Management
Amir Bassan-Eskenazi
Chief Executive Officer, President and Co-Founder
Amir Bassan-Eskenazi is the chief executive officer, chairman of the board and co-founder of BigBand Networks. Recognizing the advancement of video, voice and data services provided over broadband networks, Mr. Bassan-Eskenazi is dedicated to optimizing operators' infrastructure. He has led BigBand Networks' activities from conception through successful implementations with the leading global service providers, driving content to tens of millions of subscribers. Mr. Bassan-Eskenazi's success with BigBand Networks extends a record of leadership in the establishment of the digital video. He was previously an executive of industry pioneer Optibase (NASDAQ: OBAS) where he rose to executive vice president of marketing and chief operating officer. Other roles with Optibase included development engineering, technical support, project management, product planning, marketing, business development, pre-sales and sales. Mr. Bassan-Eskenazi was a member of the JPEG Committee, has published on the future of broadband multimedia services, and holds several patents. He graduated from Technion Institute of Technology, where he studied electrical engineering.
Ran Oz
Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice President and Co-founder
Ran Oz is chief technology officer of BigBand Networks, which he co-founded as a new breed of company combining advanced multimedia and communications technologies. He has been the primary visionary in the development of the company's products, now globally deployed and utilized for more and better services over more efficient networks. Under Mr. Oz' technical leadership, BigBand Networks is pioneering vital advances in digital television, on-demand and IP services, and he is directing the company towards leadership in the industry's next-generation network initiatives. Mr. Oz was part of the founding team of digital video technology provider Optibase (NASDAQ: OBAS), and was the primary technical co-founder of Optibase spin-out VCON Telecommunications (Nouveau March: 022021), a vendor of IP video conferencing systems. Mr. Oz holds several patents in HFC networking, visual computing, media manipulation and other areas, and regularly publishes and presents on advanced technology topics at the most prominent broadband industry events. He is an electrical engineering graduate of the Technion Institute of Technology, and holds an MSEE from Tel Aviv University.
Ravi Narula
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Narula is Chief Financial Officer of BigBand Networks where he oversees the company's accounting, finance and investor relations. He is a seasoned financial executive with more than16 years of financial accounting experience spanning the public accounting and industry sectors. Mr. Narula joined BigBand in 2005 and most recently served as Vice President of Finance and Worldwide Controller. During his tenure at BigBand, he has served in several senior financial roles, including Chief Accounting Officer. Mr. Narula was instrumental in taking the company public and in building the financial operations team. Prior to joining BigBand, he served as Director of Financial Governance at Borland Software and held numerous senior financial roles at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Narula is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor's of commerce degree from the University of Garhwal in India.
Yaki Avimor
Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development
Yaki Avimor is Senior Vice President of Global Research and Development at BigBand Networks where he is responsible for worldwide product development. Mr. Avimor brings more than 24 years of experience in product development and product management of enterprise software applications, voice over IP and telco grade systems. Previously, he managed Mercury Interactive's Mercury Load Testing product line (now the HP® LoadRunner), which generated $300 million in revenues. Prior to Mercury Interactive, Mr. Avimor was co-founder of PhoNet Communications, a voice over IP software provider, focused on developing IP-based private telephone exchanges (PABX), which was later sold to VCON. Mr. Avimor holds a master’s of science degree in mathematics from Technion Institute of Technology.
Paul Crann
Senior Vice President, Product Line Management
As senior vice president of product line management for BigBand Networks, Mr. Crann is responsible for delivering new breakthrough solutions to service providers worldwide. He brings 20 years of operational experience to BigBand having served in a variety of management roles across the data networking and wireless communications industries. Mr. Crann has worked extensively with service providers including recent roles with start-up companies serving the fixed mobile convergence and WiMAX markets. Previously, Mr. Crann served as senior vice president of marketing and business development for Avici Systems, a core IP/ MPLS routing vendor. He has also held senior product management and market development positions with Lucent Technologies and Ascend Communications where he as part of the core switching business unit. His earlier experience includes roles with Omnipoint, one of the early PCS wireless service providers, PRTM as a management consultant, and the U.S. Navy where he served as a submarine officer. Mr. Crann holds a master's in business administration from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Villanova University.
Rajive Dhar
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategic Planning
As senior vice president of corporate development and strategic planning at BigBand Networks, Mr. Dhar oversees the company's global growth strategy through business development efforts including acquisitions and new product and market initiatives in digital video networking. Mr. Dhar brings a breadth of operational and strategic experiences to BigBand, gained throughout his 20 years of experience in the technology industry. During his career, he has spearheaded strategic acquisitions, investments, mergers and subsequent business integrations, along with channel building initiatives at start ups and public companies. Mr. Dhar most recently served as vice president of corporate strategy and planning at ARRIS Group Inc., where he led the company's acquisition and investment strategy. Mr. Dhar holds a master's in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a master's of science in computer engineering from Syracuse University. He holds several patents in the area of semiconductor technology.
Rob Horton
Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Rob Horton serves as the senior vice president and general counsel for BigBand Networks, responsible for the company's legal and regulatory interests, including intellectual property protection, licensing, regulatory compliance and corporate governance. Horton previously served as senior counsel for Borland Software (NASDAQ: BORL). Prior to Borland, Horton was an attorney in private practice at the law firms of Covington and Burling LLP and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, PC. Horton holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from Northwestern University.
Ralph Rondinone
Senior Vice President, Global Operations
Ralph Rondinone is BigBand Networks' senior vice president of global operations. In this role he is responsible for worldwide customer service, manufacturing, quality, information technology and infrastructure. Mr. Rondinone brings more than 20 years of experience in customer service, manufacturing engineering, quality and operational responsibilities with companies ranging from start ups to public networking companies. Previously, he held executive level positions at SeaChange International, Lucent Technologies and Ascend Communications. He spent 13 years of his career at Digital Equipment Corporation where he worked in both the US and Europe in engineering and in manufacturing operations. Mr. Rondinone holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Ray Fitzgerald
Vice-President, Worldwide Sales – Cable
Ray Fitzgerald is Vice President of Worldwide Sales – Cable at BigBand Networks. He is responsible for all North American cable service provider accounts and all international video service provider accounts. Mr. Fitzgerald joined BigBand in May 2003 and brings more than 25 years of experience in technology sales management and market development with a number of start-up, small and mid-sized companies. Previously, he served as BigBand's Vice President, Sales – Cable Americas and Vice President, Sales International. Before joining BigBand, he was Vice President, Sales for TollBridge Technologies, a company in the voice over IP media gateway segment and Regional Vice President, Sales for River Delta Networks, a CMTS supplier. Additionally, Mr. Fitzgerald held sales leadership positions at Harmonic, Inc. supporting North American market sales and serving as Managing Director, EMEA Sales, based in the United Kingdom. His earlier experience included sales management positions with Raychem and AMP, which are now both part of Tyco, Inc. Mr. Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from Rowan University.
Wayne Gaudette
Vice President, Telco Sales
As Vice President of Telco sales, Mr. Gaudette manages the sales team, account strategy and revenue objectives for BigBand's telco service provider customers. Mr. Gaudette joined BigBand Networks in June of 2005 to expand and develop the North American telco market segment. He brings more than 20 years of telco sales and technical experience to BigBand, having served in a variety of roles in the voice, video and data markets. He previously served as Regional Vice President of Sales for Tellabs and Advanced Fiber Communications. He has also held sales and technical positions with Alcatel and Raynet Systems. Mr. Gaudette studied Electrical Engineering Technology and Computer Science at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Judith Yampolsky
Vice President, Human Resources
As vice president of human resources, Ms. Yampolsky is responsible for worldwide human resource activities including staffing, compensation and benefits, and organizational development. Prior to joining BigBand, Ms. Yampolsky spent more than 20 years with Intel Semiconductors in engineering and human resource management where she played a strategic role in the management and direction of human resource functions and programs across Israel, Ireland, Philippines and China. Ms. Yampolsky holds a bachelor's of science in chemistry and a diploma of senior business management from the Hebrew University.