Nominee’s bio (or LinkedIn profile link)

I am a product development engineer working at the AT&T Foundry.  For the past 15 years I have been a Systems Software Engineer and Developer, typically for Internet Service Providers.  In 2000 I started working with Linux based computing and networking technology, having integrated it and other open source solutions into small and large networks.  Early on in my career I found that being a go-between and integrator for the systems administration, networking, and software development areas of engineering was a needed role. Filling that role has helped smooth out the development life cycle and production deployments and the typical misunderstandings that happened between these groups. Given the rise of DevOps and SDN, there has been need for bringing these traditionally separate engineering roles together.

LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-jeanneret-b1040a4

How long have been working in the CORD community?

I started working with CORD in early 2016.  The past year I have been working on VOLTHA and SEBA specifically.

What contributions have you made in the past to the CORD community?

AT&T Foundry in Atlanta has hosted 2 plugfests for various partners and vendors using PON technologies running in the CORD POD.  This past year the I have picked up working with the VOLTHA community on OpenOLT and OpenOMCI improvements, and overall durability and stability.  We help facilitate deployments into a Central Office environment to run trials and get feedback from operations.  Also in our lab we run a variety of network hardware and gateways that we can develop and test against.

What are you actively working on in CORD?

Currently I’m working on the reference implementation of the OpenOMCI ONU adapter for VOLTHA.  I am also working on the OSS provisioning model integration and testing for the SEBA POD (which includes VOLTHA and CORD components). I am also testing the Kubernetes development and cluster environments for our next trial deployments.

Why do you feel you would be a good candidate for this position?

During my career I have been involved in engineering and running open source / open protocol solutions in various networks. These components and protocols promote choice and greater engineering flexibility and takes out much of the opaqueness of closed solutions.  Fostering this growth is important as it encourages new changes and innovation.  At the same time there must be stability, durability, and trust in these approaches. These aren't necessarily in opposition, but work is required to have the needed simplicity. I will continue to work bring simple, durable, and open components to the solutions developed.

Are there any changes you would like to bring to the community if elected into this position?

I believe work needs to be done with regards to simplicity of configuration, durability of the software, and consistent deployments. In many ways, projects like CORD are the first time many Network Engineers are introduced to truly flow (OpenFlow, P4 or otherwise) based SDN and NFV. Having software that is easy to set-up, use, and perform simple tasks builds faith and trust that these new approaches are viable long term.