Training: Cisco Enterprise Network

We had some challenges for sure! We struggled with two different issues that had to do with our environment and nothing to do with Elan. For one thing it took us several hours to get our UCS environment working with the ACI managed distributed switch. We had to work with Cisco TAC to sort that out but we did get it working. The other issue we had was due to the way our ACI environment was deployed. It was setup so that all Layer 3 devices were sharing a single L3 out object and since we are using EIGRP that caused a limitation that basically required all policy enforcement to be disabled. That means all the contracts we created were useless since they couldn’t be enforced. I was very concerned that the second issue was going to be a show stopper for us and I was dreading telling management that after we spent all that money we couldn’t achieve our primary goals but we stuck it out and found a good solution to the problem. The solution does require a re-design of our ACI environment, but Elan helped us create and test the process to do it and it’s something we plan to do the first week in January. Overall I was very happy with how the training went and we learned a lot. Elan is top notch and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Firefly to others seeking assistance with their ACI deployment.

We have experienced great value by adopting this method of training. You have built a great training portal and the customer service has been excellent!

Course was fantastic! The instructor was amazing! She really knew what she was talking about and if she didn’t, she was interested in learning the answer herself. And with that, she either answered the question when she got the answer, or she e-mailed us a link. I took this class last year in NYC with [another high-end training company]. The guy that taught it wasn’t as good (after I took that class, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to implement). I told my boss that I would need an outside consultant to come in and help us. But the class was enough to learn the GUI and know my way around. (And I’ve had other [high-end training company] courses, all were great. I learned a lot and still am able to use the same knowledge today.) After THIS class, I feel 95% confident that I can implement on my own. Saving us $5-10k in consultant fees. I’ve already got a test switch and trying to take the time to set up a test environment to make sure I fully understand the concepts. Thank you!

The training was excellent! The instructor was brilliant in responding to questions with a great balance between labs and overviews really knowledgeable and expressing the details of the topic. Mark was excellent explaining a complex subject for us

Very well spoken and directed questions to others that he knew he didn’t have the answers to. Being in a classroom gave everyone a bit more input like a forum, over much easier to collaborate ideas with each other. Great presentation of products and very well-spoken for all skill types

I’m a former Learning student that recently started a new job at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio as a Network Security Engineer in the IT Security department. My previous employer was Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, Missouri. Since Washington University purchased your training, they’ve assigned the remaining few months of the subscription to another employee. Of course, I’m hoping to convince my new manager at University Hospitals the value of purchasing another subscription for me sometime soon, but the real focus of today’s correspondence with you is to let you know how much I’ve appreciated my Success Advisor, April Scott-Gallegos. She has been extremely supportive to me since my first subscription back in 2011 when I began my Cisco certification journey. April has continually stayed in touch with me while I’ve made my way through the training necessary to help me pass the Cisco CCNA, CCNA Security, CCNP Security, CCNP Routing & Switching, CCDA, and CCDP certifications. My subscription has been invaluable to me over the last few years, not only by helping me pass 14 Cisco exams since 2011, but by also giving me the information and knowledge necessary to become an experienced and knowledgeable network security engineer. April has played an important part of my certification journey by staying in touch and offering valuable assistance along the way. She is an important asset to the team!

You are a great training resource. I have dealt with many competitive companies, but you really deliver! The variety of applicable courses is great. I have access to lessons, labs, and a virtual library 24x7x365, so I can train on my schedule. What really sets you apart from competitors is the customer service. You have industry-expert mentors that are available to answer the very specific technical questions that arise in IT professional training. The BEST feature is the “success coach”, someone that keeps in touch and assists with your progress. These people do not just take your money and go away, they are truly there to help you “get to the next level” whatever that may be. Keep in mind, any amount invested in professional education is an investment in yourself and your future. You owe it to yourself to succeed, and they will provide you the tools to do it. Eric Kilgore

You are a top notch training company. We presented this type of training to our techs and they jumped all over it. Our Success Advisor talked to each individual to help them understand the portal and to setup their training plans. The catalog of all the training that is offered is incredible and they inform us of when they have new courses coming out. Thank you for a great experience.

The crowd yesterday at CalPERS were totally enamoured by Elan Beer. They were absolutely loving the class. I have not heard so much positive feedback on an instructor in my entire career. And that too for a topic like ACI. Both network folks and non-network folks were raving about him.

Thank you for providing an incredible training experience.

Course content is well prepared for my knowledge level about ACI, from brushing up my knowledge to the latest, helpful command of troubleshooting that is totally new to me. The instructor explained each topic in detail and covered complicated essential topics such as contracts multiple times to help us understand the concept and how it works. I appreciate his guidance and facilitating each member of this training. The lab environment was relatively small with a virtual environment, however, I was able to touch ACI with VM ware environment that is a nice experience for my career and preparation for future implementation in our company environment.

I was able to apply materials and lab very smoothly with his instruction, Thank you, Mark.

The training portal has addressed every aspect of our training requirements. It contains an extensive almost limitless catalog of courses, professional training aids, excellent reference material, and best of all the customer service is off the charts. Our Success Advisor insures our training requirements are met on a regular basis. In my estimation there is no comparison in the benefits that you have to offer.

ISE is currently deployed at my new company and wanted a better understanding of its capabilities and management. Firefly’s instructor, Catherine, was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It was great to learn from someone who could provide real world experience and she has used real world experiences while she taught. This played a huge factor in keeping us all interested. The course content was excellent. The instructor plays a large role on how effective the class is and Catherine Paquet did an excellent job. I would recommend a class taught by her to anyone.

We just concluded the UCS Assessment with George Dundon and Fabricio Grimaldi. I just wanted to take a minute and say both these guys were excellent from start to finish. George’s knowledge of Fiber Channel and his troubleshooting ability was absolutely fantastic. He got us to the true root cause of our storage fabric / UCS outage that occurred in July. He also helped us with other FC issues too.

Fabricio also was top notch with UCS, knowing it backwards and forwards. He reviewed our setup and thankfully our system is in good working order and configured properly, aside from one very minor issue that is barely mentionable. I just wanted you to know and let their managers know they are great engineers/experts and I definitely will put Firefly at the top of my list if we need expert / deep dive situations in the future. Kudos to both of them! 😊 Thanks.