Colubris Networks, a global provider of intelligent Wi-Fi wireless networking devices for operators of large public and enterprise networks, today announced the appointment of networking industry leader John O’Hara as vice president of engineering. The company has also named Steven Cohen as director of operations and Jonathan Zarkower as director of product management.
The appointment of these networking industry veterans to leadership positions within Colubris Networks reflects the company’s increasing business momentum, and is part of an ongoing human resource ramp-up. These, and other pending key hires, enable Colubris Networks to further capitalize on the growing worldwide demand for its products and extend its strong market positioning.
Reporting to Colubris Networks President and CEO Barry Fougere, O’Hara oversees the company’s research and development organization. In his new role, he also collaborates with Colubris Networks Founder and Chief Technology Officer Pierre Trudeau, who continues as the architectural visionary and catalyst for the company’s award-winning product line.
O’Hara most recently served as co-founder and vice president of engineering with WaveSmith Networks, a provider of carrier-class multi-protocol edge switching devices that was acquired by Ciena Corporation earlier this year. During his tenure at WaveSmith, O’Hara played an integral role in establishing the company’s partnerships with Verizon Communications, SBC Communications and CenturyTel, Inc. He also helped the firm secure more than $80 million of venture funding.
Previously, O’Hara was a co-founder and led the engineering team at New Oak, a developer of high-capacity remote access virtual private networking (VPN) devices that enable secure enterprise communications. New Oak was purchased by Bay Networks/Nortel Networks and its solutions now comprise Nortel’s Contivity product line. Earlier in his career, O’Hara held engineering positions at FTP Software, Digital Equipment Corporation and Wang Laboratories.
Steven Cohen and Jonathan Zarkower join Colubris Networks as director of operations and director of product management, respectively. With 15 years of broad-based manufacturing and operations experience in the networking and data communications industry, Cohen most recently served as vice president of manufacturing operations at Paceline Systems, an early stage developer of data center switching equipment based on the InfiniBand standard. He also has held positions with Cascade Communications, Ascend, Lucent and Bytex Corporation. Zarkower brings 18 years of data communications industry experience to his product management role. He joins from Lucent Technologies, where he held key product management roles for the company’s edge and IP product portfolio. He came to Lucent via its acquisition of SpringTide Networks, a provider of carrier-grade IP services platforms, where he had been director of corporate systems engineering. Earlier in his career, he held a range of positions with Nortel Networks, Bay Networks and Wellfleet Communications.
“We’re pleased to add an industry veteran of John O’Hara’s caliber – with his extensive industry and engineering leadership capabilities and track record – to our executive team,” said Colubris Networks President and CEO Barry Fougere. “His leadership of the R&D organization will be crucial as we enhance our product line to capitalize on the robust customer and partner demand that we are experiencing. With John as VP of engineering and Pierre Trudeau as CTO, we have an incredibly strong technical leadership team that is second to none. They will advance our products into new and exciting directions. Steve Cohen and Jonathan Zarkower also bring significant expertise and enable us to build on our record of strong and consistent business execution.”
“Colubris Networks has earned an excellent reputation because it combines exactly the right market vision with robust, best-in-class products,” said John O’Hara, Colubris Networks’ new vice president of engineering. “By working closely with the engineering and management teams, I’m looking forward to helping the company continue to bring solutions to market that reinforce our standing as the partner of choice for the most demanding customers.”
About Colubris Networks
Colubris Networks is a global leader in providing highly secure, manageable and cost-effective Wireless LAN solutions for enterprise networks and carrier deployments. Its award-winning Wi-Fi certified product family of purpose-built enterprise and public access offerings seamlessly integrates into existing customer networks, providing maximum cost-effectiveness and management simplicity. Colubris Networks embeds strong tools such as Virtual Private Networking, enhanced security and firewall technologies into its open, industry-standard solutions. Colubris Networks’ products are deployed by more than 400 organizations worldwide, including Telecom Italia, NTT-ME, McGill University, Bangkok International Airport, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and three of the world’s largest hotel chains. The company’s strategic business and technology partners include ADC, Alcatel, Juniper Networks, RSA Security, Funk Software, Micromuse, and a worldwide network of value-added-resellers and systems integrators. For more information visit the company at www.colubris.com or contact us at info@colubris.com.
