North Texas-based DZS Names Chief Customer Officer » Dallas Innovates

DZS has appointed Scott St. John as Chief Customer Officer [Photo: DZS]

Scott St. John has been named chief customer officer of Plano-based DZS, a global leader in broadband networking and AI-driven cloud software solutions. He reports directly to CEO Charlie Vogt.

“During his more than five-year tenure leading up to the ADVA/Adtran merger, Scott was instrumental in leading ADVA's significant revenue growth,” Vogt said in a statement. “DZS will benefit from Scott’s experience and more than 20 years of sales leadership knowledge as well as trusted relationships with service providers and distribution partners across the Americas, EMEA and ANZ, complementing the momentum we have created over the last two years.”

Vogt said the St. John's hire fits well with its recently released and differentiated 50G-ready OLT platforms, optical edge ROADM, home broadband and cloud software solutions.

“We are involved in numerous optical transport, fiber access, network security, orchestration and home broadband software management projects for service providers, and I am confident that Scott will accelerate our team's ability to deliver these technology and solution trials “We will continue to drive our growth throughout 2024 and into 2025,” Vogt added.

The company said St. John will be responsible for leading global sales of DZS and will focus on driving accelerated sales growth in the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) regions.

Gaining global importance with “broadband everywhere”.

According to DZS, communications service providers in these regions continue to undergo a multi-year broadband network modernization cycle with a shift toward open and software-defined networks, supported by “broadband everywhere” initiatives led by several government-funded stimulus projects and private investments taking place worldwide.

The company said its expanded broadband network and AI-driven cloud software portfolios are “ideally positioned” to capitalize on this opportunity, after three years of targeted innovation and three strategic acquisitions created a differentiated, network edge-focused portfolio, that is poised to position CSPs for service agility and future success.

DZS said the company continues to gain traction with service providers in its strategic growth markets of the Americas, EMEA and ANZ, including recent successes with best-in-class operators in multiple regions.

Since 2022, the company's vision, strategy and technology initiatives have resulted in the launch of award-winning and category-defining optical, access and cloud software solutions, DZS said. Complementing the company's fiber and fiber broadband innovations and targeting service providers' most demanding needs, DZS successfully acquired and integrated the core resources of ASSIA (AI-driven cloud software), RIFT (automation, orchestration and network slicing software) and Optelian (optical network platforms).

Expertise in international sales

Calling DZS a “market disruptor” under Vogt's leadership, St. John said he looks forward to joining the management team and accelerating the company's growth as it capitalizes on significant network expansion opportunities provided by the “normalization of purchasing patterns.” “of service providers”, state broadband economic stimulus programs and the trials underway worldwide with more than 25 major service providers.”

“Broadband has become a utility-like service and as artificial intelligence matures and accelerates, the way CSPs automate, optimize and analyze the performance of their networks is changing,” St. John added. “It is an ideal time to leverage the company’s unique position in the industry, strengthened by best-in-class optical, access and cloud software technology. DZS is poised to gain market share and increase revenue, and I am excited to lead this charge.”

The company said St. John has a track record of leading global sales teams and consistently driving revenue growth over the past 25 years. Before joining DZS, he was Chief Sales Officer for ADVA until its merger with Adtran, where he led a global team of over 450 employees and increased sales to around 700 million euros per year.

Gunter Reiss will continue to serve as chief marketing officer and lead business development for DZS, the company said.

“Given the momentum DZS has in the Americas, EMEA and ANZ regions, the timing of Scott joining our leadership team is ideal as it will allow me to focus 100% on the many ongoing marketing and business development initiatives,” said Reiss . “Scott’s expertise in successfully executing global go-to-market strategies and delivering complex network solutions will greatly benefit our customers and channel partners as they modernize their communications networks.”

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