Agito Networks Names New CEO

Chawla joins Agito as its president and CEO as the company, which makes the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router, is setting its sights on the channel and is looking to penetrate the market. Just weeks before naming Chawla as CEO, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company added 15-year channel veteran Sheila Kuri as its new director of North American channels.

"I am excited to join this strong team and build upon the industry leadership already gained by Agito Networks in a short time, validated by industry accolades and growing traction," Chawla said. "The global enterprise mobility opportunity shows good promise, and Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router is clearly differentiated in the industry to best meet the complex mobility needs of enterprises. I look forward to helping them dominate in this emerging market."

Chawla has 24 years of telecom product management, business development and market development experience, most recently serving as executive vice president of global business units for IP communications provider Veraz Networks. Before that, he held the top executive post at NexVerse Networks and began his career with Nortel Networks, where he spent 13 years, with his last position being vice president of portfolio management.

Chawla said before being tapped as the top executive at Agito, he watched the company from a distance and was intrigued by its focus on "keeping people untethered from their desks or their work spots" and its drive to boost productivity.

Agito's RoamAnywhere Mobility Router is an enterprise fixed-mobile convergence appliance that fuses Wi-Fi, cellular, IP telephony and location information to boost the accessibility and productivity of mobile workers, while also decreasing corporate mobility costs. The product offers seamless handoffs between WLAN and cellular networks while also supporting a broad range of mobile devices and IP-PBX solutions.

Agito's vision, Chawla said, and the convergence of various types of communications to reach anyone, anywhere at any time drew him to the start-up. Agito's adherence to open standards and support for a variety of handsets will combine to create a successful solution, Chawla added.

"The basic recipe has already been developed by the co-founders," he said. "The basic ingredients of success are there, now it's time for execution."

Chawla said he'll bring his experience at Nortel and Veraz to Agito to instill an atmosphere of discipline and nimbleness. He'll also rely strongly on the channel to fulfill his vision, with Agito not limiting itself just to VARs, but adding in service providers and carrier partners to go to market.

"We see a very significant role for VARs, service providers and resellers in our future successes," he said, adding that he sees more partnerships on the horizon as Agito broadens its handset and PBX vendor partnerships.

Overall, Chawla said, he's joining Agito at a critical time in the fixed-mobile convergence market, an area that is starting to heat up. He feels Agito is positioned to flourish.

"It's about turning a vision into a reality and turning that early reality into a market opportunity," he said.