Himawan Nugroho

Author Archives: Himawan Nugroho

How to Become CCDE

Wow. I still can't believe it.

The moment I clicked Next at the end of the CCDE practical exam today in London, and it showed Congratulations word, I was literally jumping out my chair. It was a bad move, I admit, because it was really distracting and it made many other candidates in the room to look at me furiously since we still had more than an hour to complete this 352-011 exam. But I couldn't help it. I passed!

I'm a CCDE now. Part of the group consists around 100 people only, in the world. Wow. Thank God.
(I haven't received my number yet. So I hope CCDE team don't change their mind)


How did I prepare for CCDE exam?

Well, it's been a long journey. I passed my first CCDE written exam four years ago. I have taken the practical exam when it was version v1.0. And now I passed with v2.0.

Before I took the exam today I thought I would have lots of things to write about my preparation for CCDE exam. But I'm typing this while having my "CCDE dinner" at Hard Rock Cafe in London, and I can only came up with Continue reading

When Tech Meets Business

"I have had the pleasure of having Himawan as part of my team for a total  of 3 years, first two years in the Carrier Ethernet practice as an NCE,  and later on as part of my Advanced Services Africa team where Himawan worked as a Solutions Architect.

Himawan is unique in the way that he not only contributes with extremely  good technical knowledge (for which his triple CCIE is a proof), but he also provides the combination of very good consultancy and business skills, which makes him extremely valuable not only in meetings with customer engineers, but also in meetings with customer senior management.

What I value most with Himawan is his never give up attitude, it doesn't matter how complicated problem, how challenging business environment, or how short timelines, he always jumps into the challenge and finds a way to resolve the issue.

I can strongly recommend Himawan for any position where the combination of technical and business skills is required, and if I had a position open requiring these skills I would see Himawan as the perfect hire."

- Ulf Vinneras
Director Services Strategy and Business Development at Cisco Systems

Tack så mycket, Ulf!

The Last Question

Please find my complete interview with IT Certification Master: Why Network, Skill, Experience Matters Most. Thank you to Mirek Burnejko for the opportunity.

And below is the last question from the interview:

MB: You are also a co-founder of several organizations: GEM Foundation, Jawdat Teknologi Indonesia and CCIE93. Can you describe us these new ventures?

HN: This is my problem: there are 250 million people in Indonesia, and there are only less than 200 CCIEs. I’m planning to solve that problem. And it doesn’t mean I will make everyone from my country as CCIE. Nor I will teach CCIE class. I want to do more. I want to help Indonesian students and young professionals to become globally competitive professionals. So they can compete in global market like me, or stay in Indonesia to work on challenging project currently being done by professionals from outside the country (expats). And the solution must be scalable. That’s why I founded a not-for-profit organization GEM Foundation (GEMFo) early last year with several other Indonesian professionals who work outside the country. I spent my personal time to visit schools and universities to share global view from my own experience working abroad for more than 10 Continue reading

My Problem

Do you know what my problem is?
250 million people in Indonesia, and there are only about 160 CCIEs.

I'm not saying the whole population must become CCIE or must learn about computer networking. But think about how many networks are there in Indonesia:
We have 7 mobile operators.
We have more than 100 Internet Service Providers.
We have one mobile operator with more than 100 million subscribers.
And there are only less than 200 individuals who have reached the expert skill level in IP network technology.

There are many expatriates who currently work in my country. We don't need to replace them all with Indonesian professionals. But at least we need to make sure Indonesians have the same level of skill set, and they are given the same opportunity to compete.

I'm thinking that the solution is not to make every network engineer to become CCIE. It has to go beyond that. The solution must transform Indonesia's next generations, young professionals and students, to become globally competitive professionals. To become professionals who possess the complete package from social network, technical skill and soft skill, and extensive experiences.

So they can compete in global market. So they can move around Continue reading

What I’ve Been Doing Lately

Beside Cisco and my MBA, I work as managing director for a non-profit organization GEM Foundation that I founded last year along with other Indonesian professionals.

 
Our focus is to help preparing Indonesian students and young professionals, as the next generation leaders for my country, to be prepared for the global competition.


Our activity includes regular biweekly Webex session by experienced professionals and entrepreneurs, mostly live outside the country, to share their knowledge, wisdom, experience, tips and tricks in finding a job, getting a job, or creating a job.
In average 70-80 students and young professionals attended our session.


We always try to meet the students in person in order to provide inspiration and opportunity to have face-to-face and open discussion. Last year I met more than 400 students and professionals during my visit to 4 universities in Indonesia.


My activity won me spot in national news. But I didn't bother.


Early this month I went to one technical high school and couple of universities in one Indonesian city called Malang, to do something similar like last year. I was given honor to give keynote speech in the annual event arranged by the alumni of the high school.


I Continue reading
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