Hi Listers,
I have always said that it is wrong to train IT students on proprietary system as is happening with Cisco training that is being offered as a career path. Switching
and routing principles are based on an open standard so students need to have an appreciation of the technology and not a brand.
I have been having an interesting exchange with Safaricom on setting up a connection to their SMSC where their engineers insist that the solution can only be implemented using a Cisco router.
From this experience it is clear that most of the engineers at Safaricom have been trained on vendor specific and proprietary
standards which has denied them the flexibility to work with none Cisco equipment.
Safaricom has been a proponent of open systems by being open to various handsets, so it is shocking that as they move towards becoming a data service provider they are opting to close their systems.
This attitude by Safaricom reminds me of Orange and their Livebox fiasco that totally killed their broadband service yet all they had to do was allow any DSL compliant equipment to be used on their network and used the funds tied in equipment on advertising and any
other activity.
I hope this is just a hiccup in their transition and that we shall see a more open minded organisation as they move towards being a serious contender in the corporate data provision service.
For those of you with children or relatives basing their carriers on proprietary technologies please advice them to acquire generic education as well otherwise they might find opportunities passing them by, its the principles that matter.
Robert YaweKAY System Technologies LtdPhoenix House, 6th FloorP O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200KenyaTel: +254722511225, +254202010696