January 14, 2013

PeopleWatch...

Extreme Networks Inc.: Marykay Wells has been named Extreme Networks’ CIO, in charge of IT strategy and operations spanning the company's global operations. She most recently served in the same position at Tekelec, heading IT, business transformation, procurement and real estate. Prior to Tekelec, Wells spent 19 years in various positions at Nortel Networks, including vice president/Global Applications and interim CIO. Gary Garber was named vice president/Talent and Culture, overseeing the company’s HR vision and strategies. Garber most recently led the HR function for Avaya Government Solutions and previously served as the vice president/Talent Management for Avaya. Joe Novak joins as vice president/Customer Service, responsible for shaping the customer experience and leading support teams. He comes from electronic-health-records provider Allscripts, where he served as vice president of client support operations; he also spent more than a decade at Cisco, as vice president of U.S./Canada Technical Services Delivery.

Glowpoint Inc.: Peter Holst now is president/CEO of cloud and managed-video-services provider Glowpoint, and he is expected to join the company’s board. Holst succeeds the departing Joe Laezza, who will continue to serve as an advisor to Holst and to the board during 1Q13. Holst recently joined Glowpoint via its acquisition of Affinity VideoNet.

Robert W. Cole, a cable pioneer who helped build systems in Maryland and Virginia, died Jan. 10 following an accident at his family farm in Jefferson, Md. He was 72. Before his retirement, Cole spent 20 years in the cable industry, recruited by George Delaplaine to head Frederick Cablevision Inc. He previously worked for a cable company serving Annapolis, where he was directly responsible for systems operations as well as for systems in Lexington Park and Quantico, Va. Early in his career, Cole helped design and build the cable system in Fredericksburg, Va.