Kevin Bloch
Just over a week after leaving Cisco, former CTO Kevin Bloch has scored one of his first consulting roles, joining a new committee at FirstWave Cloud Technology.
The 20-year Cisco veteran has joined the security company’s newly-formed technology and markets board committee (TMC).
The committee, which includes chairman John Grant, will serve as a group of external advisers on opportunities for FirstWave’s cloud content security platform (CCSP) both locally and internationally.
Former Data#3 CEO Grant, who joined FirstWave’s board last year, called the appointment a “coup” for the publicly listed company.
“There are few in Australia whose skills, experience and reputation are so appropriately matched to FirstWave’s opportunity,” he said.
“Kevin’s unequivocal focus on doing only the things that drive commercial outcomes impressed both the board and the executive team.”
Grant also noted that the appointment would “positively impact” FirstWave’s OEM relationship with Cisco, although he expected Bloch’s impact to be felt “across the whole business”.
Bloch, a well-known figure on the A/NZ conference circuit, announced his departure from Cisco on 20 July as he launched his consultancy Bloch Advisory.
He first joined Cisco in 1999 to create its telecommunications service provider franchise and later was promoted to lead its regional engineering practice across the vendor’s entire portfolio. For the past 12 years, he has acted as the company’s CTO for A/NZ.
“I am delighted to join FirstWave in one of my first engagements in my new technology advisory firm,” Bloch added. “Why Firstwave? Australian, locally developed intellectual property aiming global, in cyber with a great team and outstanding chairman.”
