EMC Proven Professional Spotlight: Garry Ohanian

Title: Sr. Storage Engineer at GMO
 Consulting in Finance and Healthcare Industry

LinkedIn: Garry Ohanian

EMC Proven Professional Certifications

• EMC Symmetrix Solutions Expert SA
• EMC Symmetrix Solutions Specialist SA
• EMC IT-as-a-Service Expert
• EMC Virtualized Data Center Specialist
• EMC Information Storage and Management Associate

Other Certifications

• Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist
• Brocade Certified Fabric Professional (BCFP)
• Brocade Certified SAN Manager (BCSM)
• VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP 5-DCV)
• SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E)
• SNIA Certified Storage Architect (SCSA)
• SNIA Certified Storage Professional (SCSP)
• SNIA Certified Storage Engineer (SCSE)
• Hitachi Data Systems Certified Professional, Enterprise
• QLogic Fibre Channel Specialist (FCS)
• CommVault Certified Engineer
• FalconStor IPStor, NSS and VTL Certified Engineer
• CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate

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How long have you been working in the industry?

I have been working in various IT roles for two decades. The last 10 years I have specialized in storage and data center virtualization technologies.

Why did you choose to pursue Cloud Architect certification? Was it required by your company?

It was a personal drive to learn new technologies and stay current professionally. The Cloud Architect track isn’t required by my company but I felt strongly that it fit well into my carrier path. The material covers a wide range of topics which help enterprises extend data center technologies to the cloud offerings.

How do you believe the certification has transformed your skills?

This certification provided me with a better understanding of EMC’s products and solutions which ultimately allowed me to better implement them. The knowledge gained enables me to be more productive in my work and deliver projects to consistent standards.

Has your certification helped you in your role? How? It helped me stay current in my field of expertise. Today, cloud technologies are part of standard data center design. Enterprises quickly realized potential savings and functional benefits which cloud technologies provide.

Which mode of training did you choose?

I used the Video-ILT; I thought it was greatVideo-ILT gives me the flexibility to study at my own pace. I like the fact that VILT material includes searchable course material. I used to read the course material first and refer to the videos afterwards.

What do you think of the EMC Proven Professional Program overall?

EMC Proven Professional is one of the better vendor certifications available. The training materials cover multiple aspects of modern data center technologies.

What would you say to someone thinking about becoming certified?

Certifications provide recognized benchmarks of skills which enhance professional credibility of an individual. They enable IT professionals to make better use of a product's advanced features and tackle complex projects. For me, certification is not the ultimate goal. Rather, I view it as motivation to increase knowledge in selected areas of study.

What projects/technologies are in your future plans?

Active-active data centers, Extension to Cloud storage, Software-Defined Storage

If someone asked you what this course was like, what would you tell them?

This course is vendor-neutral, which allows you to get a broader, holistic view of a data center ecosystem.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

I love being in the storage field. I’m very excited about the transformation to virtualization and cloud-based services.

Read other EMC Proven Professional Spotlight interviews in the Proven Professional Spotlight Archive