Management Team

The Virtela executive team combines world-class technology, consulting and managed services expertise with award-winning, multinational savvy gained at BT Infonet, Equant, Qwest, Sprint, UUNet, IBM and other industry leaders. This diverse and experienced management team directs and executes Virtela's market strategies, technical initiatives and guides the company's fast-paced growth.

Steve brings to Virtela more than 25 years of leadership experience in the information technology industry. He has led highly successful corporate expansion initiatives throughout his career, with a proven track record in sales, marketing, financial and executive management.

Prior to Virtela, he was president and CEO of ZANTAZ Inc., a pioneer in compliance content archiving and e-discovery leveraging the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model. Under his seven-year leadership, the company grew to be profitable and a recognized market leader, and was acquired in 2007 by The Autonomy Group.

Prior to ZANTAZ, Steve held a number of executive positions at E*TRADE Group Inc., where he played a key role in growing the company from under $100 million to more than $1.5 billion in revenues. He ultimately became CEO of E*OFFERING, the pioneering online investment bank of E*TRADE, acquired by Wit SoundView Group.

Previously, he held senior management positions at the Thomson Corporation and Ziff-Davis. In 2006, he received the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Steve is also on the board of TrustedID, a leader in identity theft prevention solutions.
sking@virtela.com

Bill is responsible for Virtela's direct sales organization throughout the U.S. He brings more than 18 years of experience in direct and indirect sales and sales leadership, customer service and network engineering.

Most recently, Bill was regional vice president of BT Infonet's largest direct sales channel, where he consistently met or exceeded revenue and expense objectives. Previously, he held channel management and senior sales management positions within MCI (including MCI Systemhouse, which was acquired by EDS during his tenure). As channel manager of the Midwest region, he successfully developed new sales territories and client relations for global and national accounts. In positions as senior manager of national and global accounts, Bill led highly successful customer acquisition and growth plans for the Chicagoland territory that exceeded all targets. Earlier in his career, Bill held senior sales and network engineering positions at Sprint. He started his telecommunications career with positions at Quaker Oats (now a unit of PepsiCo), Baxter Healthcare and Ameritech (acquired by SBC).

Bill is also an adhoc instructor for the University of Wisconsin, where he teaches data communications and consultative sales courses for the Graduate School of Business and Management.
bdodds@virtela.com

John is responsible for Virtela's worldwide channel sales organization. He brings more than 20 years of diverse management experience in the telecommunications industry. A successful thought leader who has founded two companies, John possesses a strong track record of growing sales organizations during difficult times. In his past two positions at Equant and BT Infonet, he took over sales organizations that had experienced several years of declining revenue and restored them to double-digit growth.

Most recently, John was an area vice president of sales at Equant, responsible for the company's sales of network and IT solutions in the western U.S. During 2004, new sales orders for his organization increased by 58%. Prior to this position, John was a regional vice president of sales at Infonet. During a three year period when most telecommunication companies were experiencing severe revenue erosion in the U.S., John doubled revenue in his region. He has held several executive positions at BT Infonet, including founder and managing director of its subsidiary, ESG Communications, and CFO of Infonet USA.

John started his career in the telecommunications industry working for a subsidiary of NYNEX after having been involved in the start-up of a national magazine.
jpowell@virtela.com

Ted is responsible for delivering expertly designed networks and services to Virtela customers including responsibility for the company's 24x7 Network Operations Center. Previously with Qwest, Ted led the planning and engineering of the company's data products. He drove the design and construction of Qwest's Frame Relay and ATM network and helped Qwest gain market share with major corporate customers. Earlier, Ted was responsible for budgeting, planning and engineering Sprint's data networks, and leading the company into new data and Internet service markets. He led the effort to grow Sprint's Frame Relay network, managed the growth of the company's Internet network, and managed the first widespread use of packet over SONET. Ted was also responsible for building the first private IP network used for Intranet services. Before joining Sprint, Ted worked in communications systems at Aeronautical Radio, COMSAT and General Electric. He has served the U.S. Navy in active and reserve capacities as a submarine officer for over 25 years, achieving the rank of Captain.
tstudwell@virtela.com

Jian is responsible for Virtela's IP-based network architecture and customer network design services. He ensures that customer technology requirements are met and identifies new and emerging technologies for the company's service portfolio. Before joining Virtela, Jian was senior director of IP engineering and emerging technologies at Qwest, where he founded the IP architecture team and led the design of the company's OC-48 and OC-192 nationwide IP backbone. Previously, Jian was a principal architect of Sprint's IP service backbone. He also designed and built Global One's international IP service backbone. Earlier, Jian held network architect positions at Rice University and the University of Kansas. He was also a major contributor to the design and deployment of the first commercial Internet network in China, sponsored by China Telecom in 1994.
jli@virtela.com

Mark is responsible for creating Virtela's world-class network management, business systems and information technology security practices. Previously, during a 15-year tenure at Sprint, Mark established the enterprise-wide security architecture for Sprint's local, long distance and PCS networks and systems environments. He also created Sprint's IT security policy and security requirements for the company's major initiatives. Mark built the team responsible for network and systems support for the company's Internet/Intranet IP services, leading the design of Sprint's first Web hosting systems architecture. He also led the team that created Sprint's LAN/WAN support systems, private line services center and customer service management center. Earlier with Sprint, Mark was responsible for systems design and analysis for network services provisioning. For GTE Sprint, he led the project to integrate SPC Communications and GTE's regional network service.
mhansard@virtela.com

Jane is responsible for directing Virtela's communications programs, including media and analyst relations and marketing communications initiatives. Prior to joining Virtela, Jane built the technology public relations practice at Qwest, most recently serving as group director for media relations where she led media and analyst relations programs across the company's product initiatives. Earlier in her career, Jane was a technology journalist chronicling the high-tech industry as a freelance writer and editor for publications such as eWeek (formerly PC Week), PC World, Upside and Investor's Business Daily. She previously spent eight years as a PC Week editor, covering business and technology news of the networking and software industries from the leading trade magazine's Silicon Valley bureau and Boston headquarters.
jmorrissey@virtela.com

Dan is responsible for the financial management of Virtela, including accounting, financial reporting and planning. Most recently, Dan was controller at Jato, a broadband data communications services company. Prior to Jato, Dan was assistant controller at EchoStar Communications, where he was responsible for financial reporting, payroll and benefits management. During his tenure, the company grew from a start-up to 2.5 million customers and more than $1 billion in revenue. Dan began his career as a financial auditor at Ernst & Young, and is a certified public accountant.
dalonzi@virtela.com

Ronald is responsible for Virtela's channel relationship program and business development throughout the Asia Pacific region. He brings 18 years of broad international telecommunications experience, with eight of those years in Asia Pacific. Most recently, he held regional director positions for Equant in the Western U.S. and earlier for Infonet in South East Asia. Ronald has also served as managing director of Asia Pacific for 360Networks and held senior technical sales positions for AT&T in the U.S. and Europe. Ronald is based in Virtela's regional headquarters in Singapore.
rbrouwers@virtela.com

Kurt is responsible for sales and service delivery for the Eastern Region of the U.S., which includes the Midwest. He brings with him over 15 years of sales, customer service and operational experience. Prior to joining Virtela, Kurt was Regional Manager of the Central Region at BT Infonet, where his region led the country in new client wins and customer satisfaction. In earlier roles at BT Infonet, EDS, MCI and Baxter Healthcare, he consistently exceeded all sales targets. Kurt received his Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and is active in the Chicago community serving as a board member and advisor to several non-profit organizations.
kjohnson@virtela.com

Matt is responsible for sales and service delivery for the Western Region of the U.S., which includes Texas. Matt brings a combined 15 years of experience in global IT markets, including management experience in IT outsourcing, integration services, managed network services, security services and consulting. Prior to joining Virtela, Matt held management positions within BT Global Services, Infonet and Orange Business Services, including Head of Integration Services and Director of Channel Development. He received his Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business, where he remains an active alumnus.
mdimarsico@virtela.com