Network Operations Center, PS Lightwave

The most important asset to a company is not the product they sell or processes they’ve implemented, it’s their people! People are the raw talent and abilities a company needs to develop products and optimize processes. Enabling employees with the resources they need to enhance their skills, only benefits an organization.

Rhonda Cook: President and CEO, PS Lightwave

PS Lightwave a fiber-optic network infrastructure company requires all of their network operations technicians to complete Extreme Networks’ Extreme Certified Network Associate (ECNA) certification program. Additionally, President and CEO Rhonda Cook strongly recommends that technicians further their skills by entering the Extreme Certified Specialist (ECS) certification program as well as attaining other advanced industry certifications. According to Cook, “More than 75% of our technicians are ECS certified. As a result of requiring Extreme Networks certifications and encouraging additional certifications our call center resolution percentages have increased!” 

Rhonda and her team made the strategic decision to require all technicians to receive Extreme Networks certifications 4 years ago. Doing so expanded PS Lightwave’s pledge to provide continuous education for employees, as well as enhancing their customers’ experiences, and better preparing the company for emergency situations. Rhonda notes, “Enhanced training furthers our company commitment to provide growth opportunities for our staff.  Our PS Lightwave core values reflect that with GRIT (Growth, Respect, Integrity, Trust) integrated into our culture and business decisions.  The investment in training has a positive impact on our customer experience, company competitive advantage, and belief in our staff members.” 

John Lambert: VP of Operations, PS Lightwave

With all technicians certified on Extreme technology, PS Lightwave has added additional credibility, reliability, and enhancements to their service offerings. “With the certifications, we are showing our customers we are 100% capable of addressing their needs and can solve a problem immediately should one arise,” says John Lambert, VP of Operations. 

Jermaine Moore: Network Operations Center Manager, PS Lightwave

When hiring new technicians, PS Lightwave enrolls them in the Extreme Networks Certifications Program within their first few months on the job. Employees who may have been unfamiliar to Extreme products in the past are now brought up to speed and are confident working with PS Lightwave’s network. Besides being more confident and educated from the certification program, these technicians have effectively expanded their resume, skills, and knowledge. Their certification not only helps PS Lightwave operate effectively, it allows employees to be more skillful and sought-after when applying for future job positions. According to PS Lightwave’s Network Operations Center Manager, Jermaine Moore, “We are taking advantage of a program other competitors are not. We are investing in our employees so that we have better outcomes and they are more skillful.” 

“Since all of our employees are certified they are more efficient, able to decrease customer downtime, address customers’ needs faster, and they can normal solve a customer’s issue that is not related to one of the solutions they have with us, we’re actually able to solve a network issue for a customer when it’s a different vendors fault.” – Jermaine Moore, NOC Manager, PS Lightwave

In a previous blog post, I wrote about how PS Lightwave was able to address customers’ needs during Hurricane Harvey. Besides the reliable and powerful Extreme Switching, having all their technicians certified, enabled PS Lightwave to be proactive before the storm and able to react faster to developing situations. As a result, only 5% of their network was down during the hurricane and it was only due to power outages.

The Extreme Networks Certification program offers a modular approach to technical certification training focused on practical, hands-on learning that’s relevant to supporting and optimizing your environment. We offer a selection of instructor-led and self-paced technical courses designed to provide you with in-depth knowledge to successfully deploy and manage Extreme Networks products and software. “The Extreme Certifications program is excellent! It is one of the best programs we’ve used to train our employees. It has helped them become familiar with Extreme and operate effectively,” said John Lambert, VP of Operations.

For more information on PS Lightwave, please visit their website.

To learn more about how PS Lightwave didn’t let Hurricane Harvey interrupt their customers’ connections, read the blog!

If you’d like to enroll or learn more about Extreme’s certifications offering, please visit our website.