Cisco, a global networking leader, has announced that it is expanding its learning portfolio with new business architecture training and certifications.

These certifications are designed to accelerate the pace of business transformation, innovation and growth, it said.

Providing professionals with the latest skills, tools and best practices enables them to build and strengthen the bridge between technology solutions and business needs, said a statement from the company.

These new offerings mark the second recent addition to Cisco’s business transformation-focused learning portfolio, it said.

Shadi Salama, channel leader – East Region, Cisco Middle East, said: “The relationship between customer and vendor is being significantly disrupted by digital transformation, with the long-term result being a closer relationship, spanning more than the deal.”

“As the industry transforms and companies try to evolve their businesses, new talent gaps are forming,” Salama said.

“Our new business architecture training and certification offerings target the business skills that go hand in hand in conjunction with the technology skills to address the growing talent needs brought forth by business transformation,” Salama added.

According to a recent analyst report, only about 15 per cent of organisations feel they have the right talent in place for digital transformation. Cisco is addressing this skill gap by expanding its training, certification and enablement programs.

Three new specialist certifications and related training courses have been designed to progressively build and validate expertise in business architecture:
 
Cisco Business Architecture Analyst Certification: Equips professionals with a general awareness of business architecture principles and provides a methodology for uncovering a company’s business goals. These desired outcomes could then be bridged to the technology solutions required to achieve them, thus building credibility and rapport with customers or key internal stakeholders.
 
Cisco Business Architecture Specialist Certification: Builds on the foundational skills and knowledge assessed at the analyst level with a focus on change management and the creation of a customised transformation roadmap.
 
Cisco Business Architecture Practitioner Certification: Expands upon the specialist level by validating a candidate’s mastery in leveraging tools, methodologies and best practices to bridge IT solutions with the organisation’s business goals. Participants will be assessed for their ability to create and map the customer engagement journey to deliver tangible business outcomes and value.
 
Training courses supporting each of these certifications, respectively, include: adopting the Cisco Business Architecture approach; applying Cisco Business Architecture Techniques; mastering the Cisco Business Architecture discipline.
 
These new offerings broaden Cisco’s Business Transformation portfolio initiatives, launched in April 2017, with the introduction of the Customer Success Manager certification. Cisco continues to develop a pipeline of additional training and certifications that will further advance skills in this area, it said.
 
Tejas Vashi, senior director, product strategy and marketing, Cisco Services: “We help customers transform their businesses, we’re leveraging our expertise and leadership to address both technology and talent concerns across the industry.”

“Understanding business architecture is key as business transformation continues, because successful organisations will increasingly rely on professionals who can foster flexibility and cross-functional collaboration to deliver optimal business outcomes,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service