Purpose of the Job

The Data Centre Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist validates an individual's knowledge of installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Data Centre products to maintain a highly scalable, efficient, high performing Data Centre Networking environment.

At Cisco, for instance, Data Centre Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist professionals understand how to deploy and optimize the features and benefits of the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Cisco 4948 Switches, and Cisco Catalyst Blade Switches to provide fast and accurate resolution to network installation and customer service issues.

Data Centre Infrastructure specialists will typically have responsibility for the providing pre and post sales technical support to enterprise solutions sales teams, business partners and end users. This includes responsibility for ensuring that sales teams, business partners and end users are updated with the latest technical information, with special emphasis on key Data Centre products and solutions.

The Data Centre Infrastructure Specialists provides technical support that facilitates the marketing and sales of products to Data Centre customers to help their company meet corporate goals for quality, growth, market share and profitability.

Job Title : Data Centre Infrastructure Specialist

Key responsibilities

• Work closely with sales and marketing to provide applications engineering support for Data Centres. This will include travelling to customer facilities with sales and marketing personnel when ever additional technical expertise is required.
• Install, monitor and maintain all hardware and software components related to the operation of voice, video and data network, including system performance.
• Monitor bandwidth use, analyze traffic patterns and volumes, plus make recommendations to management on solutions for improvements.
• Isolate and resolve network related service calls and problems, and diagnose and correct problems resulting from component failure or normal use of the network.
• Support the roll out of new products for Data Centres with internal and external presentations focused on the technical differentiation aspects of the product and value proposition.
• Provide feedback to product engineering on current Data Centre market trends and design features. Interact effectively with IT application groups in order to recommend the most effective and productive protocol configurations to work on the network.
• Assist in creating disaster recovery test plans and participate in backup and recovery of systems and databases
• Work closely with engineering, sales and marketing for the design and development of new products.
• Contribute to training programmes for customers and fellow employees.
• Includes creating and/or updating the written material, organising specific training programmes and presenting the training programmes.
• Support sales and marketing with any media activities. This may include writing articles for publications, assisting with advertising or preparing technical documentation such as design guides.
• Attend meetings and report on industry standards activity when required. The information in this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work preformed by employees with this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Typical Candidate Requirements

• Bachelors degree in related technical curriculum
• Some experience with Data Centre applications, field engineering or sales engineering for Data Centre networks, design and /or implementation of Data Centre cabling infrastructures including copper, fibre optic and coaxial products, as well as general knowledge of power and HVAC considerations for Data Centres.
• CCNP-level experience or equivalent experience
• Excellent skills in Excel, Word, Power Point and other business software are required. Candidates should have working knowledge of network management packages or other Data Centre related software applications
• Familiarity with Void and TDM phone systems
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Strong Presentations skills and hands-on demonstration skills are also essential
• Candidates should possess the ability to use hand tools and test equipment.
• Willingness to travel in support of business activities is required.