Operational leadership during the rapid deployment of a large scale WiFi network, with responsibility for engineering, support, monitoring, vendors and operational performance.
At VAST Networks, the focus shifted from executive technology strategy into the operational leadership required to deploy and run a very large WiFi network.
The network deployment covered more than 2,000 locations and more than 25,000 access points, requiring operational discipline as well as technical capability.
The role included leadership of a more than 20 person engineering and support team, with responsibility for improving network reliability and performance.
Operational monitoring was improved to support rapid scaling while maintaining cost control. This is a different form of technology leadership from designing a network. The challenge becomes making the operating model reliable enough to sustain growth.
The role included vendor negotiations and the development of strategic partnerships, with the objective of securing the capability needed for deployment while reducing unnecessary expense.
That combination of technical operations, people leadership and commercial negotiation is consistent with the broader career, where technology decisions have repeatedly been treated as business decisions rather than as isolated IT concerns.
The period demonstrates a recurring theme in the career, moving between strategy and hands on delivery while keeping technology connected to organisational and commercial outcomes.