company | job role or function | date start | date end |
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| Federated States of Micronesia Telecom Authority | Telecommunications & IT Consultant | | |
| Assist FSMTC with certain regulatory issues, network expansion issues, and vendor selection and relationships. Help technical staff troubleshoot quality/capacity problems in their VOIP layer and help with general infrastructure design issues. |
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| The Product Engine, Inc. | Project Manager | | |
| Operating the largest software engineering group in the Ukraine, The Product Engine provides consulting and software development services to leading companies. I help with basic software design decisions and act as project manager / liaison between customers and our offshore development center in Odessa, Ukraine. |
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| Miller Networks | ERP system design and implementation | | |
| Design and implement database schema to support work order and employee time tracking system. Bi-directional interface to Quickbooks to 1) migrate work orders originated within Quickbooks to web-based system; and 2) migration of workorders originated in web-based system to Quickbooks for invoicing. Project involves hand-coded cross-database referential integrity triggers and other stored procedures to minimize the amount of business logic executing in the web tier. |
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| Transcend Technologies | Technical Consultant | | |
| Transcend (www.transcendtechgroup.com) operates an employee health insurance benefit administration platform which transmits information to insurance companies, principally using the HIPPA 834 standard for EDI interchange. I advised them on the integration of a software company and helped them document the SQL database schema of the acquired system; especially with regards to accounting information. I wrote numerous queries to recover information from the database, to help the integration team merge with the new company successfully. I also helped analyse the new business requirements and helped hire new employees with specific and appropriate skill sets to staff up the EDI technical department. I also customized Salesforce.com to properly model the project structures specific to this business and uploaded and sanitized data from legacy systems into Salesforce. |
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| Afritel | Technical Consultant | | |
| I worked with an investor group based in sub-saharan Africa to develop a telecommunications company focused on African telecom carrier customers. They are developing a network of VoIP servers deployed in Internet exchanges across sub-saharan Africa; these will ultimately optimize intra-Africa call routing, and give customers access to low cost services available from hub points in London, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Afritel hosts colocated VoIP infrastrucure for its customers who run software platforms of their own choosing and enjoy zero-hop access to Afritel. Afritel passes through global wholesale prices directly to its customers and charges management fees independent of traffic volume. |
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| sip.ralden.com | Principal | | |
| sip.ralden.com is a VOIP termination service I operate on an experimental basis (see www.ralden.com/sip for details). I have deployed SIP proxies and media servers, and developed my own OSS software to perform provisioning and customer care, least cost and "best value" routing, and call-detail accounting. I operate the service to gain a greater understanding of the issues of the marketplace and technology. I do carry a fairly significant amount of traffic through telecom/IT VARs and Internet Cafes in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. |
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| GeriCare Pharmacy | Consultant | | |
| Advised on vendor selection and network integration details of outsourced VOIP telephone system. I also provided design-advice and hands-on systems integration for a new single backbone voice/data network as well as various general IT systems (domain controllers, Exchange servers, firewalls, etc.). Company is a multi-site health care provider subject to HIPPA regulations and had to bring up all-new systems in a one-week period during a move of the corporate headquarters, with only one Sunday as an allowable downtime period. Mission was accomplished. I still provide backup assistance on an ad-hoc basis. |
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| Rohner & Associates | Consultant | | |
| Rohner & Associates (www.rohnerassociates.com) is a highly respected consultancy focused on sales channel strategies. I help them on engagements which involve telecommunications-oriented companies; typically large, publically-held companies. Most recently I have worked on assignments involving a maker of call center voice recognition systems and a large manufacturer of VOIP equipment. |
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| Voxify, Inc. | Consultant | | |
| Voxify's (www.voxify.com) expertise is in voice recognition based user interfaces for call center automated agent applications. I provide network survellance and troubleshooting on a regular basis and occasionally I help with planning telecom and data networking. My work has involved planning, cost optimization strategies, use of VOIP, security and designs for fault tolerance. |
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| Florida Satellite Communications | Consultant | | |
Located in Lagos, Nigeria, Florida Satellite Communications (Flotel) operates VOIP and calling card platforms in the competitive Nigerian market. I assisted Flotel with several infrastructure upgrade projects and also in negotations with Nigeria's incumbent telco (Nitel) and the Second National Carrier, Globacom Limited.
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| BRS Media | Consultant | | |
| Assisted BRS Media and Federated States of Micronesia Telecom with contract negotiations and technical liason; with regard to the DNS infrastructure behind the .fm TLD. |
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| Wedge Partners | Research Analyst | | |
I write a series of reports on trends in technology for an investment advisory firm. They are read by influential group of very large investment fund managers. Each report provides a long-view on an area of technology and the likely strategic implications for large, publically traded technology companies. They are published on a semi-regular basis. I also write proprietary research notes on specific topics upon request from Wedge clients.
See:
http://www.ralden.com/about/Document%20Library/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fabout%2fDocument%20Library%2fwedge%20papers&View=%7b119E9953%2dE6BB%2d4962%2dA228%2dDD98628CA5B1%7d
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| Geolution International | Telecommunications Engineer | | |
Geolution International was a spin off from Titan Systems. Geolution was formed to complete systems integration services contracts with several telecommunications carriers in Africa. I installed a number of VOIP and Internet systems for a key customer, called Intercellular, located in Lagos, Nigeria.
At Intercellular I configured a “mesh” IP network consisting of seven satellite circuits and four Cisco routers in Nigeria (and one in Europe); I deployed two Cisco PIX firewalls; ancillary frame relay, VOIP equipment, and terrestrial microwave links; led the IT department through roll-out of Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft ISA (firewall) server; I restructured the internal LAN/VLAN at the headquarters building to fix routing and security problems; and I conducted both individual and classroom training for customer employees and trained the IT helpdesk crew on various new systems.
Geolution was effectively a startup company; it was a "spin off" but the assets being spun off were not well managed or profitable. Endeavoring to help Geolution become a viable standalone company, I put into place a number of key pieces of infrastrcture and business processes: I developed procedures for detailed project plans (using Microsoft Visio and Project); I tested, deployed and tuned Microsoft’s Sharepoint intranet portal server to organize customer and vendor documentation resources; I trained internal teams on using Sharepoint effectively; I developed a database solution to document customer networks and facilitate contractual acceptance procedures; I configured a number of network management subsystems, such as HP OpenView, to assist Geolution and its customers in network operations. I also developed Geolution's website and wrote the core business marketing messages and positioning text on that website. |
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| Phoenix Technologies | IT Project Rollout Consultant | | |
Led rollout of new internally developed security technology for Phoenix Technologies IT department; developed project plan and test lab environment; worked with development team to fix critical issues.
Phoenix had developed a new two-factor security technology, but had a number of problems integrating it into the Active Directory environment. I was hired by the CIO of Phoenix to lead an internal beta test of the product, which was perceived as critical to the company's somewhat prematurely announced, and overly hyped, "trusted network computing" marketing message. Under time pressure, I worked directly with the key engineers to reproduce and analyze a number of subtle security problems that had delayed product release; I devised, tested and documented a number of workaround solutions that allowed the product to be launched commercially within 60 days. |
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| BRS Media | Consultant | | |
| Assisted BRS Media and Federated States of Micronesia Telecom with contract negotiations and technical liason; with regard to the DNS infrastructure behind the .fm TLD. |
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| CLB Associates | CTO | | |
CLB was a technology consulting firm in Palo Alto, California. I ran CLB’s internal systems, supporting a professional staff of eight people; I also led numerous advisory assignments with high-technology clients and even served as an interim CIO at several startup companies.
CLB advised technology companies and their investors on strategy, positioning, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, crisis management and restructurings. Over a four year period I was personally involved in fundraising or merger transactions totaling $32 million and I led technology advisory assignments for companies such as: Adforce (internet content delivery), Aurigin Systems (enterprise software), Autodesk (internet portal billing), CEL Labs (cable modem systems), Coscend (UDDI infrastructure), Encanto Networks (IP infrastructure), Geoworks (wireless middleware), Globecomm Systems (satellite internet), Handson Networks (wireless middleware), Hybrid Networks (cable modem systems), NEC (cable modem systems), Stario (customer-care, loyalty software), others.
I also served as the interim CIO for several startup companies. My responsibilities typically included building a core IT team and foundation infrastructure, such as the selection and purchase of hardware, establishing LAN/WAN connectivity, office structured cabling, making key enterprise software decisions, and negotiating outsourcing agreements. |
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| Bank Of Federated States Of Micronesia | Telecommunications Consultant | | |
Helped design a VPN network for Micronesia’s national bank, which is regulated under US law. This was the first banking system granted FDIC approval to use Internet based VPNs for banking transactions.
While working on the earlier FSM Telecom project I met people that eventually went to work for the Bank of FSM. Prior to FSM Telecom's investment in the Internet it was impractical to build a branch telecom network that would span Micronesia. After the installation of the Internet infrastructure it was possible, but only practical if the bank built something that ran on top of the Internet service. Of course banks are very security conscious and because of Micronesia's historical ties to America this bank was actually regulated under US banking laws and our FDIC. To the knowlege of those involved this was the first instance of a bank using VPN over the Internet to build its branch network telecommunications infrastructure. |
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| Internet Fiber, Inc. | Network Architect | | |
Designed fiber based metropolitan/campus networks for high-speed, residential Internet access.
I actually co-founded Internet Fiber, the earliest pure play in residential fiber to the home (FTTH) telecom. As pioneers we ran into all of the roadblocks that are only now starting to give way. I worked with technology suppliers such as AMP, 3Com, Cisco, and Corning to do missionary marketing and technology feasibility studies and participated in policy forums such as Telestructure in Marin County, the City of Palo Alto’s Fiber to the Home project, the City of Palm Desert Technology Advisory Board and the National Research Council’s Broadband Last-Mile Technology initiative. In the process I gained some recognized expertise in telecommunications regulations as they affect last-mile access. |
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| Federated States of Micronesia Telecom Authority | Telecommunications Consultant | | |
Launched first and only Internet Service Provider for this Pacific island’s national telephone company; Created one of the first specialty Internet domain name registrars to commercialize Micronesia’s “FM” top-level domain with the broadcast radio industry.
In 1996 my friend Robert Blissmer, who was working for the telephone company of the island nation of Micronesia at the time, invited me to make a proposal for connecting them up to the Internet. Robert had been living and working in Micronesia for a number of years at that point and his only contact to the the world was dialing an access number in Hawaii to Compuserve, and the regular weekly shipments of the New York Times I had been sending him. Late that year I boarded a plane with fifteen large boxes of equipment; enough to set up Micronesia's first ISP. Shortly thereafter www.fm went live and they have been in business ever since providing Micronesia's only Internet service and arguably the single most important telecommunications service there. Later I helped FSM Telecom negotiate the deals that would lead to dot.fm, a company dedicated to commercializing the .fm domain. |
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| AT&T | Consultant | | |
Developed the interchange standard that became known as “vCard” (RFC2426). vCard is now found in most email clients, PDA devices, contact managers and web-hosted directories; Represented AT&T in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other industry standards-bodies; Successfully managed diplomatic relations between AT&T, Microsoft and Netscape.
Around 1991-92 while working at GO/EO I conceived the idea of an “electronic business card” which I called "eCard." I wrote the first draft of an eCard standard, using ASN.1 syntax, and circulated it around the industry to gather interest. Later, when AT&T had acquired EO but otherwise shut it down I was hired by AT&T to work on the "Versit" consortium which was a sort of splinter standards group that was an effort by AT&T and others (Apple, Siemens, and IBM) to hold on to some control of technical standards that were otherwise migrating to forums like the IETF and ECMA. In reality Versit was a thinly disguised effort to repel the advances of companies like Microsoft and Cisco into the telecommunications industry. While working on this project with Frank Dawson of IBM we decided, not without irony, that it would be necessary to make what had become vCard (v for Versit) into an Internet standard. In order to pull this off we had to engage Netscape, at the height of its arrogance, and Microsoft, in a mutual support effort. Of course getting vCard into Outlook is what ultimately drove the popularity of "vCard" although various contact management tools like Plaxo owe their existence to the interoperability defined by vCard. Frank did most of the dirty work of making vCard into RFC2426 although the underlying semantics of each field is virtually identical to my original ASN.1 draft. I worked on other projects at AT&T too, mostly in the area of dealing with the out of control threat to their business presented by the Internet. I also worked on various efforts to make their PBX business (which was embedded in what would become Lucent in 1996) somehow more relevant to the third party software and systems integration business. |
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| GO Corporation | Senior Software Engineer and Engineering Manager | | |
Responsible for $1M+ annual R&D budget; managed 8 software engineers.
From www.worldhistory.com: GO Corporation was founded in 1987 to create software for mobile computers and personal digital assistants. Its founders were Robert Carr and Jerry Kaplan, who subsequently chronicled the history of the company in the book Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure Story (ISBN 0735101418). GO's PenPoint OS was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants and was famous for running on AT&T's EO Personal Communicator, but as tablet computing waned in the 1980s and early 1990s, so did the fortunes of GO.
See also the computer museum page for GO Corporation:
http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/go/index.html
I was one of first employees of this high-profile software company that was acquired by AT&T. I was the lead architect for significant parts of the first operating system designed for handwriting recognition based hyper-portable computers; I developed the object programming model for PenPoint, wrote much of the window management and user interface framework and I helped develop the first Unicode-based font system for pan-Asian language support. My team delivered the first anti-alias rasterizer for the Heisei fonts and it's breathtaking quality impressed all of GO's Asian technology partners.
I represented GO to European and US research divisions of HP, IBM, AT&T, Telcordia and Bell Labs; I taught technical training seminars on GO's technology. |
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| Data General Corporation (now EMC) | Project Leader | | |
Led team of four engineers in the development of an advanced programming environment based on a Java-like object oriented language.
At the time I worked at Data General the company had just peaked at a billion dollar a year in sales and had R&D ambitions to leapfrog its arch-competitor and big brother, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). I worked in a department called Language Systems that was responsible for all programming compilers and runtimes and was in the process of porting an Ada compiler to our platform. Ada was all about improved programmer productivity but our hastily ported compiler presented an environment for developing sofware no different than anything else we were doing for Cobol, Fortran or PL/1. My job was to do something radically better. I conceived of a project that would integrate a syntax-directed editing/debugging environment into a source code management environment that was designed to look like a task scheduling tool. It integrated Ada's understanding of module linkage and dependency with the notion of dependency that was common to project management graphing tools like MacProject. I also decided that the core of the environment would be a interpreter that would make it easier to interact with running code and debug it, and I based the arcitecture of this virtual machine on the Intel 432. We called the language that this interpreter would natively understand "BigTalk" after SmallTalk from which we obtained inspiration; the "big" represented the scaling goals present in Ada. We intended to extend Ada's semantics to support "real" object oriented programming. Sometime during this work I had the pleasure of meeting Jean Ichbiah, the designer of Ada, and he was suitably horrified at these ideas :) |
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| Forethought, Inc. | Project Leader | | |
| Led team of three engineers in the development of a graphical user interface system. I developed window management, 2D graphics and UI widget subsystems in the context of a complex object programming framework. Forethought developed PowerPoint and was ultimately bought by Microsoft. |
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| MAI Systems Corporation | Software Engineer | | |
I worked as a software engineer on a client-server word processing system; debugged communications hardware and software linking workstations and server platforms.
I started at Basic Four (now MAI Systems Corporation, www.maisystems.com) as a software engineer on a client-server word processing system. I debugged new communications hardware and software linking workstations and server platforms. I worked in assembly language on a Z80 using Zilog development systems and also a high level language called PL/M. Later I worked on a project to integrate the word processing network with a new operating system and hardware platform that had been under development at the company. This gave me a fair amount of experience debugging under new/unstable OS code and hardware prototypes. The new OS was based on the UCSD Pascal p-Machine; a fact which would provide me with inspirations in my later work. |
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| Metatext Systems | Co-Founder | | |
| I co-founded Metatext after college. The company developed electronic publishing software on a clone of the PDP-11 made by a company called Alpha Microsystems. This was the very early days of mini-computer development in Orange County, CA. Companies like Microdata and Computer Automation were located there, as was Metatext (in Irvine). I would later do some consulting work at Pick Systems and go to work for MAI/Basic Four, one of the most sucessful of the first generation minicomputer companies. |
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