Principal Field Solution Architect - Security
CDW

• Provide technical pre-sales support of Security related opportunities across defined geography and verticals .
• Work with CDW partners to design and present Security Solutions, including BOM and SOW generation that satisfy customer requirements.
• Position value proposition and basic ROI fundamentals for solutions being proposed.
• Explain Cisco Security differentiation to potential customers when competing against Cisco Security competitors
• Explain CDW value add and experience to customers when competing against other Cisco partners.
• Work with other CDW departments on the execution of specialist related orders and sales incentives
• Provide feedback to Product & Partner Management groups concerning trends and opportunities
• Work with Public Relations and Marketing as a subject matter expert
• Work with K-12 and Higher Education organizations utilizing a significant understanding of state and federal compliance regulations and security best practices
• 75% Sales activities via conference calls, email, and customer visits
• 20% Training – technology and personal development
• 5% Team development and miscellaneous tasks
• Travel up to 50% of the time

Technology Leadership

• Acquires deep technical depth in their role; Is the "Go To" person for the solutions, both technically and strategically; is at the forefront of their solutions(s) and the implications for CDW offerings.
• Performs a lead role in executing the "Go-to-Market" for new offerings.
• Designs technical solutions not only considering the customer’s infrastructure but also the business limitations and opportunities; operates comfortably beyond standard approaches to satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders.
• Reviews peer’s designs for quality and accuracy.
• Determines and defines services that complement and/or round out proposed hardware and software engagements, estimates required engineer effort.
• Operates beyond a ‘self’ focus for the benefit of the team and the practice to better CDW’s technology leadership, execution, and overall relevance to our customers; develops standardized templates of deliverables, including the SoW framework, tools, demo lab and scripts, and services calculation (Calc); provides leadership to equip CDW to deliver the solutions at a high level of quality.
• Communicates and trains the team on changes in technologies, procedures, solutions implementations and approaches.
• Develops training materials for team members to use with CDW audiences.
• Promotes a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration by organizing knowledge bases, contributing regularly, and encouraging team members to contribute.
• Coaches and mentors team members to improve their technical, consulting, and sales skills.
• Acts as a resource to Field Solutions Architects for advice and recommendations on technical design issues and product choices.
• Conducts technical assessment and expertise evaluations during the candidate selection process.
• Assist managers with new hire Field Solutions Architects, leads shadow assignments; proactively provides assistance and guidance to new hires to accelerate productivity.

Sales

• Follows up on implemented solutions and identifies new opportunities that complement the work that was completed.
• Advises team members and sales prior to customer calls and/or sales strategy sessions.
• Assists customer in understanding their equipment maintenance contracts, upgrade needs, and renewals; analyses the most cost-effective approach for the customer (e.g. renew the contract or purchase new equipment and contract.)
• Incorporates financing (through manufacturer or third party) as part of the sales proposal and discussion; looks beyond the current infrastructure/problem toward a three to five year roadmap.
• Articulates to customers the S3 Practice (Strategic Solutions and Services Practice) value proposition to customers, account managers, and partners and uses it to generate additional revenue opportunities to CDW.
• Guides (compares and contrast) customers in their decision making within all tiers of CDW technologies (e.g., Cisco vs. McAfee/Juniper) as well as with external competing technologies/solutions (e.g. Dell vs. NetApp/EMC).
• Initiates new event ideas; collaborates with Partners and Sales to design events that can be replicated by other Field Solutions Architects; secures funding to support CDW customer events.
• Develops assessments improvements and demos for Field Solutions Architects to use as sales tools, identifies new ideas for cross-sell opportunities, teaches Field Solutions Architects in Sales on how to use these tools.
• Collaborates with Partners, Inside Solutions Architects, and Account Executives to drive mapped opportunities; fine tunes strategies and approaches to achieve greater sales results.
• Operates in a regular cadence with multiple partners to educate, plan, and execute on joint strategies in collaboration with multiple stakeholders (ISA, AE, SM, Field Sales); understands partner alignment in geography and leads customer opportunity mapping exercises; coordinates on-site partner visits.
• Shares best practices and effective territory planning approaches with peers to leverage successful approaches across the team.
• Shares best practices and tactics for enhancing profitability and closing deals.
• Acts as security subject matter expert for marketing activities (e.g., marketing blog, content, references, videos, etc.); produces marketing-type documents and materials (e.g., data sheet, presentation, demo video) to use throughout the Practice

Sales Support

• Responds to questions about partner registrations, associated registration issues, and customer engagement history.
• Manages competing priorities and sets expectations with sales and other stakeholders through proactive communication, planning, and potential for return on investment.
• Leads the development of Bills of Materials, Statements of Work, RPFs, RFIs, and proposal content for cross-technology solutions with high levels of accuracy and quality.
• Maintains pre-sales pipeline data, develops plans, and takes actions to move opportunities to closure.