I am currently a Senior Director of Product Management at Cisco Systems in the Enterprise business unit. Our BU combines all core “enterprise” technologies in the Cisco portfolio, around $22B in annual business. My current focus is on several projects to make users’ experience of our products less fragmented. (N.B.: Intentionally vague.)
I formerly led a technical marketing team that handled, at various times, Software-Defined Access, DNA Center, Identity Services Engine, SD-WAN, and programmability.
Prior to getting into management I was a Principal Technical Marketing Engineer here, focused on device-level automation. This included NETCONF/RESTCONF/YANG, telemetry, on-box application hosting, and several other areas. My work in this area was primarily with IOS XE, although I did also work on the data center team, handling programmability on Nexus switches. I was even the TME for DCNM for a bit.
For six years I was the network architect for Juniper Networks IT. I had responsibility for Juniper Networks corporate, enterprise network, including campus, data center, WAN, wireless, and security. While I was at Juniper we re-architected the campus network, built an MPLS/VPLS-based WAN, and were early adopters of the cloud with AWS and O365.
Prior to Juniper I worked at a national Cisco Gold partner in both pre-sales and post-sales roles, mostly focused on security products. I was also the lead network engineer and architect for the San Francisco Chronicle in the early 2000’s. We replaced nearly every part of that network in the five years I worked there, and also oversaw a merger.
I started my career in IT doing end-user technical support, network design, and server support for small companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was into computer communications, however, long before I started my career. I operated a Bulletin Board System (BBS) on my Apple IIGS in the late 80’s, and was the technical manager of my college TV station during the early switch to digital.
I have a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications Management from Golden Gate University. I hold CCIE #14023 in Routing/Switching and Security. I used to hold a JNCIE Service Provider certification (#2332), but due to my employment at Cisco I had to let it expire. I also have received the Cisco Live Distinguished Speaker speaker award several times, scoring in the top 10% of Cisco Live sessions as rated by attendees. Because I received several of these awards, I was inducted into the Cisco Live Distinguished Speaker Hall of Fame in 2020.
Aside from my professional bio, I have a variety of somewhat unusual interests. I hold a private pilot’s license, although I am not current. I have studied Ancient Greek and Latin for over twenty years and enjoy translating ancient texts. I also sing Gregorian Chant with a men’s schola (choir) in Oakland, CA.