Cisco has picked up Jonathan Davidson as its new VP and GM of service provider networking, rejoining the vendor less than a week after he left rival Juniper Networks.
Davidson will report to Yvette Kanouff, SVP and GM of Cisco’s service provider business unit, who said in a blog post that the company had been in discussion with him for months.
“We couldn’t be more excited that Jonathan joins our journey as we usher in the next generation of networking and network automation innovation,” Kanouff said. “He brings extensive experience in strategy and network engineering leadership as well as strong customer relationships that will serve us well."
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During his tenure at Juniper, Davidson served as EVP and GM of development and innovation. Earlier, as Juniper’s SVP/GM for Juniper’s security, switching and solutions unit, he drove strategy, development and business growth for Juniper’s portfolio—including networking solutions, routing, switching, data center, cloud, and security.
Cisco is not unfamiliar territory for Davidson.
Before coming to Juniper, Davidson spent nearly a decade at Cisco, holding a number of leadership positions at the routing vendor.
In his fist sting with Cisco, Davidson developed service provider solutions and leading the enterprise routing product management and service provider services team.
It appears that Davidson is not the only former Cisco executive to return to the fold.
In November Roland Acra rejoined the vendor as a SVP and GM for its data center business. This was Acra’s third stint with the company since 1991, having held several general management and executive leadership positions at Cisco from 1991 to 2003.
Arca first returned to Cisco in 2010 as VP of its Smart Grid Business unit, following the acquisition of Arch Rock, a developer of IPv6-based wireless sensor networks where he served as President and CEO. Before Arch Rock, Arca served as the President and CEO of Procket Networks.