Zayo Group, provider of fiber and bandwidth connectivity, colocation and cloud services, has named industry veteran Jack Waters as chief technology officer (CTO) and president of its Network Solutions. As a member of Zayo’s senior leadership team, Waters will be involved in all aspects of the business and will be directly engaged with Zayo’s strategic customers, technology vendors and alliance partners.
Jack Waters will report to Zayo’s chairman and CEO Dan Caruso and oversee global technology and network strategy and execution. The appointment is effective August 15.
“Zayo is managing web scale networks for many of our clients, and providing innovative solutions which include dark fiber, wavelengths, Ethernet, IP, colocation and cloud technologies,” said Dan Caruso. “These customers know and trust Jack, and will welcome his involvement in the design, implementation and operations of these networks and solutions.”
Waters and Caruso worked together beginning in 1997 in launching Level 3 Communications and throughout Caruso’s seven years at the company. During Waters’ 18-year tenure with Level 3, he held key leadership and engineering roles and is well known for his role as their long-time CTO.
Before joining Level 3, Waters was an executive staff member for MCI Communications, responsible for network architecture and implementation. He began his career at SURAnet, the Southeastern University Research and Academic Network. Waters serves on the FCC’s Technical Advisory Council and the board of directors for the Colorado Technology Association.
“I am proud of the world-class network and talented team we built during my tenure at Level 3,” said Jack Waters. “I look forward to this next chapter, which includes collaborating with friends and former colleagues from across the industry.”
Data centers, Network
Zayo has multiple data centers in the U.S. and Europe. The company’s 112,000-mile network in the U.S. and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. In addition to high-capacity dark fiber, wavelength, Ethernet and other connectivity solutions, Zayo offers colocation and cloud services in its carrier-neutral data centers.
“Unlike many of the Zayo veterans, I have not worked with Jack, but I know he is a highly respected leader who has an impressive track record of leveraging technology to drive business value,” said Chris Morley, COO of Zayo. “We are excited to collaborate with him to continue to shape our strategy, bolster our network infrastructure and strengthen relationships with our growing base of global customers and alliance partners.”
