[asterisk-biz] Digium certified asterisk professional or CCIE VOIP

[Nir Simionovich]

Hi George,

   After reading everybody's comments, I'll give you my 2c on the 
matter, as I'm an Asterisk/VoIP/Networking consultant in Israel.

   In general, certifications don't mean much to most of your customers 
as they will be looking for the bottom line - which is what you know and 
what is your know-how. However, depending on your prospective customer 
target and approached market sector, certifications may become a valid 
ally in your quest.

   For example, say that you would like to approach a company like 
Verizon or Vonage, stating that you are an Asterisk consultant. The 
immediate response from your target entry point would be: state your 
certifications, experience and references. Now, as long as you are in 
the first 9 months of your business, you won't have many references - 
what you have is experience and possibly certifications. In this case, 
the certifications can help you a little.

   Without being self promotional, let's take a look to my case. I've 
founded the Israeli Asterisk community back in 2004, when basically 
there was nothing to build upon - as I was more or less the only user 
here. I started building the community, one by one, installation by 
installation, and surely enough, almost 5 years later, there are over 
300 community members, over 3000 installations in Israel and as the 
founder of the community, people no longer really care for my 
certification - they know my experience and mileage. So, when I started 
my own business in 2007, I had already a few things working for me and I 
need to thank Google for that.

   Now, I would assume that your situation is a little different, thus, 
your actions should be different. In any case, neither certification nor 
references should hold you back. If your dream is becoming an Asterisk 
consultant, use your know-how and charisma to promote yourself. Don't be 
shy to self-promote where required, don't negate ideas of promotion 
simply because you don't believe they won't work, don't shoot down ideas 
just because they may go against your normal nature - in other words, 
keep an open mind, an open heart and be true to your way - you will 
succeed.

   Don't dwell on competition, believe in co-optetition. Any entity, 
even the competitor can easily become your partner, under the right 
circumstances. One of the biggest projects I've done in the past 18 
months was sent to me from people who consider me the competition. I'm 
not telling you to dwell into euphoria and believe that the world is all 
good and pink, I simply urge you to not dwell into despair and negativity.

   And most importantly, what ever you read from any of us, read it, 
think about - value it in comparison to your thoughts and desires, only 
then decide on your path. I'm confident you'll make the right choice and 
the proper path for success.

   God speed...

George Kumar wrote:
> Folks,
> 
> I would like to start a VOIP consultancy services in my area (Silicon
> Valley), and considering one of these certifications.
> I am familiar with asterisk and have played with it at home by setting
> up a linux based PBX for interconnection 2 SIP phones,
> but have no professional certifications to put my customers at ease
> when trying to hire me to to fix/install their VOIP systems.
> 
> Any suggestions ?
> 
> thanks.
> George...
> 
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-- 
Kind Regards,
   Nir Simionovich
   Asterisk Community Founder and Maintainer - Israel

   (e) nir.simionovich at gmail.com
   (w) http://www.simionovich.com