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Technically certified partners align at Nokia TechSquad

Technically certified partners align at Nokia TechSquad

Developing and delivering state-of-the-art communications technology that meets, exceeds, or anticipates market needs is clearly the best way to bring meaningful value to our partners and enterprise customers.

And as we strive to deliver even greater value, we need to look beyond our own organization and embrace every stakeholder in the value chain connecting us with the enterprise customer.  By better coordinating our activities and sharing knowledge and ideas with our channel partners such as Global Systems Integrators (GSI), Distributors, Value-Added Resellers (V ARs) and Service Providers as Partners (SPaaP), we can ensure that we satisfy each customer with a complete solution tailored to their unique needs and preferences.

Fig. 1.

That’s why Nokia established the TechSquad community in the spring of 2022. The TechSquad is made up of certified technical professionals with a common interest in innovative networking technologies and strategic business transformation across the enterprise. Together with Nokia and industry experts, members collaborate, learn, and exchange ideas on industry hot topics such as Industry 4.0, private wireless networks, RF design best practices, industrial automation, device management, and much more.

First Hot House Event in North America

The inaugural Hot House event in North America was our first big event. For the first time, certified technical teams from Nokia’s channel partners came together to share ideas and delve deeply into issues, opportunities, strategic vision, and product roadmaps. Our 30 in-person and ~70+ remote attendees included technically certified Sales Engineers, Network Planners, Field Technicians, Network Integration Engineers, and Technical Support Staffers from across the Nokia partner ecosystem.

Over two days, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work. They heard from the head of Bell Labs Consulting, Dr. Krishna Balachandran, as he shared his vision for creating digital value in industrial automation. They got a clearer picture of Nokia’s product roadmap, explored the details of Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) maintenance and control support tools, experienced advanced demos, and much more.

At the end of the two-day event, attendees had deepened their technology knowledge, discovered opportunities for new business growth, and they told us how much they valued the event:

  • Michael Dawkins, VP of Broadband and Enterprise Next Gen/GTA: “We appreciated having the ability to talk with other partners and learn from each other, to see the advancements and changes in the lab, and to learn about the new things coming from the solutions side of the business.”
  • Scott Wilson, Senior Wireless Architect, Kyndryl: “It was very informative, very interactive, and very engaging. I especially appreciated the information on RF Survey details and related tools.”
  • Roderick Maddox, Vice President Engineering at Pierson Wireless: “I really enjoyed understanding the roadmap. By giving us a vision of where we should be going, Nokia is helping partners align their business to where we’ll jointly be successful.”

Tune into the North America Nokia YouTube Partner playlist to hear more from our partners.  

What it means for the future

From my perspective, the need for partner technical communities such as the Nokia TechSquad and the success of get-togethers like our recent Dallas Hot House event are proof positive that there’s only one way we will all thrive, now and in the future – and that’s together.

How will that affect the nature of partnerships in telecommunications? I believe we have a mandate to make our partnerships become even closer. That means greater transparency, greater interdependence, and greater investment in each other’s success. And the way to build those relationship qualities is through more communication, more collaboration, and more trust.

Trust does not come overnight. It must be earned, project by project, and reinforced in our daily interactions with each other. As that trust grows and deepens, we can expect our partnerships to result in even more tailored solutions that deliver more capabilities, provide greater value, and enable new growth opportunities for our enterprise customers in sectors such as manufacturing, mining, utilities, transportation, and more.

It’s this simple: to get closer to fulfilling the vision of Industry 4.0 and digital transformation for our enterprise customers across industries such as manufacturing, mining, utilities, public sector and more, together with our partners we need to get closer and help each other succeed.

I encourage more of our partners to become technically certified and join the exclusive Nokia TechSquad community. We continue to expand and enhance the community with more in-person events in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and across the globe.
 

Resources:

Nokia TechSquad (webpage)
Nokia YouTube NAM Hot House event summary video and partner testimonials

Nathan Stenson

About Nathan Stenson

Nathan is the Global Partner Channel Lead for Nokia Enterprise. The Channel supports over 1000 Partners which include Value Added Re-Sellers, Distribution, Global Systems Integrators and Telco GTM Partner segments for Nokia Enterprise. He is a 25 year Veteran of both Telco and IT industries having held prior senior Leadership positions with Verizon, Talk-Talk & Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He is based in London.

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter

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