By JULIE BORT AND JIM DUFFY John Chambers Michael Dell George Conrades Today, he heads a leading Internet caching firm, with service deployed on 6,000 servers residing in 335 service provider networks in 54 countries. Akamai clients are among the hottest Web site operators, from CBS to Yahoo. But Conrades is not content. Akamai has led scores of vendors in creating the Internet Content Adaptation Protocol to standardize the way corporate and ISP networks communicate with content delivery systems and ease content delivery to wireless devices. And the company has moved into streaming media for teleconference providers and managed storage services. Still, Akamai was hit hard by the Internet stock correction. In January 2000, Akamai stock traded at an astounding $345 per share. Today, it hovers around $30 per share. Yet Conrades appears unworried, perhaps because revenue climbs quarterly even though the company hasn't posted a profit to date. He's had to ride out tougher times. He's well known as an IBM fall guy who made good on the Internet. He ended a long career at IBM by taking the blame for the company's over-reliance on Big Iron. He then moved on to revive the dying BBN Planet and to orchestrate its sale to GTE, where he oversaw network operations. His next stint, as a venture capitalist for Polaris Venture Partners, led him to seed Akamai. If the past is indicative of the future, the network industry will feel Conrades' power for many years to come. Scott Kriens John Roth  John Roth is a soft-spoken, dignified man who lets Nortel Networks' actions speak louder than his words.
When the company bought Bay Networks more than two years ago, he said that acquisition began Nortel's transformation into an IP company. That didn't quite happen, as Nortel lost a dramatic share of the Layer 3 switch market and killed its much-anticipated IP router for the Internet core. No matter. The Bay deal infused Nortel with an entrepreneurial spirit not found in 100-year-old telephone equipment companies. Nortel's value has been skyrocketing ever since, thanks to Roth's stealthy focus and execution in optical and wireless networking. The company's market cap has ballooned to nearly $200 billion. Roth's steely determination to lead in these markets is evident in several moves he orchestrated this year. Nortel bought optical switch maker Xros in a stock deal worth $3.25 billion; picked up optical component manufacturer CoreTek for $1.43 billion; and invested $260 million in its own optical networking and components business. That investment will create 34,000 jobs. Teddy Roosevelt said speak softly but carry a big stick. Roth is tweaking that to talk softly and carry a big stick. Michael Ruettgers Mike Ruettgers has a gift for transformation. He's not only transformed EMC into the dominant networked storage company in the industry and a household word, but he's also helped transform networked storage from a dull, dowdy niche into one of the sexier industry markets.Under Ruettgers' leadership, EMC has helped the industry recognize storage as more than just a passive container of enterprise data. It's now looked at as the bedrock of a company's e-business operations. This will only become more important as efforts to meld storage-area networks (SAN) to IP take hold and optical SANs pervade the industry. Ruettgers is leading the EMC charge on both fronts. He's also leading EMC into bigger and better things. Since Ruettgers took the helm in 1991, EMC revenue has grown more than 50-fold, to $6.7 billion in 1999, with net income exceeding $1 billion. Between 1997 and 1999, EMC's annual revenue more than doubled. EMC's fortunes under Ruettgers' care have not gone unrecognized. In 1998, BusinessWeek named Ruettgers one of the "World's Top 25 Executives." Fortune, in its 1999 list of "The World's Most Admired Companies," ranked EMC No. 3 in the computer industry. And EMC this year makes Network World's "10 most powerful companies" list. Hardly surprising for the son of an Air Force pilot, who includes hunting and military history among his passions. As proof of his passion for fight, one of his prized possessions is a poster of himself holding up a fist with blue-stained knuckles, taunting IBM: ''Had enough, Big Blue?'' IBM may cry uncle soon. Ruettgers' goal is to double EMC's size again to $12 billion in 2001. Sounds like EMC's transformation is just beginning. Carl Yankowski A keen knack for consumer marketing is what makes Carl Yankowski a power player this year. Few argue that the Palm will become the next cell phone. Just as you see - and are annoyed by - people chatting on cell phones every hour of every day in every place, so too will you see - and be bothered by - people accessing the 'Net via their Palms. For the development of the ultimate handheld consumer and business tool, Palm enlisted the consummate consumer products executive. Yankowski was president and CEO of Reebok when 3Com tapped him a year ago to lead Palm.Before that, Yankowski was president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics. He's also held various positions at General Electric, Memorex and Polaroid over the past 25 years. Under his guidance, Sony was named the most respected brand name in America in 1995 and 1997. But for all his marketing successes, Yankowski wants to be known more for his technical savvy and precision. He believes that in order to market a product successfully, you have to get your hands mucky in its technical guts. That may explain why Yankowski enjoys dabbling in gadgetry, including ham radios, 22 or so Sony products that he's got at home and the control panel of a plane. It's Yankowski's push for precision that will likely make Palm one of the most respected brand names in networking, and his own name one to remember. The rest of the 25 most powerful people in networking Main story Software superheroes Service provider commandos Network executive forces The money guySend this article to a colleague
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