At the Palo Alto Networks TechFest in late May 2025, Red Education Senior Instructor and Consultant Jerry Solomon was honoured with the Palo Alto Networks JAPAC Instructor of the Year award.
“I was surprised, but very happy, of course, to receive the award, and to be able to represent Red Education at this level,” Jerry said.
“This is a career highlight for me. I have a number of Cisco Distinguished Instructor and Instructor Excellence Awards, but this is the first recognition of this sort from Palo Alto Networks.”
A passionate instructor with a track record of success
Jerry Solomon is one of Red Education’s most sought-after instructors, known for his friendly, approachable style combined with deep technical expertise. With more than two decades of industry experience and certifications, Jerry brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insight to every course he teaches.
Time and again, students highlight his ability to explain the complexities of cybersecurity and Palo Alto Networks technology in a way that is clear, accessible, and empowering.
“I often think back to what it felt like for me when I attended my first course and I’d never seen a product before,” Jerry explained. “I try to relate to an attendee who might be a bit nervous. There’s new technology. They’ve never used it before. They’re about to implement it, they need to support it. I have that empathy with the attendee, and I try to take them along the journey, to make sure they really understand the product and enjoy the process.”
Jerry also credits the quality of Palo Alto Networks solutions and courseware as a key part of the teaching experience.
“To deliver a great course, you need a great product, good courseware, and a good instructor. Palo Alto Networks provides us with fantastic products, high-quality courses, a great lab experience, and enough time to get through the material without overwhelming students.”
Celebrating education and community at Palo Alto Networks TechFest
This year’s TechFest was a standout experience for Jerry and his fellow instructors, as a celebration of the training community and Palo Alto Networks’ commitment to its education partners.
“TechFest really shows how much Palo Alto Networks values the ATP community,” he said.
“The message was: ‘You’ve been fantastic, all our partners. Come and we’ll show you our new technologies. We want to help you improve your delivery capabilities.’ They shared new tools and innovations — including AI — and gave us access to their certification team, courseware developers, and lab support staff.”
Beyond the training content, the event was a rare opportunity for Jerry and the team to finally meet long-time Palo Alto Networks colleagues in person.
“I’ve been dealing with Teresa (Lozano), Dan, and Majid for many years, but I’d never met them face to face until TechFest. It was a really incredible opportunity to connect.”
Palo Alto Networks and the power of training
Jerry is a passionate advocate for cybersecurity education and sees that same passion reflected in Palo Alto Networks.
“They really value the importance of training for their customers. They know that if their customers can’t implement and support their solutions, then their products won’t succeed,” Jerry said. “Education is a key part of their strategy. They ensure quality, structure, and consistency, and they support their ATP instructors incredibly well.”
Reflecting on the award presentation, Jerry added: “When it came time to give my thank you speech, I stood up and the first thing I wanted to do was thank the team at Palo Alto Networks for all their support over the years. They have been absolutely incredible in the way they support the ATP community.”
What our students say about Jerry…
These are just a handful of the outstanding five-star reviews earned by Jerry:
“I had the pleasure of being trained by Jerry Solomon, one of the most talented trainers I have ever encountered. Despite the intensive training, I found it enjoyable to follow the material, and even in the last 5 days it was as entertaining as watching Netflix.”
“”Training was done with Jerry Solomon who was fantastic in delivering the training for EDU-330.”
“Palo Alto Networks Firewall 10.2: Essentials – Configuration and Management | EDU-210 – facilitated by Jerry Solomon. Fantastic, in-depth guidance, very knowledgeable and affable teacher, Lab performance was fast and the labs themselves were easy to follow and contained just the right amount of information. Would definitely recommend.”
“Instructor Mr Jerry Solomon helped me in understanding the concepts and exploring the technology. I would recommend Red Education for future training.”
“The course itself was an engaging and stimulating experience, thanks to Jerry Solomon, the superstar trainer. Jerry knows his stuff inside out and somehow managed to turn dry concepts into something digestible – and even fun – with just the right dash of humour.”
“Fantastic Trainer (Jerry Solomon), very friendly and encouraging. All the exercises were on a scale of good to excellent.”
“I very much enjoyed this course. Jerry was a great instructor, and I found the 5 days really valuable. There was a good mix of theory, labs and demonstrations. The instructor and course were EXCELLENT!”