Month of September 2006 [October 31, 06 update]: In this month I would like to share the story of Dave S. (we have altered the real name to preserve privacy) who has benefited from a government grant program to undergo extensive training at TCY.

Dave has been with TCY for a few years, attending class on and off. Things have not always worked for him, especially after 911 and the ensuing rounds of layoff that have affected so many in the NYC area. Out of job and in need of training so he could have the skills to be able to rejoin the workforce, he found a sponsor to fund his training. However, in return for this sponsorship, he had to work at pre-assigned non-profit organizations over a period of six months. 

Dave took TCY's Cisco IP Telephony Bootcamp and Integrating Voice gateways and gatekeepers courses and is due to join our upcoming CME & Unity bootcamp as well. Meanwhile is currently under contract as a consultant participating in a major VoIP roll-out in NYC area. Dave acknowledges that he just got started and feels like he still have a lot to prove to himself. Among his future is a coveted CCIE certification. With the mettle and persistence that he has shown lately, we can count on him achieving his grandiose goal in a near future.

[October 31, 06 update] We would like to congratulate Dave in getting an offer from the major US contractor  as network administrator/system administrator overseas for a six-figure contract. Congratulations to Dave again!

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Month of August 2006: In this week I would like to share the story of Paul

Paul Martinez traveled to New York to specifically undergo Cisco training at TCY starting in Spring of 2005. After successfully completing the CCNA, CCNP and CCSP training programs at TCY, Paul has accepted a position with the financial industry's world leader in Information Technology Services and Solutions.

I have been in the networking industry for 7 years, designing and implementing Client/Server environments for small to mid-sized companies. I found my interests have grown beyond the LAN/small WAN environments that I've been working in, and I realized back-end communications and security are where my new interests lie. Cisco's technology is the industry leader in networking and security infrastructure and services. I looked for a school where I could not only learn the theory and technology but to also apply it in a real environment. I just happened to know several successful colleagues and friends in the field that have taken courses at TCY. Along with their recommendation and my research, I knew that TCY would be the right place for me to start in my new ventures in networking.

TCY completely exceeded even my highest expectations. TCY is always ahead of the market trend; training their students in not only the latest Cisco technology, but also the technology and theory of tomorrow preparing you to be more marketable and competitive in today's networking world. TCY provides onsite and remote access to their production lab environments. The unique training techniques used in their instructor-led classes break down Cisco's methodology into the most understandable theory, applying it to most any network infrastructure. TCY encourages "out of the box" thinking, challenging you to apply your new knowledge toward new design, implementation and troubleshooting techniques, while honing your skills on the technology of today's production environments. With my recent training from TCY Tech, the knowledge and skills I've achieved allow me to always perform at the highest level with the up most confidence in any professional networking technology environment.

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Month of July 2006: In this week I would like to share the story of Rob

Rob Nockowitz has recently attained the coveted CCIE certification. He is currently working for a major corporation in NYC. Before joining TCY he was IT director for a major NASD broker-dealer in New York. After undergoing intensive training at TCY he has attained the coveted CCIE certification as well two IPT specialist designations:

"The first course I took at TCY was the Cisco IP Telephony Bootcamp. At that time I was still working as IT director at this major broker dealer in the city and was earning a good living, but being the self-motivator that I am and always on the look out for new challenges, I looked for opportunities to improve myself. At that time I sensed that a major paradigm shift in the telecommunications industry was ocurring: companies with large network of installed phone units were switching to --or at least experimenting with-- IP Telephony, more commonly known as Voice over IP (VoIP).

I looked around and found TCY Technologies with its IP Telephony training. The training turned out to be just what I was looking for: practical and with enough network engineering dept. Before joining this class I have had some prior exposure to Cisco IP Telephony, but this course really cemented my understanding and my ability to design, implement and troubleshoot Cisco IPT system.

I furthered my training with TCY's CCIE lab-based training. In this course the instructor, a CCIE with years teaching at TCY, really challenged us to think independently.

During all the time I was training, I was still carrying a full workload with my former employer. That really contrained the amount of time I have for everything else, i.e. studying and attending my beloved Mets baseball home games at Shea's. It was tough, but with a clear goal of attaining CCIE within sight and the support of fellow delegates attending training at TCY I was able to persist.

Obtaining CCIE was just the icing on the cake. The support of the staff at TCY and that of fellow students, whom I consider friends for life now, made the experience of training at TCY a unforgettable one and forms an important chapter in my life."

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Month of June 2006: In this week I would like to share the story of Frantz

Frantz was recently hired by Cisco Systems as custom support engineer. When Frantz first joined our CCNA course a few years ago, he had very limited working experience (he was still pursuing his undergraduate degree) and none in Cisco networking. But that did not deter him from pursuing his dreams: 

"When I started going to TCY and Briarcliffe College in 2000 I never knew what to expect from learning this technology of routing and switching from Cisco Systems as well as the business side of IT. My ambitious attitude gave me the drive to know more about how things worked and why. I attended Briarcliffe College in Bethpage NY during the same time I was in TCY pursing my BA in Information Technology. Although my time was very limited to do other things like hang out with my friends, my priorities were set on completing education and gaining skills with Cisco products. While going to Briarcliffe College to learn the business aspect of technology as well as learning the physical part of making cables, configuring routers and building a voice network it made me more valuable to a company in understanding the front office decisions in a front office. TCY introduced me to a new technology in 2004 called VoIP and within less than 12 months I learned everything I needed to know about VoIP by going to the classes every Saturday and Sunday. Going to TCY even on my spare time during the week I practiced on what I learned from class and gained more confidence in my skills. Soon after three months of learning I got a job on a VoIP project with a major consultancy firm as support technician and there after I knew I that I would take this as far as I would in learning. In December 20,2005 I applied for a position for Cisco Systems as a Customer Support Engineer in Austin, TX. The interview process was very difficult with many questions, phone interviews and a intensive face to face interview as well. The next day I got hired and from there on my life has changed. My job deals with Call Manager upgrades, IOS upgrades, patching, monitoring Fortune 500 companies networks from a NOC and even perform jobs from configuring voice gateways to as small as extension changes as well as adding and deleting users. I interact with a lot of managers in daily meetings in improving the our performance with customers who we monitor. It feel good now that I am apart of Cisco " empowering the network".