NET Announces Change at Top of NET Federal

Network Equipment Technologies’ (NET (News - Alert)) president is stepping down after 22 years with the California-based company, officials said today.

 

Gary Lau, president of NET Federal and an officer of Network Equipment Technologies, will be replaced by James Fitzpatrick, who has joined NET as president of NET Federal and will  also serve as an officer of NET.

 

During his tenure, Lau saw over a transitional period for the enterprise VoIP access switching and gateway solutions provider as the company moved from regional player to global provider. Lau was instrumental in bolstering the company’s government sales over the years and championed many of the new technology initiatives that ultimately strengthened NET's  position in multi-service and secure voice networking solutions.

 

“He and his team have generated a substantial portion of our revenue in recent years, and we are very appreciative of these contributions," said C. Nicholas Keating, Jr., President and CEO.

 

In addition, Lau and his team also helped usher in such big moves as NET’s  acquisition of Quintum (News - Alert) Technologies, a leading enterprise VoIP access switching and gateway solutions provider, and the company’s recently announced decision to move its ticker from the New York Stock Exchange over to the more tech-heavy NASDAQ.

 

Both moves have played an important part in the continued evolution of the Fremont, Calif.-based provider of multi-service network exchange solutions for enterprise and government customers.

As TMCnet reported, the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Quintum for a total equity value of $41 million, was expected to round out its technology and product offerings to enhance the company’s ability to satisfy the requirements of enterprise and government customers, and to address the converged unified messaging and unified communications markets.

 

The move to the NASDAQ was designed to align the company with a mapped out growth strategy and bring it to the same board as many of its peer companies.

 

In replacing Lau, Fitzpatrick brings  nearly three decades of experience in the Federal marketplace. He joins NET from Ericsson (News - Alert) Federal where he was vice president of Federal Sales.

 

"We are delighted to have Jim Fitzpatrick joining the company and believe his significant experience dealing with defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies of the Federal Government will enable him to work closely with our customers and provide leadership as we pursue our Unified Communications (News - Alert) strategy for our current and new government customers," said Keating.

 

Other previous positions include Marconi Federal, where he oversaw channel sales and partner programs and was in charge of business development.

 

Fitzpatrick has also held senior management positions at NCR and AT&T (News - Alert).