2008 hosted by Cisco in conjunction with the Cisco
Networking Academy and the University of Pretoria, attracted Cisco
Networking Academy graduates that were interviewed by Cisco channel
partners. The event provided Cisco partners with an opportunity to meet and
interview graduates face-to-face and expose them to openings within their
organisations, while graduates had the opportunity to network with and
assess prospective employers.
According to Prabashni Pillay, channel manager for Cisco South Africa,
market growth is dependent on nurturing new skills and having the right
experts in place at the right time.
"We are committed to helping our partners hire, develop and retain the right
talent that will match their business and technology needs. Our investment
in developing the talent pools within our partner community will ultimately
support the broader industry. When one takes into account the massive growth
in Internet traffic, attracting and retaining the correct skills is
critical," said Pillay.
The Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast for 2007-2012 projects growth in
Internet Protocol (IP) traffic at a combined annual growth rate of 46
percent from 2007 to 2012, nearly doubling every two years. This will result
in an annual bandwidth demand on the world's IP networks of approximately
half a zettabyte, which is equivalent to 250 billion DVDs.
Increased broadband penetration in the small to medium enterprise (SME)
segment and the increased adoption of advanced video communications in the
workplace are major drivers for business IP traffic growth.
Last month, Cisco unveiled its Partner Talent Portal, another initiative the
company undertook to address the skills gap. The Partner Talent Portal
provides channel partners with access to Cisco Networking Academy graduates
to help facilitate the connection between Cisco channel partners and this
proven talent pool.
"If the skills shortage is not addressed urgently, it is only going to grow
and result in hindered economic growth. We believe that initiatives such as
Partner Career Day, which we aim to host annually, is an important step in
paving the way for addressing the challenges we currently face," concludes
Pillay.