DZS expands team, replaces two executives

DZS has further expanded its leadership and sales teams – including replacing two executives it introduced last August when it announced its rebranding from DASAN Zhone Solutions to its current name.

Stephen Hardy

Oct. 12, 2020

2 min read

Andrew Bender is now CTO, Darrin Whitney is chief information officer, and Justin Ferguson is chief legal officer at DZS.

DZS (NASDAQ: DZSI) has further expanded its leadership and sales teams – including replacing two executives it introduced last August when it announced its rebranding from DASAN Zhone Solutions to its current name (see “DASAN Zhone Solutions consolidates under DZS unified brand”). Andrew Bender is the new chief technology officer of the broadband technology company, replacing Philip Yim, and Darrin Whitney steps into the chief information officer role formerly held by Michael Siebke. Yim and Siebke are now consulting with the DZS, a company source stated.

Bender joins DZS from VMware while Whitney arrives from Mediakind Global. Besides the new CTO and CIO, major new appointments include Michael Martin as head of global operations and Justin Ferguson as chief legal officer.

“Since joining the DZS team in early August, we have been strategically and systematically assembling an experienced leadership team that is poised to take DZS to a whole new level,” said Charlie Vogt, president and CEO of DZS, who indeed came aboard that month and has been shaking things up since. “The acceleration of 5G, fiber deep, smart homes, connected building/city solutions and, software-defined roadmaps are redefining the possibilities of tomorrow. Every company’s success is amplified by their people and culture. I am thrilled with our new appointments and the opportunity to work with such a talented team.”

Other new appointments include:

Miguel Alonso, vice president of global product line management and formerly with Calix
Doron Paz, vice president of R&D, and formerly with Zhone and Nortel
Ken Stumpf, business development, ex- of IBM and Metaswitch/Microsoft
Meggin Sawyer, North America sales, formerly with ADTRAN
Anna Klosterman, North America sales, formerly with Sandvine and GENBAND/Ribbon Communications
Bethe Strickland, North America sales, formerly with ADTRAN, Metaswitch/Microsoft, and Mavenir
Ted Moreau, investor relations; formerly with Infinera.

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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.