For Cisco Insider Wouter Hindriks, curiosity and keenness for downside fixing are keys to success.

Cisco’s advocacy neighborhood, Cisco Insider Advocates, brings our clients collectively and supplies a manner for them to make highly effective connections, develop their skilled and private networks, and be taught from high consultants of their subject. One among our targets with our advocacy neighborhood is to deepen {our relationships} with our clients. Our Q&A sequence permits us to shine a highlight on a few of our most passionate advocates as we be taught extra about their tales and backgrounds.

Immediately, we’ve got one of many friendliest faces locally becoming a member of us for a chat. I’m excited to welcome Wouter Hindriks from Avit Group BV.

Welcome, Wouter! It’s so nice to talk with you at present! Let’s kick issues off by studying just a little bit about who you might be.

I’m a 45-year-old safety architect residing and dealing within the Netherlands. I’m married to Naomi, and we’ve got two kids, ages 12 and 16.

The place did you start your profession in IT? And what skilled determination or alternative introduced you to your present place?

I began working part-time on an web assist desk when many individuals had been getting on-line for the primary time with dial-up web entry. I had a number of jobs and roles after that and labored in numerous international locations earlier than accepting my present place at Avit Group, a community integrator and managed companies supplier.

The menace panorama retains shifting, with new dangerous actors, exploits, and assaults on the horizon. As defenders, we have to maintain altering with it. Avit Group protects and displays our clients’ environments for threats and accommodates incidents earlier than they result in a disruption. In my function as a safety architect, I design our service choices to make sure we ship the most recent and biggest services and products to maintain customers and information safe throughout the globe.

I spend time with clients, colleagues, and Cisco specialists to find out about evolving challenges and confirmed options to assist enhance our choices. As well as, via the Cisco Insider Advocates neighborhood, I get common updates from Cisco Talos, Cisco’s menace intelligence analysis group, in addition to insights from my trade friends and different safety practitioners worldwide.

What an unimaginable journey you’ve been on, Wouter. How has partnering with Cisco helped you in your function?

Cisco has performed an vital function in my profession for the reason that starting; I obtained a Cisco CCNA certification, which actually helped my profession early on. Working at a telco, you’ll encounter Cisco within the edge and core networks, after which, you’ll be happy to see Cisco options in your information heart, website networks, or safety setup. The standard of documentation and buyer help makes Cisco reliable—each paperwork and TAC help have saved my day (and evening) quite a few occasions!

It’s nice to listen to how Cisco’s options have been instrumental all through your profession! Let’s transfer on to our buyer advocacy neighborhood. How would you describe Cisco Insider Advocates to those that aren’t acquainted with it?

Cisco Insider Advocates is a world neighborhood for know-how lovers to attach with each other. New data, attention-grabbing articles about Cisco’s merchandise and applied sciences, and posts from different members are all the time out there. Taking part in actions on this neighborhood additionally provides you factors to alternate for cool rewards too.

The rewards are positively an ideal incentive! You’re one in every of our neighborhood’s “Rockstars” and are part of the “Safety Heroes.” What made you wish to be a part of, and the way has being part of this neighborhood impacted you each professionally and personally?

I joined the neighborhood at Cisco Stay Berlin in 2017 and was instantly impressed by the sheer scale and number of actions out there. On the occasion, I used to be capable of benefit from my go to by utilizing the Cisco Insider App, which provided data on the accessible places and pushed me to discover completely different elements of Cisco Stay.

Then, after the Cisco Stay occasion, I stored coming again to the neighborhood for the data, conversations, and invaluable alternatives. Being a member of this neighborhood has allowed me to assist others and shortly join with different consultants in varied ICT fields. As a Rockstar, I get pleasure from unique challenges, rewards, and occasions. By collaborating with neighborhood managers and collaborating in actions, I’ve contributed to weblog posts, movies, and even spoken at Cisco Stay and safety podcasts. This enhanced my writing and talking talents and strengthened my private model, which helped me stand out to colleagues, clients, and potential employers.

We’d love to listen to about your latest expertise at Cisco Stay 2024 Amsterdam. We perceive that you just attended together with your daughter this 12 months too. How was it sharing Cisco Stay together with her? On a scale of 1-5 *(5 being the very best), how would you fee your general expertise this 12 months in comparison with earlier conferences?***

Dwelling simply 20 minutes from the venue, Cisco Stay Amsterdam felt like a house sport. It was fantastic displaying my daughter round and introducing her to everybody I’ve met over time. I’d fee my expertise a 4.5 this 12 months as I had an Explorer move, which restricted entry to technical breakout periods. Nonetheless, the occasion was well-organized with good meals, many cubicles, and educated people prepared to help. Interacting with Cisco’s senior management this time was actually insightful; I used to be capable of have temporary conversations with Oliver Tuszik and Jeetu Patel, which enhanced my understanding of Cisco’s imaginative and prescient and allowed me to share my very own concepts and challenges.

By means of Cisco Insider Advocates, I used to be additionally capable of meet with the Cisco U group to share my ideas on a consumer’s coaching and academic wants general and supply suggestions on Cisco’s present certifications.

Since 2017, I’ve attended Cisco Stay in Berlin, Madrid, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Amsterdam. It’s all the time a pleasure to reconnect with mates and meet new folks. Whereas the Cisco Insider Advocate actions add pleasure to those occasions, the devoted lounge for Insiders additionally supplies a soothing retreat throughout the busy occasion, and assembly neighborhood members and managers in individual is all the time a deal with!

Glad to listen to you loved Cisco Stay this 12 months, Wouter! As you talked about, we had tons of thrilling actions deliberate within the Cisco Insider sales space and one in every of them was the chance to have a dialog with David Bombal, a British YouTuber and tech influencer. How was your interplay with him, and what subjects did you talk about?

It was a delight to have an interview with David Bombal. We spoke about what it takes to get forward in IT and what has helped me turn into a safety architect. I emphasised the significance about staying curious, embracing challenges, and studying from each expertise whereas actively collaborating locally round you to facilitate development and studying.

I’m comfortable for you, Wouter. It sounds such as you had a memorable expertise at Cisco Stay this 12 months. We’re virtually on the finish of our interview, and we’d love to complete with three issues you may’t stay with out.

Apart from the plain reply: Spouse and youngsters? It might be:

New issues to resolve
New issues to construct
New folks to fulfill

It’s been a pleasure to talk with you, Wouter. Thanks once more for becoming a member of us!

Learn extra advocate interviews.

You may get pleasure from this interview with Cisco Insider Tim Harmon.

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