The 50 most powerful people in networking

This annual list of the 50 most powerful people in networking glorifies power in all its various forms. We honor the aggressive, the competitive, the colorful, the intelligent, the masterful and the thought-provoking. They are the people who make this industry so vibrant.

Network World |

Network World list the 50 most powerful people in networking.

POWER ELITE
John Chambers CiscoIvan Seidenberg Verizon
Larry Ellison OracleJoe Tucci EMC
Bill Gates MicrosoftEdward Whitacre the new AT&T
Sam Palmisano IBM 
ENTERPRISE COMPUTING
Steve Ballmer MicrosoftPaul Otellini Intel
Ian Foster UnivaKevin Rollins Dell
Diane Greene VMwareHector Ruiz Advanced Micro Devices
Mark Hurd HPMatthew Szulik Red Hat
Scott McNealy SunDaniel Warmenhoven Network Appliance
NET INFRASTRUCTURE
Charlie Giancarlo CiscoMark Spencer Digium
Scott Kriens Juniper NetworksJayshree Ullal Cisco
John McHugh HP ProCurve NetworkingGreg Raleigh Airgo Networks
Don Peterson AvayaJohn Williams Auto-ID lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ENTERPRISE NETWORK EXECS
Robert Carter FedExPeter Quinn Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Lt. Gen. Charles Croom Defense Information Systems AgencyFred Wettling Bechtel
Steve Elterich Fidelity Investment SystemsDavid Barnes United Parcel Service
Dianah Neff City of PhiladelphiaGordon Bither State Street
John Partridge InovantCraig Hinkley Bank of America
ENTERPRISE APPS
Marc Benioff Salesforce.comEric Schmidt Google
Alfred Chuang BEA SystemsJohn Swainson CA
Steve Mills IBMShai Agassi SAP
NETWORK SECURITY
Eva ChenTrend MicroJohn Thompson Symantec
George Samenuk McAfeeKim Cameron Microsoft
Gil Shwed Check PointPaul Simmonds Jericho Forum
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Jeffrey Citron Vonage
Gary Forsee Sprint Nextel
Kevin Martin Federal Communications Commission

POWER ELITE

John Chambers // president and CEO, Cisco

Chambers spent 2005 on the prowl for Cisco's next growth market and found video - the last quadrant in networking's so-called quadruple play of data, wireless, voice and video. Video on the corporate net is an obvious move for a router and VoIP gear maker. IP video to consumers is less obvious, but Chambers has been talking that up too. He'd like Cisco gear to be as prevalent in the next-generation digital home as it is in the enterprise wiring closet. He's also pushing Cisco into young technologies such as self-healing security and IP push-to-talk. His typical confident self, Chambers reportedly told analysts in December that Cisco will continue to grow at 10% to 15% a year (see related story).

Larry Ellison // CEO, Oracle

PeopleSoft, check. Retek, check. Siebel Systems, check. With his unwavering ability to set a long-term strategy for growth and his dogged determination to win a business battle, you get a CEO who resembles the Energizer Bunny - he keeps going and going (and growing and growing). And beyond the outright acquisitions comes the opportunity to win customers for Oracle's own products. For instance, both Retek and Siebel have been known for their strong integration with IBM's DB2. With Oracle now in charge, Ellison has two new crops of customers he can harvest. Even so, Ellison's most pressing enemy target is not IBM but SAP, Oracle's largest competitor in the enterprise application market.

Bill Gates // Chairman and chief software architect, Microsoft

Gates doesn't have to do much to capture the limelight - a testament to his industry might. Most recently, all lights shone on Gates sharing his vision of how Internet software services will revolutionize the world. With Gates hailing the software-as-a-service concept, we can expect stepped-up development activity well beyond Redmond. Software and services competitors as well as entrepreneurs will look to angle in on this Bill-blessed market.

Related:
1 2 3 Page 1
Page 1 of 3