XO Communications
XO Communications owns and operates one of the largest Ethernet and IP networks in the United States. The XO network is among the most connected networks in North America, with the ability to scale to terabits of capacity to help customers future-proof their bandwidth needs. As well, XO offers its services globally via an alliance of partners with strong regional networks.

My role at XO is Product Management of our domestic and global Private Networking Services. I thoroughly enjoy working with Sales and our customers to solve their global communications needs. There is nothing I like more than solving for customers’ needs.  That’s why I am so jazzed about managing our exciting Network Enabled Cloud strategy. Here, I work with Sales, customers and other stakeholders to build our cloud ecosystem that connects customers to leading cloud services providers such as Amazon Web Services Direct Connect, Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, and IBM SoftLayer.

Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes provides address quality software to enterprise customers including FedEx, IRS and Royal Bank of Canada. It runs on a myriad of Operating Systems from Windows to mainframe to SaaS. As Director, Product Management my role is to ensure the profitability of the product line, drive development activity and support customers and Sales.  Recently, Canada Post overhauled its database structure.  The change caused a massive increase in our software processing time especially for mainframe customers.   This was a HUGE problem.  I had to make the software run much faster without any compromise in our address coding accuracy. I determined the right thing to do was to rewrite our code – a 9 month exercise.  The bottom line is the rewrite was a huge success.  I made it happen by:  working directly with customers helping them in any way I could to optimize their processing times; continually communicating development status to customers and Sales; providing interim software releases; communicating development status with Canada Post – as their customers are also our customers.   In the end, we didn’t lose a single customer during the 9 month ordeal.  Actually, many customers thanked us for making the software better than it ever was.

Mercury Computer Systems

Mercury Computer Systems builds embedded computer systems for use in military applications requiring extremely fast processing speeds.  Customers include Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.  As Senior Product Manager, based in Silver Spring, MD, my role was to ensure the profitability of the product line, keep my products up to date to meet market needs, work directly with customers on special projects, and build new products for new markets.

Data acquisition equipment operating in high altitude jet aircraft cannot be cooled by fans. There is simply not enough air available. Conduction cooling (essentially integrating heat dissipating metal slabs with circuit boards) is an effective way to provide cooling without taking up much space.  Mercury Sales identified a large opportunity for a conduction cooled product.  This was a big opportunity to enter a new market.  And, we had to do it quickly. Unfortunately, our developers did not have conduction cooling design expertise.  I solved the problem by enlisting an external design house.  Together, the two teams were able to develop the new product and have it released in time for the market window.

Alcatel-Lucent

Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent) provides core internetworking equipment for 27 of the world’s top 30 Communications Service Providers. Customers include Verizon, AT&T and NTT (Japan). As Director, Business Development, based in Westford, Massachusetts, my role was to serve as a Customer Advocate for Asia-Pacific Service Providers, driving the development of new products and applications to meet customers’ needs. NTT had a problem.  Their Internet service offering was experiencing pressure from competitors with higher speed services.  Working with NTT, our development and Product Management teams and our Tokyo-based Services group, I was able to create an upgrade path for the NTT network, enabling them to drastically improve the speed of their service offering.  We sealed the network upgrade deal along with a multi-year Services Support Contract.

General DataComm

General DataComm products enable network access; bandwidth management, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), voice over IP (VoIP), Ethernet, and power over Ethernet (PoE)  for Communications Service  Providers and enterprise customers in North America and Latin America.  Customers include AT&T, NASA and Bell Canada. As Director of Marketing, based in the Toronto, Canada area, my role was to promote awareness and sales of General DataComm products in the Canadian market.  I routinely contributed articles to Network World and other trade publications, managed trade show participation, customer communications, Press relations, and public speaking engagements including Broadband Year 1999.  In particular, General DataComm had developed a suite of video products for use in distance education and telemedicine applications. The new full motion MPEG2 video gear with CD-quality audio was a huge step above the jerky and blurry performance of H320 videoconferencing systems.  In addition, the MPEG2 video could “share” a facility with voice and data services.  AT&T Canada had a problem.  Providing voice services to customers required AT&T to compensate the local carrier for “last mile” use of its facilities. This rule did not apply to data services.  Working with AT&T Canada, I developed a business case enabling them to provide a bundled voice, video and LAN service to its customers with a payback on the hardware investment in 14 months.  AT&T Canada announced the service offering in 1999.

Click here for a link to a video of Cyber Soiree 96. Cyber Soiree, with musicians performing hundreds of miles apart, vividly illustrated the value of General DataComm’s video coders for interactive multimedia applications including distance education and telemedicine.