Mayer's Next Move
Bethany Mayer, who for almost three years oversaw Hewlett-Packard's $2.5 billion networking division, is taking on a new challenge at the technology giant.
In February, Mayer was tapped to lead a brand-new business division within HP, dedicated entirely to Network Functions Virtualization, or NFV. A close relative of software-defined networking, NFV refers to the virtualization of Layer 4-7 network functions, such as firewalls and load balancing, and is targeted largely at the carrier or service provider market. In a recent interview with CRN, Mayer shed more light on HP's NFV push, how the NFV unit fits into HP's broader cloud strategy, and how that strategy differs from competitors such as Cisco. Here's a glimpse into that conversation.