By hiring former Equinix CTO and veteran telecom executive, Ihab Tarazi, Packet – a bare metal cloud provider for developers – hopes to accelerate its product and technology leadership in hybrid cloud and edge computing.
At Equinix, Ihab Tarazi was accountable for technology innovation and strategic engagements with leading platforms as well as emerging players in the Cloud, Security, Storage, Edge and IoT sectors. In his former role, Ihab also oversaw engineering and operations for the Equinix interconnection platforms including Cloud Exchange, Internet Exchange, and Optical Metro Connect.
Mr. Tarazi will be responsible will make for Packet’s technical and product strategy, capitalizing on the company’s hardware automation expertise to address the hybrid cloud, on premise automation and edge computing needs of enterprises and global SaaS companies.
“After leaving Equinix to pursue my passion for edge computing, I dissected the strategies of over 100 companies while serving as Entrepreneur in Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures,” said Ihab Tarazi. “Packet’s approach to edge and hybrid cloud was the clear leader from both a technology and strategic perspective, and their vision for automated fundamental infrastructure is absolutely without match. I couldn’t be more excited about joining this team today.”
Verizon
In addition to his time at Equinix, Tarazi also served as VP Engineering and Technology at Verizon, where he led a global team of professionals and provided strategic and tactical oversight for the Engineering and Product Development of Global Enterprise Services including MPLS VPN, IP, Ethernet, Security and Managed Services. He directed the product portfolio across all network assets to support Retail and Wholesale customers. Mr. Tarazi also directed Engineering for Consumer FiOS services including optical connectivity, Internet Service, video streaming and content management.
“As a fast-growing company, we’re always excited to welcome new leadership, talent, and perspectives to our team,” said Zac Smith, CEO of Packet. “However, Ihab’s fantastic background and unmatched enthusiasm for our vision makes this announcement unique – it’s fantastic to welcome him to the Packet family.”
Tarazi holds a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Telecommunications Management from Southern Methodist University and Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Maryland. He served key industry leadership roles including Co-Chair of Telecom Infrastructure Project Open Optical Packet Transport team, and as Chairman of the Metro Ethernet Forum.
