Scott St. John has been appointed as chief customer officer of Plano-based DZS, a global leader of broadband networking and AI-driven cloud software solutions. He reports directly to CEO Charlie Vogt.
“Scott was instrumental in leading ADVA’s significant sales growth during his more than five-year tenure leading up to the ADVA/Adtran merger,” Vogt said in a statement. “DZS will benefit from Scott’s experience and 20-plus years of sales leadership knowledge and trusted relationships with service providers and channel partners across the Americas, EMEA, and ANZ, complementing the momentum we’ve created over the past two years.”
Vogt said that St. John’s hiring aligns well with recently released and differentiated 50G-ready OLT platforms, optical edge ROADM, home broadband, and cloud software solutions.
“We are active in numerous service provider optical transport, fiber access, network assurance, orchestration, and home broadband software management projects, and I’m confident that Scott will accelerate our team’s ability to convert these technology and solution trials into our next wave of growth as we progress through 2024 and enter 2025,” Vogt added.
The company said St. John will be responsible for leading global sales for DZS and will be focused on driving accelerated revenue growth across the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) regions.
Gaining traction globally with ‘broadband everywhere’
DZS said that communication service providers in these regions continue to undergo a multi-year broadband networking upgrade cycle with a shift towards open and software defined networking, supported by “broadband everywhere” initiatives led by multiple government-funded stimulus projects and private investments that are taking place globally.
The company said its enhanced broadband networking and AI-driven cloud software portfolios are “ideally suited” to address this opportunity following three years of targeted innovation and three strategic acquisitions that have created a differentiated network edge focused portfolio ready to position CSPs for services agility and future success.
DZS said it continues to gain traction with service providers in its strategic growth markets of the Americas, EMEA and ANZ, including recent wins with tier-one operators in multiple regions.
Since 2022, the company’s vision, strategy and technology initiatives have led to the introduction of award-winning and category-defining optical, access and cloud software solutions, DZS said. Complementing the company’s optical and fiber broadband focused innovation and aligned with the most demanding service provider requirements, DZS successfully acquired and integrated the core assets of ASSIA (AI-driven cloud software), RIFT (automation, orchestration and network slicing software) and Optelian (optical networking platforms).
Expertise in international sales
Calling DZS “a market disruptor” under Vogt’s leadership, St. John said he was looking forward to joining the management team and accelerating the company’s growth as it capitalizes on significant network expansion opportunities brought about by the “normalization of service provider buying patterns fueled by government broadband stimulus programs and the more than 25 large scale service providers trials underway around the world.”
“Broadband has become a utility-like service and with the maturity and acceleration of artificial intelligence changing the way CSPs automate, optimize, and analyze the performance of their networks,” St. John added. “It’s an ideal time to leverage the company’s unique position in the industry, bolstered by best-in-class optical, access and cloud software technology. DZS is poised to take market share and grow top-line revenue and I am excited to lead that charge.”
St. John has a track record over the past 25 years leading global sales teams and consistently driving revenue growth, the company said. Before joining DZS, he was chief sales officer for ADVA until the merger with Adtran, where he managed a global team of over 450 employees and increased sales to roughly €700 million per year.
Gunter Reiss will continue to serve as chief marketing officer and lead business development for DZS, the company said.
“With the momentum DZS has across the Americas, EMEA and ANZ regions, the timing of Scott joining our leadership team is ideal, allowing me to focus 100% of my time on the numerous marketing and business development initiatives underway,” Reiss said. “Scott’s expertise in successfully implementing global go-to-market strategies and deploying complex networking solutions will serve our customers and channel partners extremely well as they upgrade their communications networks.”
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