Steve Garson is a leading expert on SD-WAN and Managed Security Infrastructure for global enterprise networks.   He is a regular contributor to the widely read NetworkWorld - Ask the WAN Expert column.

Anne-Gaëlle leads the Dynamic Network Service (DyNS) programme for BT at a global level. She has 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry, of which 10 years has been spent on networking solutions, including application performance services, for global organisations. In her current role, she is responsible for defining innovative solutions to fulfil the needs of global customers and the new market drivers for global managed network services.   Prior to this, Anne-Gaëlle worked as Channel manager for the French market, developing solutions based on specific market needs but also supporting local sales and bid teams to be successful with French customers within our global operation. Before this, she worked on the wireless market supporting operators business cases for 3G licenses and finding the right business model through application partner engagements.

Nick heads the Network Architecture for KDDI Europe (a subsidiary of the KDDI Corporation, the 8th largest Telecoms carrier in the world, and Headquartered in Tokyo’s Iidabashi district) and has been with the company since 2010; during this time he has been working with the network presales division, and leading the design team, in providing global WAN solutions for some of the largest enterprises in the world.   He has championed both optimisation and SDWAN technologies for some time and provided oversight and direction for the launch of KDDI Europe’s SDWAN service.   He has been involved in networks (LAN & WAN) for almost 20 years, beginning as a network engineer at UBS investment bank in the City of London and moving onto such projects as the rollout of one of the very first carrier transatlantic MPLS networks; he has also spent time consulting for Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 project and BAAs 7 airport network refresh programme.   Nick holds a doctorate in “Neutron Diffraction Scattering”, a branch of nuclear physics, from the University of London, and which may or may not have any relevance to SDWAN or, indeed, networks in general. He loves “The Doors”, “MC5”, the “Blues Brothers”, “Yukio Mishima”, “Marie Laurencin”, “Gustav Klimt” and “Star Wars”, but in no particular order.

Janne Mikola,

Janne Mikola is the Product Manager for Telia SD-WAN service, situated in the Technology unit of Telia, in Finland. Originally he started his career as a software developer / programmer, but at the same time Janne wrote his M.Sc. thesis on Software-defined Networking (SDN), especially focusing on consuming its northbound APIs.   Since then, Janne's thesis has been referenced twice in peer-reviewed academic IEEE releases. Programmability of networks has interested Janne from the very beginning, and he believes he was the first person to set up a functioning SDN controller and a set of OpenFlow enabled switches in a lab in whole of Telia.   Nowadays, Janne is leading the development of Telia SD-WAN service, which is built upon Nuage Networks VNS. Janne is based in Tampere, Finland.

Fahim is Director of Architecture and Development at Colt, responsible for the delivery of next generation connectivity service platforms, specializing in SDN and NFV technologies. Fahim is passionate about driving industry initiatives and is a leader in Colt’s work with industry partners and bodies to standardise on key elements to enable easier integration.   Fahim has almost two decades experience in telecoms, managed IT and network services, and cloud computing, focusing on the architecture, development and operation of complex platforms, with a keen interest in orchestration, automation and interoperability.  

With over 17 years of experience running service provider networks today Andrew runs the core infrastructure team within Exponential-e who are responsible for the core network and design of services that run over it.   Andrew is an evangelist of new technologies (including SD-WAN) and advocate of continual improvement of existing systems and process within business.

Sanjay has been working as a senior product manager for Vodafone Global Enterprise Connectivity Services over the past three years.   He’s had 25+ years’ experience in Global communications technology, an area he is dedicated to with a passion for his customers and the people he works with.   Sanjay has worked with several providers in the industry having held Senior Product Management and Solution Consultancy positions at NTT Europe and Energis, with experience that spans from one of the first UK National Frame relay networks to global connectivity solutions for an international space agency.