Bill Gartner is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Optical Systems and Optics business. In this role, he leads business strategy and development efforts for Cisco’s multibillion-dollar portfolio that includes Optical Systems, Optics, and next-generation architectures (e.g., Routed Optical Networking) that employ pluggable optics.
Bill is known for his passion for technology and vision for groundbreaking solutions that help Service Providers and Webscale customers build world-class networks that maximize capacity, flexibility, scalability, and operational efficiencies – all integral to the Internet for the Future. Bill is also a champion of mentoring and career development of female leaders in technology.
Throughout his career, Bill has earned a reputation for building trusted customer and business partnerships, with a focus on growth and innovation. Prior to joining Cisco, Bill was Chief Operating Officer of Meriton Networks (acquired by Xtera Networks). Before that, he served as President and COO of Mahi Networks and COO of Photuris. Previously, he was Vice President and General Manager of Lucent's Optical Networking Systems business, responsible for Metro, Access, and Long Haul DWDM products. His earlier tenure in the industry included roles at AT&T Bell Labs and Paradyne.
Bill has served on the boards of OptronX (acquired by JDSU) and CyOptics.
Bill holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, and an executive master’s degree in Technology Management from University of Pennsylvania/Wharton. He is a University of Pennsylvania Moore Fellow and holds three patents.
Cisco continues to be on the leading edge, driving optical industry innovation for our customers. Today, I’m pleased to announce that we have achieved the ranking of Optical Network Market Leader in the 2018 IHS Market Technology Vendor Scorecard.
We are helping our customers navigate a changing landscape, and PONC presents a unique opportunity to gather Cisco executives with industry experts for this two-day interactive event where presentations, panels, discussions, and highly informative breakouts take place.
Data demands are on the rise, and service providers are looking for ways to maximize their networks. By using a new, flexible control plane, the software-driven network lets providers adjust their bandwidth automatically and take a proactive approach to the typical tradeoffs that exist between capacity and distance in the optical network.
Before heading to OFC 2017, Bill Gartner connects with Verizon’s Vice President of Network Planning, Lee Hicks to get his perspective on Verizon’s network modernization plans.
