IPexpert, Inc. Launches High-end Consulting Division

China, Michigan, March 31^st 2010 – IPexpert, Inc., a Michigan-based IT training company, announced today that it has launched a new division that will focus on high-end Cisco consulting services. Platinum Solutions Group, a sister company of IPexpert Inc, is a corporation formed by some of the world’s most distinguished and experienced Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts (CCIEs).

Platinum Solutions Group (PSG) provides high-end consultative services for small to medium business and enterprise-size corporations. Services consist of Planning, Designing, Implementing, Support, and Optimization of large-scale intra, and internetworks. PSG will also provide training for clients who require customized education. PSG will focus its efforts on the Data Center Virtualization, Network Security, Service Provider and Unified Communications arenas.

President of IPexpert, Wayne A. Lawson II, founded IPexpert in 2001, Proctor Labs, Inc. in 2005 and now Platinum Solutions Group, after becoming a CCIE and designing some of the world’s largest networks. “Our team consists of some of the world’s most experienced technical experts. It’s a natural evolution as we’re consistently asked to provide guidance and assistance to our students and their network design teams. We’re excited to offer a level of service that most consulting companies can’t match because of our high-end focus within the CCIE training space,” says Mr. Lawson.

About Platinum Solutions Group:

Founded in 2010, Platinum Solutions Group is a high-end consulting services company that provides technical services pertaining to Data Center Virtualization, Network Security, Service Provider and Unified Communication-enabled networks. For more information, please visit Platinum Solutions Group at www.platinumsolutionsgroup.com.

About IPexpert:

Founded in 2001, IPexpert is an industry-recognized, privately held, training company for computer networking engineers pursuing the highest level career certification offered by Cisco. The company has become a global leader serving its niche market, boasting the most distinguished offering of self-study products, courses and online hardware available for online equipment rental. IPexpert has appeared in Inc. Magazine’s annual list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past two years. Please visit www.ipexpert.com for more information.

Cisco announced, today, (March 16^th) that “qualifying students” from Cisco’s 360 CCIE training program would be able to request a waiver for the “Core Knowledge” section of the CCIE Routing and Switching and Voice exams. Sounds good? Well… we think otherwise!

First of all, in order to qualify, students need to undergo the authorized 360 “workshop” (be sure to recognize that it’s 2 weeks of training and quite a bit more expensive than some of the other options out there) and, as usual, waiver requests need to be approved by the instructor from the workshop. The waiver is then submitted to Cisco for approval and approved or disapproved without clear indication of success of that request. The program is temporary and begins on April 1^st 2010… just as another waiver program (that seems to have failed) is about to end.

The IPexpert team is determined to provide our students with the best possible training material available on the market. For that reason, we pledge right here and right now, that we will have the best preparation material on the market for the Core Knowledge section of the lab exams… by the time this program goes live. Yes, by April 1^st of this year. All IPexpert clients will have access to an OEQ / Core Knowledge eBook (we will be delivering eBooks for the R&S, Voice, Security and Service Provider labs).

Combine that with our current products and offerings:

• World-class Video on Demand (with supplemental Student Slide & Topology Books)
• World-class Audio on Demand (lecture different than VOD)
• World-class ILT Training (Week 1)
• World-class OWLE Training (Week 2)
• World-class Workbooks (and accompanying Detailed Solution Guides)
• World-class Workbook Video Walkthroughs (Hundreds of hours of video solutions)
• World-class Rack Rental at ProctorLabs (Latest & greatest hardware, online, with an unmatched GUI)
• World-class Online Community at OnlineStudyList.com (free online mentoring avenues)
• World-class Technical Support for all issues
• The largest alumni of successful CCIE students overall

In addition to all of the above (current offerings and upcoming FREE Core Knowledge eBook), we are shortly going to introduce two additions to our family of products in all tracks. We call them “vLectures” and “Ask the Expert Sessions”.

vLectures will be 2-4 hour long, live online lectures, delivered by one or more of our instructors on a given subject through our online classroom. These sessions will also be recorded and posted to our student accounts.

Ask the Expert sessions will be 2-4 long online sessions with one or more of our instructors and will focus on either a specific technology or a given lab from our Workbooks. Students attending the sessions will interact with the instructors, ask the questions and gain invaluable expertise. These will, also, be recorded and posted to student accounts.

Oh and one more thing…

These three new products … are going to be FREE for all our current BLS customers in all tracks. No need to qualify or pay premium.

Do our students need OEQ waivers? We think not. Here at IPexpert, we deliver on our promise to make you experts – with no shortcuts. We don’t think you need to “purchase” the ability to pass or “waive” the OEQ portion of your lab (by paying upwards of x2 or x3 as much for less training, less support and less proven success).

Good idea by the 360 team, or an act of desperation to salvage a failing program? You make the call…

Regards,

- Wayne A. Lawson II (CCIE #5244) – Founder & President, IPexpert, Inc.

CHINA, Mich., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ — For the third consecutive year, Inc. Magazine has ranked IPexpert on its list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. IPexpert is ranked #2639 of the 5000 companies chosen, #28 in the Detroit-metro region, and #31 among education companies nationwide. In 2009, IPexpert significantly increased its number of employees, product offerings, and global training facility locations, despite the downturn in the economy. The company also launched a completely redesigned website, additional course and product offerings and improved its already robust social marketing outlets.

Wayne A. Lawson II, IPexpert President, founded the company in 2001 after becoming a CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert). He credits the success of IPexpert to hiring and retaining the right team members and focusing on customer satisfaction. “It’s an honor to receive this recognition for the 3rd consecutive year. We’ve worked very hard to get where we are and we’re very optimistic about our continued growth over the next several years,” says Lawson. Elizabeth Stewart, IPexpert’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, adds, “We have implemented an aggressive growth strategy both domestically and internationally, recruited an outstanding team, and built a detailed execution plan. I’m very excited about our future in 2010 and beyond.”

IPexpert is doubling the amount of training offerings it will supply to its customers, thus positioning the company as a global leader in providing self-study multimedia learning tools and classroom training that prepare computer networking engineers for all levels of career certification offered by Cisco Systems. Since its founding in 2001, the company has honed its focus and expertise on training solutions for those seeking the CCIE certification and currently leads the market with the most comprehensive portfolio of CCIE lab preparation products and courses in the world. Although Cisco is the leading provider of computer networking solutions worldwide, less than 26,000 engineers have been able to attain the prestigious CCIE certification over its 11-year lifetime. Those that have joined this elite group are highly sought after by the world’s top companies and government agencies, commanding six-figure salaries, job security and a respected status amongst peers. In 2009, IPexpert expanded their course portfolio to also include training for the Cisco CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional), CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional), and CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional) certification products and courses. By launching training options for these tiers of certification, IPexpert is able to assist the IT Networking Professional with the full range of certification options, from the entry to the expert level. Boasting a wide range of self-study tools, clients can choose professionally formatted and produced workbooks, audio products, video on demand, and eLearning products. For clients that prefer live instruction from qualified, industry-recognized experts, the company offers instructor-led, classroom-based courses that are now delivered all over the world.

With the addition of new training locations in Amsterdam, London, and Sydney, as well as the hiring of dedicated international instructors, IPexpert will execute on its goal to grow its classroom delivery business to outside of the United States. “Our self-study products have consistently been a very popular study tool for our international customers for years, and we are answering their demand for instructor-led training as well,” states Lawson. The company will also grow its US classroom delivery business with the recent hiring of three more instructors, which allows for more training classes in more locations. “We are hiring the instructors that live and breathe these technologies in order to create, maintain, and constantly update our products,” Lawson continues. “It is common in our industry to contract outside engineers to teach training courses … after that, they leave. We have built a solid foundation of staff instructors to provide consistent quality training to our customers and who are invested in the long-term success of our students.”

The company has also launched a completely redesigned website in order to better serve its clients. The website,http://www.ipexpert.com, includes more detailed course descriptions, samples of self-study products, free downloads, and user outlets such as an online blog and email discussion list. “Our new website funnels more information directly to our clients than ever before,” says Stewart. “We are looking to create strong relationships with our students, many of which will be with us for several years as they pursue their certification goals from entry level to expert level. The website is a reflection of that collaborative effort and the sense of community we provide to our clients.”

About IPexpert: Founded in 2001, IPexpert is an industry-recognized, privately held training company for computer networking engineers pursuing the highest level career certification offered by Cisco. IPexpert is a global leader in providing self-study multimedia learning tools and classroom training preparing computer networking engineers for all levels of career certification offered by Cisco Systems. Boasting a wide range of self-study products, clients can choose professionally formatted and produced workbooks, audio lecture products, video on demand, and streaming eLearning products. For students that prefer live instruction from qualified, industry-recognized CCIEs, IPexpert Boot Camp courses are second to none.

About Inc.com: The Inc. 5000 is ranked according to each company’s percentage of revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. The list is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy – America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies that can be sorted by industry and region, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/. Inc.com, the Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs, delivers advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multimedia to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses more successfully. Information and advice covering virtually every business and management task, including marketing, sales, finding capital and managing people, can be found at http://www.inc.com.

Contact:

Wayne Lawson
Phone: (810) 326-1444

I’m pleased to announce the addition of Elizabeth Stewart and Dan Aguilera to the IPexpert team. Elizabeth and Dan both come from a competitive player in the Associate and Professional Level Cisco training space and will be key individuals involved in assisting the current management, sales and technical team in the rollout of IPexpert’s upcoming CCNA (R&S, Security and Voice), CCNP, CCVP and CCSP technical classes and products, which will be announced this month.

Elizabeth is a phenomenal asset to the team. She understands, probably better than anybody, what a company needs to do to be successful (all around) in the lower-level Cisco training space. She’s been named our VP of Sales & Marketing and will be overseeing our sales processes & procedures and our marketing (traditional and social) efforts. She brings a wealth of sales, management and leadership experience and I’m truly relieved to have a “right hand woman” of her caliber! Expect to see some exciting things that haven’t been thought of, or attempted by traditional Cisco-focused training organizations.

Dan, a former instructor at Global Net Training, has been teaching for over ten years and has developed proprietary training curriculum for the CCNA R&S, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CCNP, CCSP and CCVP certification tracks. His track record is second-to-none and his pass rate is unmatched! (He’s a former Marine – as I am, so if you attend one of Dan’s classes – be ready for a challenging “Marine-like” BOOTCAMP! ;-). At IPexpert, Dan is responsible for all aspects of classroom delivery for these Associate and Professional level certification programs. He will also be instrumental in the development process and customer support for IPexpert’s various Cisco Associate and Professional level self-study products. In addition to a classroom background that’s extremely uncommon and hard to match, Dan has also been heavily involved in the field, obtaining real-world experience by actively planning, developing, implementing, monitoring and managing networks for Government and State Agencies as well as Private Corporations. For over 10 years, Dan has extensive experience managing, operating and consulting in technical support centers with customers such as ATT&T, Verizon, Secure Logix, Source Inc., Austin American Statesman, MaryKay, and The State of Texas.

Building on an already-established, overachieving team of industry-renowned Instructors, and the most-recent announcements including Amy Ryan (CCIE Voice, CCVP and CCNA Voice Instructor & Developer), Marko Milivojevic (CCNA, CCNP and CCIE Instructor – International), the team of 8 additional Support Engineers (all of them CCIE certified, most of them holding multiple CCIEs) we’ve announced over the past few months and a few additional “all stars” that we’ll be announcing in the upcoming weeks, we’re poised to deliver an extremely technical, professional, personalized experience to each and every student. Our goal is to provide a complete “end-to-end” solution for all levels – Associate to Expert beginning with quizzes, written prep, self-study materials, online hardware access and then ILT while also providing “second-to-none” online mentoring and support.

We plan on creating content that’s based on our “learn by doing” approach that we’ve mastered in the CCIE space.  We’ve trained more CCIEs than any company in the world – put simply, our “Structured Learning Approach” is proven and it works. I’m excited to be rolling this down to the Associate and Professional level. We’re going to train and create great engineers that really understand the technologies and protocols, engineers that “get it” – and aren’t “paper certified”.

Stay tuned for our new website which will showcase new product offerings – it should be up and live within the next few days!

Regards,

Wayne A. Lawson II – CCIE #5244
Founder & President – IPexpert
Mailto: wlawson@ipexpert.com
Telephone: +1.810.326.1444, ext. 701
Live Assistance, Please visit: www.ipexpert.com/chat
eFax: +1.810.454.0130

IPexpert is a premier provider of Classroom and Self-Study Cisco CCNA (R&S, Voice & Security), CCNP, CCVP, CCSP and CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) Certification Training with locations throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Be sure to check out our online communities at www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com.

I’m pleased to announce that Marko Milivojevic has joined our team or highly-distinguished instructors.  Marko, CCIE #18427 (SP), CCDP, CCIP, CCNP, has spent 12 years designing and supporting some of Europe’s largest service provider networks.  He is accredited with designing the largest multi-service internet infrastructure in Iceland.

Marko has been working with IPexpert over the past few years developing several self-study products, and will now be more-heavily involved in product development and training (classroom training throughout Europe, Australia and Asia) full time.

With the new CCIE R&S Lab 4.0 update, which involves a large amount of troubleshooting and service provider-like content, Marko is an incredible fit.  His background and technical skills are a great match! Marko will be a double IE (adding the 4.0 R&S) very soon, and is a great addition to the team!

- Wayne

CCIE R&S and Security Clients,

Just a quick update….for R&S, the following labs (and Detailed Solution Guides) are either published (existing members accounts) – or will be published within the next day to your accounts:

Routing & Switching – Volumes 1, 2 and 3:

• Volume 1 (Done w/ 34 mock lab scenarios)
• Volume 2: Labs 1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 (12 out of 15 completed)
• Volume 3: Labs 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (5 out of 10 completed)

Security – Volumes 1 and 2:

• Volume 1: Labs 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B and 8A (13 out of 16 completed)
• Volume 2: Labs 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 (5 out of 10 completed)

We will be updating timelines on the full suite of products soon too!  Thanks for hanging with us – this year has been filled with lots and lots of development with the 4.0 R&S, 3.0 Voice and 3.0 Security changes!

Regards – Wayne

Gang -

Just a quick note to remind everyone that on occasion we push special promotions, updates, announcement, etc. – through our Facebook Fan Page, LinkedIn Group and through our Twitter Account.  Be sure to follow us – we’ve got some very major announcements and initiatives that will be announced over the next 2 to 4 weeks – that you WON’T want to miss!!

Thanks – Wayne

China, Mich. June 30, 2009 –- IPexpert, Inc., a leading global provider of network certification training, announced today the appointment of David R. Kaufman as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Kaufman brings to IPexpert over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the certification training industry.

Kaufman will oversee IPexpert’s Sales and Marketing organizations, responsible for overall sales execution and customer satisfaction as well as all internet marketing initiatives. He will also be involved in the planning and execution of IPexpert’s future product and course offerings. In this role, he will lead IPexpert’s efforts to grow its revenues, customer base, and sales organization and internet visibility. Kaufman will report to IPexpert’s President, Wayne A. Lawson II.

Prior to joining IPexpert, Kaufman was a co-founder of Intense School, an Information Technology and Information Security training organization. There, he filled multiple roles to include Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President in charge of business development, strategic partnerships and marketing and was responsible for taking Intense School from startup to over 11MM in sales annually. During his tenure at Intense School, Kaufman received numerous accolades including Windows Magazine’s Prestigious Best Boot Camp award on three occasions.

“David Kaufman has all of the characteristics that you look for in a senior leader in terms of experience, leadership, dynamic personality, and a proven track record,” said Lawson. “David’s expertise allows us to expand our product and course offerings into additional vendor and technology verticals which will continue to bring the incredible growth that we’ve experienced since our launch in 2001. We’re pleased to have someone with his experience and abilities on our team.”

About IPexpert:

Founded in 2001, IPexpert is an industry-recognized, privately held, training company for computer networking engineers pursuing the highest level career certification offered by Cisco. The company has become a global leader serving its niche market, boasting the most distinguished offering of self-study products, courses and online hardware available for online equipment rental. IPexpert has appeared in Inc. Magazine’s annual list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past two years. Visit www.ipexpert.com for more information.

Well unless you’ve been living in a cave like a hermit (perhaps studying for your CCIE lab) you are probably aware that the global economy is in either a severe recession or depression, depending on which news source you read. Globally, unemployment numbers are increasing dramatically as businesses cut expenses enabling themselves to become more efficient. The unfortunate ramification of this is that employer funding for training is becoming increasingly scarce. That’s the bad news.

There is a silver lining to this though: demand for knowledgeable workers is increasing for similar reasons. If a company can only afford to employ fewer people, then they need each of those people to be as highly skilled and adaptable as possible. Knowledge is power, and one of the many attributes of a CCIE is knowledge – after all, we’re the best of the best. In the past few months, myself and many CCIEs that I know have received more job opportunities than at any time in the past 18 months. Initially I assumed this to be an anomaly due to the contracting economy and then something clicked for me – CCIE demand by employers is booming.

The most common reasons I hear amongst students aiming for CCIE certification when I ask them why they are pursuing it include: sense of accomplishment; increased salary; better job performance; increased job security and a desire to achieve a higher level of knowledge in their chosen field. Generally I hear them in roughly that order. The average CCIE wage is over $100k in good times – in many cases significantly higher. The average CCNP wage is around $70-80k in good times.

What happens in bad economic times? As companies cut back, those at the top of their field, the CCIEs, either stay where they are whilst their team dwindles in size, or move to another company that needs the most talented workers. This effectively keeps the average CCIE wage at about the same level, with perhaps a slight decline. However, for the lower skilled CCNP level workers (and more so for the CCNA level and so on down the line) jobs become more scarce, both due to the reduction in overall networking positions and the increased competition for senior as CCIEs gradually move to take up the top roles in each organization’s network teams.

Now, this might seem bad – but there is good news. With such a large demand for CCIEs, there has probably never been a better time since the dot-com bubble burst to push yourself to upgrade your knowledge and ability to CCIE level. At IPexpert we provide the CCIE training industry’s foremost programs in the R&S, Voice, Security and Service Provider track to enable you to achieve this certification in the most compressed timeframe possible, whilst ensuring that you have that powerful level of knowledge that your job may require. Our labs and courses are designed to ensure that your time is spent most optimally with the goal of making the CCIE lab exam achievable in 3 to 6 months (after completion of the written exam).

As someone who self funded both my purchase of IPexpert’s self study products and instructor led boot camps for both my R&S and Security CCIE tracks (as well as the international flights to attend them), I fully understand the financial and time challenges that come with making a commitment to achieve CCIE certification. I can also say that from a personal development, a financial and a work lifestyle choice that was the best decision I ever made.

If you are interested in attaining your CCIE, so that you can also benefit from the additional level of security and satisfaction that comes with it, please send an email to sales@ipexpert.com and one of our Training Advisers will gladly talk to you about tailoring a program to your needs. After all, knowledge is power.

Cheers,

Jared

Ever since Cisco announced that the lab blueprints for the Security and Voice tracks will change in April and July, respectively, our customers have been hungry for as much material we can provide that is focused on the current blueprints. If you are planning to pass the lab exam BEFORE THESE BLUEPRINTS CHANGE, here is a great new opportunity!

Due to the economic downturn, many candidates are under spending restrictions and budget cuts on training and travel, so we wanted to do something more to help!

Essentially, we have taken the same course materials used in our 1-Week Lab Experience Boot Camps, which costs $4999 to $5499, and made the mock labs available at a low cost…

“Last Mile” Prep Kit Components

• Four full-scale “Mock Lab” exams, professionally printed and bound, then shipped to your door.
• The books you receive will include detailed written walk-through explanations for each of the labs.
• You will also have electronic access to download a file with the final configurations.

60 Hours of Online Rack Rental INCLUDED

With this kit, you also get a week’s worth of time with a rack of equipment! You get eight online rack sessions for use at Proctor Labs. That is over 60 hours of rack time to work through the mock labs!

For details and to order your kit…

• Voice: http://www.ipexpert.com/index.cfm/product/sku/IPX0703
• Security: http://www.ipexpert.com/index.cfm/product/sku/IPX0701