Today we have the honor of hosting a true networking pro who has been directly involved in the pre-sales, design, and implementation of more than 100 enterprise WLAN / Wi-Fi projects for a range of customer and verticals. Meet László Pintér of IBCS Hungary!
Let’s start by introducing your company.
IBCS Group is one of the leading strategic solution and service providers within the enterprise mobility market in Central and Eastern Europe. More than 30 years of experience and successful implementations throughout the region have granted us enough skill and knowledge to serve as a trusted advisor to numerous companies in strategic sectors such as transportation & logistics, manufacturing, and retail.
We understand very well the need for flexibility and scalability for today’s business. The implementation of our services and solutions is always preceded by a detailed analysis of needs and supported by in-depth knowledge of the market. This way we are able to design and deliver complete IT solutions that allow our clients to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations, reduce costs and contribute to the growth of a competitive advantage.
One of IBCS Group’s taglines is “Making the complex simple”, which aligns perfectly with Extreme’s vision of enterprise networking…
Since many legacy networks have traditionally been rather complex, providing new solutions that are simple and easy for the customers to deploy and operate was a challenge at one point in time. With Extreme Networks, however, we were able to turn things around. We have been enjoying an incredibly strong relationship with the local team in Prague for many, many years. They provide us with all the knowledge we need to succeed.
What I appreciate particularly is Extreme’s dedication to serving actual customer needs and providing things that make networking easier for everyone. From that standpoint, the concept of universal hardware is brilliant, not to mention the cloud management platform that brings to the table everything a network engineer might ever need to manage a distributed network. It’s great to see Extreme's vision being turned into reality.
Factory floors, warehouses, and storage facilities are one of IBCS’s key customer groups. What do you see as their biggest challenges nowadays in terms of connectivity?
As the industry went into lockdowns due to the pandemic and with more and more people starting to work remotely, the first thing we saw was the need for simplicity and reliability in networking technologies. As the majority of the IT staff worked from home, they didn't have time for long on-site network management tasks. And after a while they realized that they could only control what they could see, which began to generate a growing demand for greater visibility.
That put us in a good position because we can provide best-in-class solutions aimed at achieving those goals. I think bringing increased visibility to network management, along with our engineering services, brings real value to our customers and helps them overcome the challenges of working remotely.
You have been directly involved in the pre-sales, design, and implementation of more than 100 enterprise wireless LAN and Wi-Fi projects for a range of customers and verticals. Your dedication to Extreme is clear, but are there any wins with Extreme that have particularly stuck in your memory?
Indeed. The first one was a manufacturing company, a new customer for us back then. After we won the project and started the implementation, I was told that we actually managed to beat six other competitors because of our approach to network design and our cooperative and professional attitude. Half of our competitors were major players with really big engineering teams, so that was a particularly memorable and satisfying win for me.
The second one is a huge energy drink manufacturer. We started off with a wireless network in a single warehouse. Since then, we have expanded their network to cover three warehouses and two production facilities. This project became one of our biggest deals over the years and I’m proud to admit that we have some big plans still to come with the customer.
In your current role, you’re responsible for training and knowledge management, among other things. What do you enjoy more, learning new technologies or teaching others?
I think it’s a really important thing in life to learn new things and I really love doing that, but I think I’d go with teaching because it always requires learning. In order to be able to teach, I must be well prepared on a given subject, and that requires learning, or at least reorganizing the knowledge that I already have in a way that‘s presentable to others. Not to mention that not only do you get to enjoy the process of self-development; you also have the satisfaction of seeing someone else go through the learning curve and being able to use their new knowledge to achieve their goals.
What are some of your other creative outlets outside of work?
I started skiing when I was four, so I'd say it's a lifelong passion for me, even though the weather has not really been in our favor these last couple of seasons. Maybe it's time to explore some other activities? Just kidding. As my youngest son will soon be three years old, I can't wait to start going on trips to the mountains together. Next winter, just like his father before him, he may also get bitten by the ski bug.
