Earning specialized certifications is a surefire way to advance your career in the IT field, regardless of industry or current career level. The right certification validates your skills and knowledge, which makes you more desirable to future employers who want to attract and retain the best employees. Below, we’ll explore the top IT certifications and share how to examine your goals to choose the right path forward. 

The two new certifications are Cisco TelePresence Solutions Specialist and Cisco TelePresence Installations Specialist. The former is for voice certified or networking engineers wanting to specialize in design, implementation and maintenance of TelePresence, while the latter is a technician certification for physical installation and construction of Cisco TelePresence Systems in the 500, 1000, 1100 and 1300 series.

Cisco will begin offering its TelePresence courses and service exams starting in late January 2010.

"Cisco has been pretty conservative about TelePresence deployments. We had to make sure the quality of the experience was maximal, and based on that, Cisco was very protective," said Fred Weiler, director of marketing for Learning@Cisco. "We brought in a few partners some time ago, but we definitely took for that solution a slow pace. Now that we're moving increasingly to single-screen deployments, it makes sense for scaling."

Weiler said Cisco waited on doing a TelePresence certification program earlier because the company needed to develop best practices and examine market needs. Before, he said, TelePresence deployments were mostly confined to big boardrooms, but the smaller, single-screen versions have broadened the audience.

"At the technician level, for example, you don't have to be an expert in networking," he said. "We've been doing a lot more qualitative analysis on this, I would say, than quantitative analysis."

"We are seeing explosive growth in demand for the Cisco TelePresence solution and we foresee enormous growth potential for these types of advanced collaboration technologies," said Irene Kinoshita, president of Ascolta, an Irvine, Calif.-based technical training specialist and Cisco Learning Partner. "Right now, we're seeing increased demand from companies that want to deploy their own solutions and want people on site who know how to install and deploy TelePresence solutions. We're glad to see that the technology has matured and is now in reach of a larger audience as the single-screen deployment is becoming rapidly popular."

In addition to the TelePresence certifications, Cisco is also launching the Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE Voice, a new education track to help users prepare for Cisco's CCIE Voice Lab Exam.

"We did that for routing and switching a year ago," Weiler said, "and individuals who go through the program have a three times higher pass rate than those who don't. It's helpful for them to take the time to get the skills needed, and as we started with routing and switching and saw a demand in volume from customers, we asked those customers what the next track should be. They said voice."

The Learning Program for CCIE Voice will be available through Cisco's Authorized Learning Partners starting Dec. 7.

Searching for value in tech in an extended market

Investors searching for value stocks within tech may want to put Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) on their watchlist for a conservative 3-5% upside idea over the coming 4-6 months. The company has struggled to keep pace with the ferocious rally that popular themes within AI, Semiconductors, and Big Tech have benefited from in 2023. As investors start thinking about where pockets of the market may possibly still have de-risked levels, we think investor attention will provide Cisco a modest lift in the coming weeks and months - though enthusiasm will be capped due to its single-digit growth profile.

We believe that CSCO's latest bounce off 47.5/share can be durable and that the next target is 51.44-52/share, an area that we believe can be reached within Q1-Q2 2024. Due to a low de-risked valuation, we think that the 45-47/share level is essentially a demand zone where institutional investors will defend the stock in the case of further equity weakness. The mature characteristics of its business model means that the company's beta relative to the S&P 500 will remain low, so this is a low-volatility type of upside idea if markets can remain stable.

Let's discuss their latest business fundamentals and potential catalysts

After Cisco's latest earnings quarter back from November 2023, the Street revised forward EPS estimates lower as management provided softer guidance for the rest of the fiscal year. The company guidance implies a 13% sequential sales decline and the management team lowered their Fiscal 2024 revenue outlook by 5%. This was primarily due to tempered expectations for large enterprises implementing Cisco's equipment before restarting their buying cycle for the next generation of inventory. We believe that the latest stock's correction reflects that the rosy 2023 fiscal results along with its strong backlog may be not have the same easy momentum in 2024.

Behind the Street's contained enthusiasm to permit Cisco a durable recovery is the fact that Cisco previously called for roughly 400 basis points of operating margin compression to around 32%, which is a primary reason behind weaker volumes. Given how high of a weight operating margins play into Wall Street valuation models, it is likely the Sell Side needs to see margins stabilize or see a modest lift before they upgrade the Stock.

As a mature player in enterprise technology, growth rate estimates for Cisco range between 3-5% and this makes the stock a tempered Hold in an environment where other technology companies (especially semiconductors) are growing in the 15-30% top line region.

Of course, Cisco's valuation on both an earnings and EBITDA basis fairly reflects this with a modest 12.8X forward P/E multiple, which is essentially near the trough of its year-to-date valuation range.

Cisco's EBITDA valuation multiple takes the company trading back to historical valuations back near the bear market lows of Summer/Fall 2022.

In terms of its overall business model and evaluation of its outlook, I want to share some helpful statistics to help readers understand Cisco's positioning in the marketplace.

The company currently generates most of its sales from its Secure, Agile Networks segment (51% of FY 2023 sales), followed by Internet of the Future (9%), Collaboration (7%), End-to-End security (7%), and Services (25%) being the remainder.

The growth levers that I believe the buyside are focused on include the Collaboration and the End-to-End Security group segments as Cisco has been heavily investing in these two areas to move away from legacy hardware. The company has done several acquisitions to support the new offerings in this space (such as Spunk). Cybersecurity is a vastly growing field and companies in that category are commanding high valuations. If Cisco can successfully make cybersecurity a larger portion of their forward revenues and EBITDA, the recurring nature of future cash flows will allow the company to eventually hold a higher multiple rather than the 13.5X forward multiple it currently commands. I believe future quarters will shed more light on their ability to compete in that area.

Additional catalysts for Cisco include the WiFi 6 upgrade cycle, 5G core implementations as well as AI network development. The high demand for data center solutions and migration to cloud networking should eventually be a favorable macro landscape for Cisco's fundamental positioning.

Risks, thoughts on Entry & Valuation

With the combination of Cisco's lower relative valuation and lowered 2024 estimates since its last quarter in contrast with its recently increased share buyback program and strong financial cash position (over $26.3 billion in cash), we think Cisco's downside is rather limited (although upside also has limits).

The company is currently a leader in Ethernet Switches with about 45-46% market share. The largest threat that I currently see is that competitors such as Arista Networks which has 11.4% of the market share and Huawei which now has 6% of the market could become formidable forces as latest trends have pointed to market share advances for both firms. In the coming quarters, we will see if Cisco's gross margins - which are often a great indicator for competitive pressures - are impacted by Arista and Huawei's share gains.

If Cisco can defend status quo business performance and maintain low single digit revenue performance over the coming 3 years (currently estimated at a -4% sales decline in FY 2024 but a rebound of 4-5% in FY 2025 and 2026), the stock may drift back to its median historical valuation of 13-14X forward earnings (now 12.8X) in the coming quarters.

In an expensive market in technology, Cisco has been a laggard (rightfully so due to its low growth profile). But the company still commands a long-term top line growth rate in the single digits and given its strong free cash flow generation, I think the stock has about 3-5% upside to revisit the 50-53/share area in the coming 4-6 months.

Once that conservative upside drift target is met, its mature business model will likely make its stock stay range-bound until investors have more clarity in its upcoming earnings reports.

By Standard Reporter

Training of information and communication technology has received a boost after a college was certified to become a Cisco academy.

This increases the number of local institutions that have been certified to be academies under the African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (Afralti) to offer Cisco courses. According to the arrangement, Zetech College will start by offering training for Information Technology Essentials (ITE) and thereafter roll out courses such as CCNA and CCNP.

Mr Albanus Mulandi of Zetech said ITE provides hands-on experience for anyone wishing to venture into information and communication technology.

 “The course offers skills in computer hardware and software needed to help meet growing demand for entry-level information and communication technology professionals. The curriculum covers advanced concepts such as security, networking and responsibilities of an information technology professional,” he explained.

Mulandi also pointed out that networking is a very promising field but students are locked out due to high cost of Cisco equipment.

Principal Edwin Wamukoya said the milestone is timely as the institution responds to post-secondary demand.

“Zetech receives massive inquiries regarding various programmes and certifications. We always try to respond by bridging the gap. Offering Cisco training is an indication of quality training as we transition into a university,” he said.

The college has further been approved by National Industrial Training Authority (Nita).

According to college registrar (academic affairs) Alphas Adoga, the certification allows students pursuing various programmes to seek industrial attachment in State corporations.

“In the past, we have had potential students, usually civil servants, interested in various programmes we offer but since we were not Nita accredited, they could not pursue the courses here,” Prof Wamukoya said.

Thesis

Earlier in September, my article on Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) covered the near-term outlook for the company and the moderating demand environment. In this update, I will be going over the company's FY Q1 2024 results and discuss my outlook going forward. CSCO's growth has decelerated significantly in the past fiscal year and the company has guided to a decline in FY 2024. The Q1 results did not show any signs of an improvement in the demand environment yet in the company's core business. The moderating growth indicates that the company is not yet able to capitalize on the digitalisation trends yet. The management remains confident that it can achieve a sizeable share in the AI infrastructure market with its transition away from Ethernet technology; however, that still remains a show-me story at the moment. Hence, I reiterate my hold rating on the stock.

Q1 2024 Performance Does Not Inspire Confidence

CSCO posted revenue growth of 8% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 16% in Q4 2023. The revenues from the Networking division increased by 10%, showing significant deceleration compared to the growth of approx. 25% seen in the previous two quarters. The sales from the services segment increased by 4% during the quarter. Although this moderate growth is an improvement compared to the past few quarters, it is unlikely that this points to a sustained upward trend in services demand and sales. The services division offers a wide range of services and support to Cisco's existing customers, and its growth is primarily tied to the gradual expansion of the customer base.

With a gross margin of 65.2%, Cisco's profitability remained strong and was in line with the guidance. Profitability has in latest quarters presumably been supported by robust growth in high-margin core activities, even as the share of Services revenues, margins of which are typically a few percentage points above those of the other activities, have seen some decline. Cisco has in latest quarters been able to maintain margins despite cost pressures related to components and wage costs, which suggests a certain degree of pricing power. The company has for a prolonged period had profit margins at around latest levels and those will presumably persist. Consolidation of the planned Splunk acquisition will have no material effect. Splunk's gross margin is higher than Cisco's, but the revenue addition of less than seven percentage points is insufficient to move the needle.

The order intake has fallen by 20%, primarily due to ongoing weakness in the service provider segment. The management mentioned that customers are currently focused on installing equipment that was delayed and shipped recently after supply normalized from pandemic-related disruptions. The weak order numbers have led Cisco to lower its full-year guidance. In the previous quarter, Cisco had projected flat to 2% growth for the full year, which already indicated a significant slowdown compared to the previous fiscal year. Now, the company expects a decline ranging from 3.5% to 5.5%, suggesting that growth prospects for the remainder of the fiscal year have worsened. While latest shipment volatility may have played a role, it appears that the fundamental demand trends for the core part of the business have not improved.

Cisco Confident in its AI Leverage

Demand for high-speed, low-latency networking gear will remain high over the next several quarters as the cloud's AI wars will continue to drive the need to invest in AI infrastructure. While hyperscale cloud providers -- Meta and Microsoft -- still aim to trim capital expenses next year, the heightened AI competition will sustain healthy infrastructure investments in this area. Sales comps will get tougher following the strong AI investments in 2023. But the need to scale up and scale out the AI footprint with higher-priced gear won't abate given the anticipated growth in AI workloads and large language models.

Cisco is confident in its ability to secure a significant share of the AI infrastructure market as it transitions towards Ethernet technology. Much of the foundational infrastructure in AI clusters will be connected via fiber optics, and the adoption of plug-and-play optical solutions is expected to reduce power consumption significantly. The combination of Silicon One and Pluggables allows Cisco to achieve a 68% reduction in power consumption compared to Infiniband in 400G networking. The company believes power reduction is an important attribute for Service providers. Cisco's Silicon One technology offers industry-leading features while optimizing for power consumption, a trade-off that some competitors have had to make with their products. Silicon One chips have already gained adoption by five out of the six largest cloud service providers.

Valuation

Valuation multiples have continued to slide in 2023, as the stocks lagged behind the performance of broader market indices. Although much of the negative sentiment around the stock has been reflected in the depressed multiples, I believe a lack of near-term earnings catalysts may limit a rebound in networking performance through 1H24. CSCO's forward PE multiple has remained range-bound in the 11-15x range for most of 2023. The stock is currently trading at a forward PE of 13.1x, however, the current demand environment does not inspire much confidence for the multiple to go up. Hence, I maintain my hold rating on the stock and recommend staying on the sidelines at the moment.

Conclusion

Cisco's FYQ1 2024 result showed a slowdown in the demand environment for the company's core business segments, which is unlikely to reverse in the near term in my view. Cisco has been taking strategic initiatives to shift to higher-growth activities and enhance the proportion of recurring revenues, however, the growth profile of the company indicates that none of the efforts have bear any fruit. Hence, I reiterate my cautious stance on the company and assign a hold rating to the stock.

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During the pandemic, Cisco Swank, the New York-based jazz-rapper, did the thing up-and-coming musicians don’t do; he locked himself away. And it wasn’t just on good medical advice. Swank was hard at work on his debut album, More Better, a masterclass in versatility — it expertly blends jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and gospel — that deserved the rave reviews it got. Despite having been recorded in Swank’s Brooklyn bedroom and Boston dorm room — the kid graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2022 — More Better sounds lush, expansive, and remarkably self-assured. Swank isn’t simply a breakout artist in one genre; in an industry in which genre is disappearing, in general, he is the brightest expression of the future.

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For the last few weeks (not including Christmas) More Better has been playing on repeat in the SPY offices so it felt natural to reach out to Swank to talk about what it feels like to be on the come-up and how he managed to sidestep the startup costs — all that equipment — of pop stardom.

You recorded a large part of your debut album in your bedroom. What are your go-to pieces of audio tech that you use in that setting?

A lot of it is really basic stuff that people think, “Oh, yeah, this is what beginner musicians use.” But I didn’t feel like buying new stuff. Why spend money on mad-expensive gear when you can use stuff that’s cheaper and make it sound good? I used an audio interface, Focusrite, which is literally $100. I also used a Rode NT microphone for a lot of the record, which is about $200.

What audio gear do you think is worth dropping serious money on?

I play the piano, bass, guitar, and drums, so most of the expensive things I have are instruments. I used a Nord keyboard for a lot of my album; a Prophet, which is a really nice synthesizer by [instrument designer and Grammy-winner] Dave Smith; and Fender basses. It’s a really simple setup. I feel like you can make things work if you’re good at manipulating sounds.

Do you have a pair of headphones that you use most frequently?

I have a funny story about that. They’re the Audio-Technica M50x over-ear headphones. I actually stole two pairs from Berklee — they just have hundreds of them in all the classrooms and they’re really nice. They still have the writing from Berklee on them. Yeah, I borrowed them…

Ha! Did you provide them back?

Nope, never did. I use them every day.

You went on a North American headline tour this summer. Aside from your gear, what are three things you always take with you on the road?

I always bring some deodorant. I mess with some Dove Men’s. Nothing crazy. I usually have a cap or some type of bucket hat. And always an extra T-shirt. If I’m out and about all day, I love to put on a fresh new T-shirt at 5pm. I don’t have a particular brand I love, though, because I thrift most of my clothing — I usually go to L Train Vintage, Urban Jungle, or Buffalo Exchange in Brooklyn.

What’s the best thrifted T-shirt you’ve bought? What was on it?

I love a good white tee. There’s this one that’s a church anniversary convention tee — it says “Today in My Life, Christ is Alive.” It’s actually mad cool. I got it at 2nd Street in Los Angeles.

What’s the first album you bought as a kid?

I wasn’t really buying too many albums — I was more listening to my mom’s and my dad’s. The first I remember listening was either [gospel artist] Kirk Franklin, [gospel artist] Tye Tribbet, or Stevie Wonder’s Innervsions or Songs in the Key of Life. Those definitely shaped the music that I make — it very much has a gospel-like chordal influence. A lot of energy.

What products do you get ads for on social media?

Musical instruments, clothes, or whatever I’m looking up that week. Earlier this year, I thought I should get into skincare — like, “Yeah, I should buy exfoliants and toners!” Then it was everywhere [on my social media]. I definitely bought a bunch of random skincare. I had an allergic reaction to one of the products. It was pretty sad. Now I just use a cleanser and a moisturizer.

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Cisco announced this morning that it intends to acquire Isovalent, a cloud-native security and networking startup that should fit well with the company’s core networking and security strategy. The companies did not share the purchase price.

Isovalent has helped develop eBPF, a key open source technology that gives developers deep insight into the operating system layer, typically Linux, but also Windows, while Cilium, another open source project created by the startup, gives visibility into cloud native applications. Tetragon is the company’s open source security visibility component.

Tom Gillis, senior VP and general manager of Cisco’s Security Business Group, says the combination of these three elements used to be provided by a hardware appliance, but in the cloud world is increasingly software-driven. “In a cloud world, there’s still boxes in there somewhere, but it’s abstracted under layers and layers of software. And so eBPF and Cilium provide that visibility for cloud world,” he told TechCrunch.

Specifically, that involves being able to see exactly what’s happening as an application interacts with the network, and being able to determine whether that looks normal or not. “What this allows anyone to do is to provide a very high level of visibility into the inner workings of an application. So when one little container is talking to another container, Cilium can intercept and see that traffic, and it can also see the inner workings of the OS itself,” he said. “So this becomes a platform that allows us to provide connectivity, like should this particular cluster talk to that particular cluster, yes or no. But also security inspection, like what are they talking about? Does this make sense? Does this thing look logical?”

It’s worth noting that Cilium is the default connectivity and security piece for Google Kubernetes Engine, Google Anthos and Amazon EKS Anywhere. It’s also being used in a who’s who of large enterprises including Adobe, Bell Canada, Capital One, Datadog, Palantir, IKEA and Sky.

It’s always tricky when a large company buys a startup built on popular open source projects like this and it could potentially cause consternation in both the community and the large companies who have come to depend on this software. Isovalent has key roles at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and eBPF Foundation, where they are also big code contributors. But Gillis says it’s in the best interest of everyone that the open source pieces thrive as a standard going forward.

“In order for that to happen Cilium and eBPF need to thrive, and so the community needs to continue to embrace them because the ubiquity of the standard is what makes it so powerful,” he said. Gillis sees it a lot like Kubernetes, which Google created and then open sourced. “I oftentimes say it’s the Kubernetes of the data path. It allows it’s an open standard that all can participate in, allows everyone to innovate on top of this platform, and build amazing products,” he said.

Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager of security and collaboration at Cisco, said that it is essential for companies to work together where security is concerned. “One of the challenges that we’ve said is the true enemy [in security] is not your competitor, it’s the [common] adversary. And we need to make sure that we stay open in this market and co-innovate, and I think open source is probably one of the best models to co-innovate with,” Patel said.

Cisco was familiar with the company, even before today’s announcement, having participated in the company’s $29 million Series A at the end of 2020. The startup added a $40 million Series B in 2022 with Cisco also participating along with other strategic investors including Microsoft, Google and Grafana Labs.

Cisco has been extremely acquisitive this year, with this representing the eleventh acquisition by the company, the fifth related to security. The biggest of the bunch by far was the $28 billion Splunk deal announced in September.

This deal is expected to close some time in the second quarter next year (the company’s third quarter of its fiscal year).