Network Security - TAC Analyst for a Great Employ

Our client, a stable privately-owned IT Solutions provider located in the West end of Mississauga, has engaged ROSS (www.getROSS.com) to help them recruit a Technical Action Centre Analyst.

Our client is a Canadian provider of network consulting, integration and support services, technology products and solutions that optimize the performance of large-scale, application-critical, enterprise networks. Their current focus is ensuring customer networks are e-Business ready, thus ensuring maximum leverage of current and emerging Internet technologies.

Our client’s technical focus is in three primary areas:

• Network Security Solutions
• Network Infrastructure Solutions
• Network Health & Performance

Their typical customer profile is large (> 500 users) networks, distributed over a campus or wide area environment, that utilize multiple technologies and protocols to support business critical applications. In these situations their customers recognize the need for a true "Value Added Services" partner to complement their internal resources with co-sourced, specialized skills and services.

Must Haves:

• Ability to achieve Federal Government Enhanced Security; you must be a resident of Canada for at least five years
• Intermediate role 3-5 years or Senior 5+ years
• Knowledge and ideally certifications in a breadth of network security technologies (preference given to checkpoint CCSA/CCSE and RSA)
• Demonstrable experience installing firewall in a client environment
• Willingness to be ‘on-call’ 1 week/month on a rotational basis
• Excellent communication skills and strong client empathy

Technical Action Center (TAC) Analyst Function Overview

The Technical Action Center Analyst is responsible for providing level 1 maintenance support and problem diagnosis to their client base that have purchased additional support services over and above what the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) provides. The TAC analyst works closely with their Field Service Personnel providing technical support on a number of product specific initiatives.

The primary role includes:

• Providing level 1 problem diagnosis via phone to maintenance clients
• Documentation and reporting client problems
• Participating in customer support meetings
• Interfacing directly with OEM suppliers on support issues
• Participating in market research & account opportunity profiling
• Participating in and or leading product, solution or application based seminars and workshops

Key Objective

The objective of the TAC Analyst position is to provide high caliber efficient levels of telephone support to their maintenance customers Monday to Friday (with rotational one week/month after-hours on-call). The function will assist in the growth of our client’s business through the identification and development of new maintenance opportunities within our client base as well as working with their sales team that will lead to long term, mutually beneficial, strategic relationships.

Growth Path

The TAC position is viewed as a mid term 24-36 month term position for any specific individual. The intention is to transition the individual into an outside field service representative or into a direct sales role as an Account Manager if they wish.

Initial Focus

The initial focus will be on the development of technical skill sets and or client’s procedures to support their maintenance clients.

Remuneration

The initial compensation plan is comprised of a base salary plus a quarterly bonus paid on the completion of agreed deliverables. The compensation plan may be modified from time to time to include commissions on specific product/account sales. Eventually the company wants to be employee-owned so there could be future potential for ownership stake.

Training Plan

A training plan has been developed to ensure that the candidate develops the required skills and expertise to fulfill company expectations and career growth goals. The execution and completion of this training plan will be measured and tied into the agreed monthly deliverables and related bonus payments. Our client will pay for you to achieve certifications including flying you to the US and other destinations to help you achieve those certifications.

Additional Duties/Skills:

• Collecting first-line info for contract customers.
• Extended debugging of customer problem environments.
• Duplicating customer environments.
• Liaising with vendors on customer support issues.
• Direct customer presales technical support.
• Direct customer post-sales technical support when required by inside and outside sales.
• Advising Inside (CSR’s) and Outside (NSG) sales team to upcoming and potential sales.
• Making recommendations for defining customer requirements.
• Assisting inside and outside sales in defining product requirements.
• Liaising with vendors to resolve customer product licensing issues.
• Providing back-end support for TSG team staging and implementation.
• Assist on on-site TSG projects.
• Assist on in-house TSG projects (Infrastructure, Security)
• RMA processing for defective customer returns.
• Integrating vendor RMA processes.
• Keeping up-to-date with vendor specific certifications – Checkpoint, Nokia, Nortel, Stonesoft, ISS.
• Keeping up to date on generic non-vendor specific certifications.
• Keeping up-to-date on Vendor supplied patches, hotfixes and security updates.
• Contacting customers for follow-up on expiring and closing issues.
• Actively researching and probing current IT security issues.
• Hardware and software diagnostics.
• Debugging, Conditioning, Testing and pre-configuration of equipment.
• Active role in Vendor, Supplier and Customer conference calls.
• Providing feedback / activity reporting to management on TAC issues.
• Escalating hot customer issues.
• Providing after-hours support for contracted customers.
• Tracking TAC inventory.