Tom Carter now chief customer officer, Americas and EMEA at DZS
DZS (Nasdaq: DZSI) says it has hired Tom Carter to be chief customer officer for the Americas and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (AEMEA). Carter comes from Ciena, where he led global sales for Blue Planet, Ciena’s software business unit. That experience should come in handy as DZS builds its software-enabled product capabilities.
Prior to his stint at Ciena, Carter was senior vice president of global sales for Sandvine, after previously leading worldwide sales for carrier service providers at F5. But his tenure at Ciena should prove most useful in light of DZS’s moves to beef up its software and cloud portfolio. Those moves include the acquisition of the AI-driven software portfolio and engineering team from ASSIA during the second quarter of 2022 as well as the purchase of the orchestration and automation software portfolio of RIFT during the first quarter of 2021 (see "DZS to buy customer experience software portfolio from ASSIA" and "DZS buys RIFT for network orchestration and software automation play"). The software and cloud acquisitions helped round out DZS’s portfolio, which also includes broadband, metro optical transport, and switching equipment.
“Tom has been a respected industry colleague of mine for nearly 15 years, and he brings to DZS an entrepreneurial, customer-first, disruptive, and relentless approach to winning that aligns with the DZS culture,” commented Charlie Vogt, president and CEO of DZS. “Service providers are searching for innovative and trusted technology partners. With an extensive line of true next-generation, future-proof access and optical edge solutions complemented with a multi-vendor cloud-controlled, software-defined networking portfolio, Tom is uniquely prepared to accelerate our AEMEA sales at a market-defining inflection point for DZS.”
“Charlie is an industry visionary and extraordinary operational leader who has quickly transformed DZS into a disruptor,” said Carter. “I am thrilled to join the company at such a pivotal time and be part of the world-class senior leadership team he has assembled. With its extensive portfolio of next-generation network and cloud software technology, DZS is powerfully positioned to deliver the integrated systems and software solutions to address the numerous fiber broadband and mobile use cases delivering positive outcomes for our service provider customers. I intend to accelerate the current DZS momentum and capitalize on the generational opportunity underway around the world.”
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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.
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