A Cisco certification is a quality assurance stamp on the person holding that certification. When you talk with someone who has a certification, they start to shine and show their expertise.

Senior data center engineer

Joacim Wicander

"A Cisco certification is a quality assurance stamp on the person holding that certification. When you talk with someone who has a certification, they start to shine and show their expertise."

How it all began


CCIE to Cisco Champion

Joacim shows off a CCIE tattoo

Early in my career, I was working in IT at Växjö University (now part of Linneaus University) in southern Sweden. We started with a student computer network to help students get email and Internet access. Later, I transitioned into the IT Department and started taking over the entire university network.

I always wanted to be a consultant, so I took the step in 2000 to change my employer to Merkantildata and become a networking consultant. Six months later, I earned the CCNA certification, which was my first certification. Since I started working as a consultant I’ve loved it. I earned my next certification in CCNP Routing and Switching in 2008.

In 2010, when Cisco was launching the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), I was in the data center helping a customer build a network. When I saw the launch, I thought that’s cool and decided then and there that I wanted to work with data center technology. Just three weeks after Cisco launched Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) in 2014, I was the first in Sweden, maybe in Northern Europe, to convince our sales guys that we should go with Cisco ACI to a customer RFI (Request for Information).

CCIE to Cisco Champion

I’ve been a CCIE Data Center since November of 2015, which helped me land the job I have now. Now I'm more of a NetDevOps guy because I'm writing more code than doing network configuration. I'm constantly needing to read up on what's new and what's happening in the data center area because all my colleagues are coming to me asking what's going on.

I wasn't that much of an influence on other consultants or technicians before I moved over to Conscia in 2017. Back then, I joined what’s now called Cisco Insider Advocates. I started out just trying to help guys in the data center area. But nowadays, I try to help everybody who's interested in seeking more knowledge or trying to figure out a big problem for them that might not be a big problem for me. I love helping people and want to spread the knowledge. I've also been accepted as a Cisco Champion this year.

About Joacim

Certifications

CCNA
CCNP
CCIE Data Center

Location

Moheda, Sweden

Hobbies

  • Strength training
  • Spend time with my wife and our Welsh Corgi Pembroke
  • Follow the Formula One circuit
  • Watch training videos
  • Listen to podcasts

What does having a Cisco Certification mean to you?

"Cisco certifications mean that you know how to work with the technology you are certified in. For example, the CCIE is a huge stress test. What you do in eight hours would probably take two to four days at the customer site."

When you meet someone who already has the CCIE and you start talking with them, they start to shine because they can show that they are knowledgeable in their area of expertise. It’s the same for CCNA and CCNP. With a Cisco certification you understand the Cisco language more.


Joacim Wicander

What would you tell your younger self?

First, start getting your certifications early and start with CCNA.  Travel up the ladder to CCNP as soon as you can. Don’t wait eight or nine years before taking CCNP.

Next, follow your passion. I love what I do. That passion has helped me to keep up the momentum. Without passion, I wouldn't have worked as a consultant for so long.

What would you tell a friend?

I would promote Cisco U. to them. It has some great trainings that you can get free. You might need to pay for some courses, but Cisco U. is a great start in learning the Cisco technologies.

Also, take your time when you're studying. Try to really understand the material before you go for the test.

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