Cisco SE Discovery Phase Activities: What to Do First
Short answer
AE Gathering information about the current state of the customer s network environment and Establishing credibility with the customer.
Question
Key Takeaways
The main trap is confusing Discovery with Design; mapping solutions (C) and creating architectures (B) happen only after discovery is complete.
This page explains the two key activities in a Cisco SE's discovery process: gathering current network state info (A) and establishing customer credibility (E). Learn why mapping innovations belongs to later phases.
Common mistake: Many choose C because they think about selling early, but you cannot map innovation to needs until you have discovered those needs through fact-finding and relationship building.
Expert Analysis
The question asks for activities specific to the Discovery phase of a Cisco Sales Engineer (SE) engagement. This phase is synonymous with understanding the current state and building the relationship necessary for future design.
First, Option A is correct because the primary technical output of discovery is gathering information about the customer's existing network environment, including topology, pain points, and constraints. Without this data, no accurate design can be created. As one comment notes, "An SE must thoroughly document the customer's existing topology... before any future solution or architecture design can be proposed."
Second, Option E is correct because establishing credibility is a foundational soft-skill activity during discovery. The SE must demonstrate competence and build trust to ensure the customer shares honest information. Comments highlight that "Demonstrating technical competence... and asking intelligent qualifying questions build" credibility, which is essential in this initial phase.
Why other options are incorrect:
- Option B (Reference Architecture) and Option C (Mapping Innovation) occur later. You cannot map solutions or develop architectures until you have completed the discovery and analysis phases. One comment correctly states, "Mapping Cisco technologies happens after the discovery phase, when you understood business goals and technical needs."
- Option D (PPDIOO) is a framework for the overall lifecycle, not an activity performed during discovery itself. While PPDIOO guides the process, referencing it is not a core discovery task like gathering facts or building rapport.
If the scenario shifted to the Design phase, Option B would become correct. If it moved to Proposal, Option C would apply. Getting this wrong leads to proposing solutions without understanding the baseline, resulting in misaligned designs.
Exam Strategy
When answering SE process questions, strictly separate the 'Who/What' (Discovery) from the 'How' (Design). Look for verbs like 'gather,' 'document,' 'listen,' and 'build trust' for Discovery. Verbs like 'design,' 'map,' 'create,' and 'recommend' belong to later stages. Eliminate options that propose solutions before problems are fully understood.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't mapping Cisco innovation part of discovery?
Is PPDIOO used during discovery?
Community Votes
50% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Discussion 6 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 6
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12504a3 👍 3How can you say it's C ? Mapping Cisco technologies happens after the discovery phase, when you understood business goals and technical needs of the customer, but not during a discovery phase", this is nonsense to me. I would go with A and E. How it cannot be E ? This is a very standard answer.
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Dakrua 👍 1Discover In the first phase of Cisco Design Thinking, your priority is getting to know your users — with empathy. By empathizing with users and truly understanding their core needs, current frustrations, and related pain points, you can uncover the valuable opportunities that drive true innovation. We do this by immersing ourselves in the world of our user through research techniques like interviews and contextual inquiries. We interpret the information we are capturing through artifacts like Journey maps, empathy maps, and story boards. We aim to capture the current state of the world for our user, and then reframe the information in order to draw insight from it. https://medium.com/cisco-design-community/the-cisco-design-thinking-framework-1263c3ce2e7c
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G_Singh12 👍 11. An SE must thoroughly document the customer's existing topology, current pain points, hardware footprints, and software constraints before any future solution or architecture design can be proposed. 1. Discovery is the initial technical interface with the client. Demonstrating technical competence, understanding their specific business vertical, and asking intelligent qualifying questions builds essential baseline trust and credibility.
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Cispro 👍 1I think its AD. PPDIOO stands for: Prepare, Plan, Design, Implement, Operate, Optimize
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cybman76 👍 1i think is A&C
Show 1 more comment
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f9e40af 👍 1A and C.
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