Better of the Greatest: Cisco Buyer Advocate Awards: Americas 2024 Winners

Now in its fourth yr, The Cisco Buyer Advocate Awards: Americas 2024 honor distinctive Cisco prospects who exemplify innovation by their use of Cisco merchandise and options, in addition to display trade thought management by buyer tales, talking engagements, product evaluations, and extra.

From executives to engineers, this years’ Cisco awards attracted a formidable mixture of greater than 100 prospects from throughout the Americas. Yesterday, at a packed ceremony at Cisco Reside, we acknowledged the distinctive shortlisted nominees earlier than saying winners in every class.

Listed here are the winners of the fourth-annual Cisco Buyer Advocate Awards: Americas 2024!

Americas Buyer Advocate of the 12 months: Mark Rodrigue, Room and Board

The award for Americas Buyer Advocate of the 12 months went to Mark Rodrigue with Room and Board. Mark earned the title for his standout involvement, together with sharing his experience in buyer tales for ThousandEyes and Cisco Networking, in addition to for fueling AI innovation together with his sharp suggestions as a beta tester for a brand new Meraki RF AI characteristic. Plus, he’s shone within the safety house, sharing his expertise with powerhouse merchandise like Duo and Umbrella by dynamic occasions and movies. Acknowledged for his excellent potential to articulate the real-world advantages of technical options, Mark is actually a distinguished advocate for Cisco. Study extra right here!

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Josh Beaver—T-Cellular

Marcus Labra—Carnival Company

Christopher Cavendish—Perception International

Synthetic Intelligence Pioneer: Georgia Division of Labor

Congratulations to Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, Phyllis Kimber, and Denise Beckwith with the Georgia Division of Labor for incomes the first-ever Synthetic Intelligence Pioneer award. The crew revolutionized their contact heart with Webex Contact Middle, integrating AI to attain a 100-percent response price and simplifying providers by a single contact quantity. Utilizing Google Contact Middle AI (CCAI) streamlined service supply and improved effectivity, permitting dwell brokers to deal with complicated queries. Plus, the addition of a digital agent and a courtesy callback characteristic considerably enhanced buyer interplay and satisfaction.

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominee:

Michael Verret—Inner Income Service (IRS)

Trade Excellence Award: Central Ohio Transit Authority

The Trade Excellence Award acknowledges organizations which can be addressing and fixing distinctive challenges inherent to their respective trade. Congratulations to the IT and Innovation Crew with Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), which reworked public transit with Cisco’s IR1833 routers, boosting connectivity and safety. Passengers now get pleasure from free Wi-Fi and enhanced security, supporting digital fairness and sustainability. The crew has championed Cisco by various initiatives, together with presenting at Cisco Reside US 2022, crafting a hit video and weblog put up, and sharing their expertise with different Cisco prospects. Study extra right here.

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Max Hernandez—Toyota Motor North America

Jarrett Newberry and Robert Bibey—Burrell Behavioral Well being

Mike (Mac) McNamara—Dish Community

Veronica Martinez Estrada—Grupo Xcaret

Sustainability Changemaker: Nicole Alderete-Ferrini, Metropolis of El Paso, Texas

Congratulations to Nicole Alderete-Ferrini from Metropolis of El Paso, Texas, for incomes the first-ever Sustainability Changemaker award within the Americas. The Metropolis of El Paso leverages Cisco Webex and networking options to centralize and enhance entry to authorities providers for at-risk residents. The town’s shift to digital service supply diminished travel-related carbon emissions and redirected regulation enforcement efforts, aligning with their sustainability targets. The El Paso Helps mission, supported by Cisco applied sciences, has not solely optimized useful resource allocation but additionally set a precedent for sustainable and environment friendly public service fashions. Study extra right here!

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Tim Roberts—St. Anne Institute

Dani Stern—Honeywell Worldwide

Roger Lavatory—NetApp

Hybrid Work Hero: M&T Financial institution

Congratulations to Alex Pop, Invoice Sheff, Justin Priebe, Katie Gilliland, and Lori Fellela with M&T Financial institution. M&T Financial institution earned the Hybrid Work Hero award for seamlessly transitioning 21,000 workers to a hybrid video infrastructure the place they will collaborate in individual and on-line. The crew deployed Cisco’s Webex Suite, enhancing communication inside their progressive hybrid areas. The groundbreaking use of Cisco Areas and headset applied sciences enhanced each flexibility and engagement. This strategic technological shift ensured safe, adaptable operations and maintained M&T’s dedication to customized customer support.

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Nicole Alderete-Ferrini—Metropolis of El Paso, Texas

Dale Walters—State of Illinois

Steve Hilliard—Ford Motor Firm

Wendy Williams—McKesson

Transformation Trailblazer: Ian Hyatt, Purdue College

Congratulations to Ian Hyatt with Purdue College for incomes the Transformation Trailblazer award. Ian’s work with Purdue is clear by the overhauling of its community infrastructure with Cisco’s Meraki Wi-Fi 6 expertise and Duo safety, elevating campus Wi-Fi uptime to greater than 99 % and considerably decreasing IT help tickets. The college’s profitable transformation is evidenced by sooner Wi-Fi speeds and streamlined gadget connectivity. Ian has shared this journey in a buyer story, video, and discussions with trade press and analysts. Study extra right here!

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Ron Grohman—Bush Brothers & Firm

Jeanette Jaede and Arun Joshi—Amazon: Mission Kuiper

Jeff Peterson—LPL Monetary

Leandro César Lopes Evangelista—Enviornment MRV

Todd Stewart—Honeywell Worldwide

Reimagine Purposes Visionary: T-Cellular

Congratulations to David Cornette and Jonathan Silberlicht from T-Cellular for incomes the Reimagine Purposes Visionary advocate award for his or her strategic deployment of Cisco’s AppDynamics and Cloud Observability. T-Cellular’s observability framework, essential for his or her huge 5G community service high quality, ensures full-stack visibility, facilitating AIOps and cloud safety at scale. This partnership with Cisco has streamlined subject decision and supported T-Cellular’s buyer development, setting new benchmarks in utility monitoring and efficiency administration. T-Cellular has actively advocated for his or her technological developments, with David highlighting their collaboration at Cisco Reside 2023 and fascinating with the AppDynamics group by advisory boards and inner firm occasions.  

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees: 

James Kluttz—Sutter Well being 

Michael Verret—Inner Income Service (IRS) 

Pat Spinler and Matt Dupay—Mayo Clinic 

Cybersecurity Defender of the 12 months: Dwayne Robinson, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park

Congratulations to Dwayne Robinson for incomes Cybersecurity Defender of the 12 months. Dwayne is expertly leveraging complete Cisco safety applied sciences, which permit workers and company of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to have a dependable and safe expertise. This strategic design and implementation of Cisco purposes and instruments ensures a safe, linked expertise for the SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park campus. The partnership with Cisco continues to set excessive requirements for cybersecurity in giant venues. Dwayne has performed a pivotal position in amplifying SoFi’s story, prominently that includes SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park’s state-of-the-art community and its impression on occasions held on the stadium annually. Study extra right here!

Congratulations to our shortlisted nominees:

Raja Sambandam—State of New Mexico Workplace of Cybersecurity

Matthew Barczak and Paul Oyelakin—Marriott Worldwide

John Skaarup—Texas Division of Transportation (TxDOT)

Veronica Martinez Estrada—Grupo Xcaret

Congratulations to our Cisco Buyer Advocate Awards: Americas 2024 winners,

and to all of our shortlisted nominees.

We applaud every of you in your ardour, innovation, and management

inside the expertise trade!

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