Ahmed Nomani

Cisco’s second layoff of 2024 affects thousands of employees. Questions: 1) How is our economy doing great when major companies daily are announcing major layoffs? 2) How will these employees pay for their expenses with no income 3) It makes no sense on how the stock market is at an all time when so many Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Massive layoffs for Cisco and IBM erase hundreds of Bay Area tech jobs (siliconvalley.com)

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Sharing the original post for reach as Shawn Hunter Turnbull is good people and those are good roles at JFrog. Under the 'sharing for reach' value add for 2025, I'll each time start to add the Datadog Integration for that software offering. It should be a busy year in that regard when you consider Datadog has over 800 out-of-the-box integrations (that's a healthy and growing number) such as this one for JFrog, significantly reducing time to value received. Datadog - JFrog Integration https://lnkd.in/eVvjq7HX All Datadog Integrations https://lnkd.in/gjdKEyt6 Simple not simplistic. Datadog is unified observability and security. If you have challenges correlating operational, development, security AND experience signals, team to team, system to system (and most do), we can help almost immediately. Ready for 2025! See you there friends.

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The other day my friend who stays in Sunnyvale and works in an American EDA company mentioned that she attended an all women meeting last week. And this is first time in her 20 years career that the team comprising of engineers, marketing folks and team from clients end - all of them were women. This started a discussion and we spoke on how women participation in Indian workforce is far from being equal, and even though it improved in recent years, the wide gender gap persists. On a stark contract, I attended my son's PTM this weekend in Gurgaon and the students who were managing the PTM from grade V to XII were mostly girls. They were respectful, disciplined and precise in their communication and they even knew if some parents swapped the meeting windows amongst themselves. They were making decisions and keeping all these organized and on schedule. So, what gets changed between school and work, the girls who are flourishing in school are struggling to continue in workforce. There could be varied reasons. The social expectation could be different from the different gender groups, the qualities that are valued in school may not get appreciated in the corporate world so much. The situation is complex, and the solution will be multi-faceted. However, on an individual level, we all can contribute to change the status-quo. The managers could see if any behavioral tweak can reduce the dropout rate of female folks from their team, and, as women we all can see if asking for help at workplace and home is better than leaving work altogether. I wish we can bring a future that is more inclusive and our daughters don't see an all-woman meeting as any anomaly. #changetheratio #future #womeninworkforce

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The ongoing layoffs at Cisco underscore the challenges that tech companies encounter in a rapidly evolving industry. The lack of transparency and communication regarding job cuts can create a toxic work environment and erode employee morale. This issue could ultimately affect innovation and revenue generation. It is crucial for companies like Cisco to focus on long-term strategies for growth and sustainability, rather than frequently resorting to layoffs as a solution. The high executive compensation during these layoffs also raises questions about corporate priorities and values. Overall, the situation at Cisco highlights the importance of fostering a positive and supportive workplace culture.

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🔍 How Splunk Has Enhanced My Work as an SRE/DevOps Engineer 🔍 Splunk has been an incredible tool in my SRE/DevOps role, giving me deep insights into log data, real-time monitoring, and troubleshooting. It’s my go-to for keeping systems reliable and quickly identifying and resolving issues. Here’s why Splunk has become essential to my workflow: 📊 Centralized Log Management: Splunk makes it easy to gather logs from across our systems, applications, and environments, bringing them into one place. This centralized setup allows me to efficiently search, analyze, and pinpoint issues without jumping between platforms. 🚨 Proactive Monitoring and Alerts: Splunk’s alerting capabilities are fantastic. I can set up alerts for specific events, performance metrics, or unusual behavior, so I get notified before minor issues become bigger problems. It’s been key in reducing downtime and improving response times. 💡 Powerful Search and Data Visualization: Splunk’s search language and visualization tools let me dig deep into data trends, track metrics, and create dashboards for real-time monitoring. These dashboards are incredibly useful for keeping an eye on overall system health and identifying areas for improvement. 📈 Data-Driven Decisions for Optimization: Using Splunk, I can analyze long-term data trends, helping us make better decisions for infrastructure scaling, performance tuning, and optimization. This data-driven approach has been invaluable for enhancing system efficiency and planning capacity. 🔒 Enhanced Security and Compliance: Splunk has also been useful for tracking security-related events and monitoring compliance standards. I can quickly search and review logs for anomalies or unauthorized access, which helps maintain secure, compliant systems. Splunk has added immense value by improving visibility into our infrastructure, making troubleshooting easier, and helping us proactively manage our systems. Would love to hear how others are using Splunk—let’s connect and share insights! #Splunk #SRE #DevOps #Monitoring #LogManagement #DataVisualization #C2C

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I am on a plane this morning, excited to connect in person with the amazing Pure Storage team, roll up our sleeves and work on our FY plan!  There are many companies hiring, looking to fill HC before the end of the year. Keep going, you’ve got this!  —— 🚨**PLEASE READ** I am not affiliated or hiring for any of these roles. Sharing to spread the word. 🚨 🎓New Grads 1-2 Years Experience  *Media Specialist, Infinity Marketing (Greenville, SC) *Demand Gen Marketing Associate, Corevist (Durham) *Product Marketing Specialist, Sabre Corporation (DFW) 🔎Contract Roles *Field Marketing Specialist/ Marketing Program Manager, PDSSOFT INC. INC (Raleigh, NC) *Event Marketing Specialist, Infotree Global Solutions (Austin) *Senior Content Marketing Manager, Cypress HCM (Redwood City) *Senior Marketing Manager, Motion Recruitment (NYC or Atlanta) *Social Media Manager, Planet Interactive (Boston) ⭐ Field/ Partner/ Event Marketing/ Community *North America Field Marketing and Customer Engagement Specialist, Mixpanel *Head of Experiential Marketing, Square (Bay Area) *AMER Regional Marketing Manager SLED, Axonius *Partner Marketing Manager, Lansweeper 💡 DG/ Campaigns/ ABM *Director of DG, interface.ai *Director of Growth Marketing, AcuityMD *Director of DG, Medallion *Director Marketing, Big Health *Sr Manager Marketing Consumer, ARS Pharmaceuticals *Head of Marketing, Copysmith *Sr DG Manager, Bitwarden *Sr Manager Global Campaigns and ABM, Keyfactor *Sr DG Marketer, Octopus Deploy (US or Canada) *Director Marketing Programs, Mattermost *VP Channel Programs, Mattermost 🎨 Digital/ Creative/ Web/ SEO/Social/ PR *Content Marketing Specialist, Spot AI *Communications Specialist, Keeper Security, Inc. *Communications Lead, Webflow *Social Media Manager, Webflow *Content Marketing Manager II, Blackhawk Network *Sr. Social Media Manager, Dose *Director Website Strategy, Ironclad  *Creative Director, Grow Therapy 📊 MOPs/ SalesOps/Analytics *Senior Manager, Customer Demand Email Team, HubSpot *Marketing Operations Manager, Quilt *Content Operations Coordinator, MyHealthTeam *Sr Marketing Operations Manager, Signifyd *Se Manager Marketing Operations, Chainguard *Marketing Operations Manager, POSIT *Marketing Operations Manager, Glean 🔥Product Marketing/ Content *PMM, Abnormal Security *Sr PMM, interface.ai *Sr PMM, Remote 📣 SDR/BDR/Enablement  *Sr. Program Manager, Sales Enablement, Visier Inc. *BDR, Visier (Vancouver, BC) *BDR, Medallion 🌍 EMEA/ APJ  *Sr FMM, Octopus Deploy (UK) *Lead Generation Specialist, Keepit (Poland) *Sr Global Enablement Partner, Hubspot (Ireland) *GTM Sales Enablement Partner, Hubspot (Australia) 🎯 India  *Product Marketing Manager, Securden, Inc *DG Lead (SEM Paid Marketing), Securden *PMM, Ninjacart Channel Marketing Association

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Edit the next day: Turns out, the call really was from Amazon after all. The shipment was my 100 copies of "Trafficking U" from Winged Publications, but the digits on my home address were mixed up. Amazon emailed Winged Publications founder, Cynthia Hickey, not me, because the order was from her Amazon account, not mine.) Deep fake AI scams are coming. But this wasn't one of them. Here is the original post. ****************************************** Well, here's a new one. My cell phone rang at 6:38 PM. The caller ID said "AMAZONLOGISTICS" (all caps, no spaces). I answered. After a few seconds, an American male voice on the other end said Amazon tried to deliver a package, but before he could give me any more information, he needed to know the name on my Amazon account. I said I needed to look it up. He said they tried to deliver a package at 6:26 PM today, but were unable to find my address, but before he could provide any more information, he needed me to verify the name on my Amazon account. I said I need you to verify you really are from Amazon first. He said in that case, they would send an email with instructions on what to do next. All smooth and professional. Did we order something and I blew my chance to fix whatever delivery problem happened? After I hung up, I looked up our Amazon orders. Nothing scheduled for today. This was the best scam call I've ever taken. And, yep, it's possible I just talked to an AI language model. Which is scary.

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A company of Amazon's size making this move can be seen as the writing on the wall for us all. It remains to be seen how this plays out. Dell already had a bad experience with implementing tracking to ensure people on a hybrid schedule make it in and that remote workers don't get promotions. Almost 50% of Dell employees still opted to be fully remote. Make no mistake, working remotely is not for everyone. Suddenly going fully remote during COVID lockdown very plainly revealed what teams and individuals don't do as well when not face to face in an office. A different set of communication skills and styles needs to be mastered. Some of us already had those skills, some of us have no interest in gaining those skills. Mr. Jassey may get a rude awakening or maybe it will just go back to business as usual at AMZN. I'm curious to see and to talk to employees at re:Invent this year about it.

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For a long time I've wanted to bring to light the difference between what some folks think as "egress costs" and Data Transfer....most people think of AWS Data Transfer Out as simply we hand off a bunch of traffic to some internet provider to carry our traffic for us and that's our cost. This is of course not true and I'm excited to start sharing what is really happening here. AWS has built one of the most extensive, highly available, performant networks in the world and provides deep security through encrypting everything on our network. We don't simply punt your packet to someone else to deal with, we have invested billions of dollars to ensure packets are secured, and continue to flow even under some pretty egregious failure modes (such as certain multiple cable cuts that happened around the world this year). We plan for failures and ensure we can always carry the peak load, we take ownership of the performance to end networks. Also, for those who spread FUD around costs to move data out of AWS, 94% of our customers see no charge and we do not charge if you want to get your data out and leave AWS. I've spent 15 years here and our amazing team continues to drive our availability and security to new levels year after year. Networks can be built in many different ways, we believe they should be built in a way that ensures a great customer experience day in day out, and we invest in our network to do so. https://lnkd.in/grcGt8ce

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LinkedIn jumped the gun a bit, my 7 year anniversary at VMware is this Wednesday, 18th September. I actually started working “for” VMware back in 2014, as a white-labelled PSO consultant while working for Xtravirt. Three years later, in September 2017, I joined VMware as a PSO consultant working in the NSX practice. After two years delivering virtualised networking and automation for customers I was lucky enough to move into the Technical Marketing team for vRealize/Aria Automation, and back into my automation roots. I spoke at countless conferences, VMUGs, sales kickoffs, webinars, and at VMworld, I wrote dozens of articles, recorded dozens of demos and learned an enormous amount. As the Tech Marketing team evolved and changed, Chris McClanahan took over as our fearless leader, and we’ve been on a crazy ride ever since! Most recently (or rather, nearly 2.5 years ago!) I moved with Chris and fellow TMM John into Technical Product Management for VMware Aria, which became Tanzu Platform (that’s a whole story of its own!) Working for VMware was always a career goal for me, and the people I’ve worked with, the things I’ve learned and the experiences I’ve had along the way didn’t disappoint. Since the Broadcom acquisition VMware is changing, and time will tell whether that’s a good or a bad thing - being acquired was stressful (any acquisition is), but it was made much more manageable because I was part of an awesome team, with a great boss. Unfortunately, I found out about a week ago that my journey at VMware is at an end - my last day at VMware will be the end of September. So, I’m joining the ranks of #OpenToWork - I’m looking forward to a break, learning some new tech, writing some content for my blog, seeing what’s next, and a little bit of woodwork. If you’re looking for a Technical Product Manager to work on some cool technology (especially around Kubernetes, APIs, networking, automation), let’s have a conversation!

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Catch our top Solutions Architects Sri and Rita in this session at AWS Innovate. Learn the latest approaches to rapidly modernize your .NET Applications using GenAI and the power of the AWS Cloud.

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🌟 Update from EngineeringX! 🌟 A big shoutout to Nishant Doshi and Dheeraj Khanna from NetApp for hosting an engaging session. 👀 This session the group delved into key topics such as: 1. The good, the bad, and the wishlists for the build processes 2. The impact of GenAI on the workforce 3. What developer experience and happiness truly mean 🤝 If you're an engineering leader looking to network, share insights, and learn from your peers, join the EngineeringX community. Sign up here: https://engineeringx.org/ #EngineeringX #Networking #EngineeringLeadership #DeveloperExperience #GenAI #BuildProcesses

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To all of my LinkedIn family and network, and most importantly any of my Cisco and IBM former teammates and friends who might be impacted by the recent events or announcements. I know it feels like bloodletting…I know that going through a layoff can be incredibly difficult, and it’s okay to feel a mix of emotions right now. Remember, this moment doesn’t define your worth or your future. Think of this as a new chapter, a chance to explore your new opportunities and paths that you might not have ever imagined before. Sometimes, the most unexpected changes lead to the most amazing growth. Ralph Waldo Emerson is attributed to saying, “There’s no knowledge that is not power”. Use your knowledge. Lean on your support network—friends, family, and colleagues. We’re all here to help each other through this. If you need to talk, share ideas, or just need a listening ear, don’t hesitate to reach out. My phone number is still the same after 20 years, if you need a kind ear to listen, or someone to scream with or at, or have a beverage and a bite with, Let’s chat and put a plan together for what's next. It may be dark, but you’re never alone. If you have any leads or need any leads, or advice, or just want to catch up, I’m here and ready to connect. Let’s turn this challenge into a stepping stone for something even greater. A wise man once said, “An ordinary person sees an obstacle, and their heart drops because they don’t know how to get over around or through it, and a good person will bloody their knuckles, scrape their knees and bludgeon their forehead to figure out a plan to come out the other side, while and extraordinary person once they bloody their knuckles, scrape their knees and bludgeon their forehead will turn around and help everyone who’s facing the same obstacle without hope, will emerge victorious.”Stay strong, stay hopeful, and let’s keep moving forward together. 💪✨ I have been exactly where you are, and I'm here to help in any way I can or that you need. DM me call me send a carrier pigeon…I’ll be here. Take care, and let’s get through this together. #NewBeginnings #StayPositive #SupportEachOther #MovingForward Cheers, Jon

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An HONOR to talk with Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman about everything partners need to know about AWS channel strategy in 2025 and beyond. Garman’s message is loud and clear🎤: AWS partners need to be attached to every customer account if the $110 billion 💵 cloud giant wants to remain a dominant force in the AI era. “I’m encouraging every single one of our accounts to make sure that partners are attached to almost every single thing that we do,” said AWS’ CEO. “So that is a message heard loud and clear across our field and is the message that I will continue to push on our field—that every single opportunity should have a partner attached to it in some way, shape or form.” Partners are cheering Garman’s channel investments—such as signing dozens of heavily funded Strategic Collaboration Agreements with partners and creating an AI innovation center full of solution provider IP—along with his bold strategy to align AWS’ internal sales teams with the channel more than ever before. From Garman’s roots as an intern working underneath AWS founder and former CEO Andy Jassy in 2005 to climbing the ranks to become SVP of sales, marketing and global services, AWS partners believe Garman brings a clear understanding of what customers need and how the push for a partner-centric future will drive success. “He didn’t just start from the bottom, but he’s gotten his hand dirty working directly with customers,” said Justin Copie, CEO of Innovative Solutions. As thousands of tech leaders flock to #AWS #reInvent this week in Las Vegas, CRN takes a deep dive with Garman and innovative partner leaders like Mission's Simon Anderson, Presidio's Christopher Cagnazzi, Redapt, Inc. Paul Shaffer, InterVision Systems Jonathan Lerner to discuss the future of AWS' vital partner ecosystem. Thanks again for chatting with me Matt and I'll see you at re:Invent! https://lnkd.in/ey_YakQv

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Here comes another plug for Cohesity Gaia…I know, I know, I’ve talked about it a few (hundred) times before, but this time let me SHOW you how amazing it is! With Cohesity's industry-changing generative AI capabilities, Cohesity Gaia lets you search your own enterprise data fast and extract insights from it. The result? You can make business decisions faster. See for yourself! https://lnkd.in/gbRgwvhZ 

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Navigating Layoffs: My Journey with Positivity and Control As my departure from Cisco nears, I want to share some insights from my layoff experience in hopes of changing the way we approach and support employees facing similar transitions. l'm extremely grateful to have been part of a departure process where I felt valued, seen, and supported—an experience that is, unfortunately, rare but shouldn’t be. Based on my experience, here are a few ways to approach a layoff with intention and positivity, both for employees and for those supporting them: 1. Drive the Experience You Want Take control of your exit. Consider what would make you feel most satisfied with your departure—whether it’s a farewell meeting, a team announcement, or staying connected during the transition. Don’t wait for others to define your experience; articulate your needs and reach out to make it happen. It can make a profound difference. 2. Own Your Story One of the most empowering steps I took was to announce my layoff to my team myself (in a team meeting), allowing me to frame it in a hopeful and optimistic light (which is how I perceived it). In sharing the news, I was also able to express appreciation for my team and the impact we made together. And I was able to set the tone for my transition and how they could best interact with me to transition work. I also gave my leader/team permission to share my departure with anyone who needed to know or inquired. As news of my departure spread, I was pleasantly surprised by everyone who reached out with words of encouragement or offers to support me in the next steps of my career journey. 3. Stay Connected— Embrace Support and Reflection Rather than withdrawing, I retained my 1:1 meetings with colleagues, allowing me to lean onmy  network for both emotional support and career insights. I found it incredibly helpful to ask trusted colleagues for feedback on positioning my strengths and for advice on future opportunities. Their perspectives reminded me of my value and helped me look forward to the future. And I am thankful to everyone who occasionally sent me a meme/gif, recalled a memory that came to mind, or just took a moment to IM me with a simple ”thinking of you”. 4. Request a Send-Off if you want one A departure doesn’t have to feel like an ending in isolation. I asked for a farewell Webex with key team members, giving me the chance to say goodbye meaningfully, just like we would for a colleague leaving for a new role. Layoffs are challenging, but they don’t have to define us negatively. By taking steps to create a departure experience that feels positive and intentional, we can reclaim a sense of control and closure. Let’s work together to make respectful, meaningful goodbyes the norm, not the exception.

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Wishing you success

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