Swapna Bapat, director, systems engineering, Brocade, has a track record in conceptualising, developing and deploying products and solutions in service provider and enterprise markets, having notched up 16 years of experience in the networking industry. She joined Brocade in end-2014, and currently heads its technical sales team for India and SAARC. Based in Bengaluru, she is responsible for leading the company’s technical developments in the data centre and software defined networking (SDN) space, as well as developing best practices and excellence for systems engineering.

Prior to joining Brocade, Bapat worked with Cisco India, where she was responsible for charting its go-to-market strategy for its enterprise networking portfolio. She has also had stints with ALU, Ciena and Juniper Networks.

A technology veteran, Bapat says that solving problems and helping customers grow their business is her forte. “I enjoy identifying problem areas for my customers where SDN is a perfect fit for not only solving problems but also reducing opex and the time-to-market.”

Bapat believes that the New IP is changing how consumers consume IT and how enterprises and service providers deliver it. “There is a huge disruption in the enterprise and the service provider markets. As a telecom professional, I need to ensure that I introduce and integrate disruptive technologies to facilitate the New IP,” says Bapat, who holds a patent on IP VPNs. Besides, she sees a big focus on analytics, an enhanced social experience, a huge proliferation of mobile devices and the adoption of hybrid cloud as the key telecom trends going forward.

Bapat holds a master’s degree in computer science from UMass Lowell, and believes that her education, along with her experience and the ability to connect with people, are her key strengths. She also sees her team as her biggest strength. “I always prefer staying in the background and letting my people grow. My management style focuses on mentoring and being a guide.”