Infinera adds Laxdal, Derecho to executive roster

Jan. 11, 2018
Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN) has announced the hiring of Glenn Laxdal as senior vice president of product management and Alexander Derecho as senior vice president of global customer service, both new positions. The two will report to David Heard, general manager of the nearly equally new Product Realization organization. The new hires will be expected to improve time to market for new products and services as a means of improving the company's bottom line.

Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN) has announced the hiring of Glenn Laxdal as senior vice president of product management and Alexander Derecho as senior vice president of global customer service, both new positions. The two will report to David Heard, general manager of the nearly equally new Product Realization organization. The new hires will be expected to improve time to market for new products and services as a means of improving the company's bottom line.

Laxdal previously led Ericsson North America's network products business, overseeing strategy, product management and product development. He also served as CTO and head of strategy for Ericsson North America. Laxdal also worked at Research in Motion as vice president of global product management.

Derecho, who will be responsible for Infinera's global services business, comes from Harmonic Inc., where he was senior vice president of global services and support. He also has executive leadership experience with telecommunications equipment providers such as BigBand Networks and Network Physics.

The appointments and creation of the Product Realization group come in the wake of a disappointing 2017 for Infinera that led to a restructuring initiative announced last November (see "Infinera plans restructuring"). The restructuring was described as including layoffs, product and program "rationalization," and the close of an R&D facility.

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