Tammy Getschel in 2012 pivoted her career from direct sales to the channel and has never looked back.
Her career at Cisco Canada as one of its top channel systems engineers – covering both Saskatchewan and Manitoba regions – has led to a rewarding time for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology graduate.
The move was at first a lateral one, but for Getschel the challenge of developing problem solving solutions with Cisco partners attracted her to the position. She now believes she is making an impact on business and people’s lives.
Tammy Getschel
“Four years later-on I really like the channel. It’s a different experience than what I was doing before, but what’s key for me is driving the message from Cisco towards the opportunity in the market with partners. I get to share my knowledge and technical expertise with the partner community and it has turned into a real passion for me; working with partners,” she said.
Getschel has been with Cisco Canada for nearly a decade and holds numerous Cisco certifications including the Cisco Certified Network Professional Security, Cisco Certified Network Professional Routing and Switching, Cisco Certified Network Professional Voice, Cisco Certified Design Professional, and Certified Meraki Networking Associate (CMNA) certifications.
“Cisco is a great place to work for women in IT. The company is very supportive technically and they inspire more women to have a career in this line of work,” she said.
Getschel is taking on more duties such as working with distributors alongside her work with service providers and regional solution providers.
For International Women’s Day, Getschel believes the special day it’s a great time for discussing women’s issues and an opportunity to remember those individuals from the past who made a difference.
Cisco Canada is led by Bernadette Wightman and for Getschel having a woman as her President resonates with her. “It’s important for women to have a seat at the table from a diversity standpoint. Having someone like Bernadette sets a great example of what women can achieve in their career,” she said.
The biggest challenge for Getschel is aligning the goals of the company you work for with the goals of many channel partners in Cisco partner ecosystem. “You need to learn from your partners such as their systems or their unique approach to making things work. Also, playing to their strengths is important and being alongside them in their go to market approach,” she added.
The channel is also evolving and that too has led to more challenges from her perspective.
“What makes a great solution provider is a company that can evolve and is not stuck in the way IT was traditionally sold. They are not just part of a product sale anymore, but more consultative. They have to have the ability to solve real problems and not just with the IT department but also to the line of business decision maker,” Getschel said.
She never thinks about one day becoming a channel chief, but does aspire to one day lead a program for channel partners.
“To be honest my passion is driving the right solutions to the partners. I’m always working to find a way for partners to sell our products easier.”
Great article Paolo! Tammy sounds like a younger me with her strong technical capabilities. I would encourage her to dream big and to look beyond her technical capabilities to strive for roles that will enable to build a well-rounded set of skills and knowledge. Getting in sales and finance roles will help her leverage her deep technology skills and grow within Cisco! I benefited from exposure to not just technology roles, but having supervisor and management roles on the revenue side of the house in my corporate career before forming FOX GROUP and my other tech companies.