PacketFabric names Dave Ward, ex-Cisco exec, as CEO

April 28, 2020

PacketFabric, an enterprise networking-as-service connectivity provider and portfolio company of Digital Alpha Advisors, has named former Cisco CTO of Engineering and Chief Architect Dave Ward as CEO.

Stephen Hardy

PacketFabric, an enterprise networking-as-service connectivity provider and portfolio company of Digital Alpha Advisors (see "PacketFabric offers SDN-enabled cloud networking with terabits capacity" and "PacketFabric touts $75 million in joint venture funding from Digital Alpha Advisors"), has named former Cisco CTO of Engineering and Chief Architect Dave Ward as CEO. Chad Milam, who had held the dual roles of president and CEO of the company since last August, will return to being president and COO.

In addition to his most recent roles at Cisco, Ward’s tenure at the company included serving as a senior vice president of Cisco’s Networking and Security Business. He joined Cisco in 1999 when the company acquired the Internet Engineering Group. PacketFabric says Ward is also one of two individuals to be both Cisco and Juniper Fellows, working on the operating system and next-generation routing systems, including ASICs, optics, and network APIs and SDN.

“Dave is an industry luminary and one of the very few ‘Big Internet’ architectural systems thinkers, and we are fortunate to attract him to PacketFabric,” commented Digital Alpha Managing Partner Rick Shrotri. “He brings unmatched networking and telecommunications expertise, business acumen, and senior industry relationships. Under Dave’s guidance, I am even more excited about PacketFabric’s growth potential. We believe Dave is the right leader to transform the industry with PacketFabric.”

“I could not be more excited to join PacketFabric at this critical juncture in the company’s trajectory,” Ward added. “During a career spanning over two decades in the telecommunications and networking sectors, I’ve been privileged to drive innovation for Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. PacketFabric is fundamentally rethinking enterprise and service communications in a way that others have not. I’ve been very impressed with PacketFabric’s technology, go-to-market and business models, strong customer feedback, and unique talent. I believe PacketFabric can lead and positively disrupt the next phase of transformation for the networking industry. I’m honored and excited to lead the company at this critical time in Internet history.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.