Webmaster Kyle Says:
The office is abuzz about your band’s performance last weekend in SF.
Craig says:
Quagganauts worldwide have been very supportive of all my extra-curricular activities. It was a fun gig.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
What’s your name?
Craig says:
Isn’t that right before the word “says” above?
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Sorry, band name
Craig says:
Bulk
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Bulk as in shopping at Costco?
Craig says:
Yes, that’s the word What is it with you and names? You work at ‘Quagga,’ play in ‘Bulk,’ etc
Craig says:
I have always been a textophile, words have served me well over the years and have often saved my bacon (so to speak).
Webmaster Kyle Says:
How long have you played the keyboard?
Craig says:
Since I was 5 years old, starting with classical piano before I got the long hair and the urge to play for screaming fans. That’s gone now as are most of the classical chops.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Ken insisted that I get in at least one reference about your ivy league pedigree
Craig says:
Yeah, he finds a way to bring that up in every client meeting as well
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Let me guess: Yale?
Craig says:
Columbia
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Congrats on winning the Rose Bowl
Craig says:
Thanks but that was USC
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Be completely honest with what I’m about to ask you.
Craig says:
I don’t like the sound of this
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Do you and your ivy league brethren have an unspoken understanding that the rest of humanity is inferior to you guys?
Craig says:
First of all, you have failed to capitalize Ivy League twice now. To answer your question, no, not at all; only certain subsets of humanity like interviewers.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Tell me about your family
Craig says:
I am married with 2 boys, 8 and 11, and a 14 month old girl. My boys are musicians as well, with my youngest on drums and oldest on alto sax. We’ve yet to see how the baby will fit into the family band, which my 11 year old has curiously dubbed The Mixed Rivals. Right now she’s supporting the needed role of gleeful screeching on cue.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
You’re one of the legions of Quagganauts to have come from Avaya. What are some highlights of your days there?
Craig says:
I was fortunate enough to manage a great team of project managers in No CA and the Pacific NW, and I was one of the lead project managers on the Wynn Resorts casino and hotel VoIP deployment, one of the largest in Avaya’s history for IP endpoints. We had tremendous product house support and custom designed phones, all aspects of Avaya came together for a very successful implementation with an understandably demanding customer. And I managed to not lose my life savings spending all those weeks in Las Vegas.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
How did you get hooked up with Quagga?
Craig says:
My work as the Avaya Business Partner liaison for the Western Region led me to Quagga while helping to manage their Avaya relationship, I also became more deeply involved when one of my project managers went on extended leave for a high profile VoIP implementation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and I needed to step in to manage the project. Quagga sold that deal, and it was our first chance to work together. The chemistry was there, the music swelled, and the rest is history.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
That must have been some serious culture shock going from mega company to upstart business partner.
Craig says:
The change was really welcome. Avaya is a great company with some of the best products on the market, but some of their best resources can be hamstrung by process on occasion. It was very liberating, and not a little terrifying, to come to a process green field and build what we all feel is the right way to do business for our customers and our employees.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
It seems to me that the “Quagga experience” by and large is defined by the performance of you and your team.
Craig says:
Wow, nice question Kyle!
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Yeah, I came up with that last night
Craig says:
Once a project goes to contract my team steps in and really owns the experience from that point forward, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team Ken and Scott have helped me to build here. We really look past the pure statement of work to deliver the solution the customer really needs, even if they don’t always knows what that looks like at point of sale. We’re not afraid to work past the stated deliverables to make sure our customer contacts, and their customers the end users, end up with a system that they are excited to work with and one that meets their evolving needs. That doesn’t end at the first day of business, our resources remain available to our customers for ongoing questions and issues and we feel that relationship, more than anything, defines and differentiates the Quagga Services experience. I just remembered I’m not in Sales so I will leave it at that.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
The Quagga philosophy early on was to use Avaya Services exclusively. What prompted your decision to build a Quagga service department from scratch?
Craig says:
We initially found a great deal of success when taking certain key roles, software engineering and project management mostly, in house while leveraging Avaya and other partners to fulfill the remainder of the scope. That has evolved as Quagga has grown leaps and bounds, and we’ve wanted to extend that unique Quagga touch to all aspects of our team. We have built that today and think our customers are pleased with the results. We are ultimately accountable for the entire package.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Why would I trust Quagga to install an Avaya IP Telephony solution at my 5,000 person company?
Craig says:
We have tremendous experience implementing these specific solutions and have brought in very specialized resources across the board to support the smallest to the largest of implementations. Our organization has been built to scale up (and down) easily and leverage just the right team for success. From PMP-certified project management to software engineers who know every feature ever introduced, we offer Enterprise grade services delivery.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Why would I let you maintain the system you installed for me?
Craig says:
Who better than the team who installed it, with access to the original programmers, a top notch help desk, around the clock support, quick dispatch when needed, internal Tier 3 engineers and quick access to Avaya Tier 4 when and if needed. All at a fraction of the price of other maintenance agreements.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
OK, ready for rapid fire?
Craig says:
Go for it
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Name the capital of Vermont?
Craig says:
Maple Kyle Says: Tallest mountain in the solar system?
Craig says:
Olympus Mons on Mars (nice try interview boy)
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Who would win in a battle to the death between a 40 foot great white shark and a Kodiak Brown Bear?
Craig says:
Ken Apperson
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Favorite founding father
Craig says:
Alexander Hamilton, too cool.
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Novel?
Craig says:
Infinite Jest or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Movie?
Craig says:
Betty Blue
Webmaster Kyle Says:
TV Show?
Craig says:
Arrested Development, a travesty it was canceled
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Complete this thought: Scott Knorp knows absolutely nothing about ______.
Craig says:
how to fill in the blanks
Webmaster Kyle Says:
You can spend a day with any historical figure.
Craig says:
And….?
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Who would it be?
Craig says:
Oh, I see. Debussy or Descartes. Wait – is that cool enough for Ivy League?
Webmaster Kyle Says:
Well done Mr. Schneider.
Craig says:
You’ve got some work to do my friend. But thank you.