Gartner Expert
Neil Rickard
VP Analyst
Neil Rickard is a Vice President in Gartner Research. Mr. Rickard provides coverage of networking issues to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He focuses on WAN technologies, equipment and vendors, as well as data-oriented carrier services. His coverage includes hybrid WANs, SD-WAN, enterprise vCPE, SDN and NFV services, IP VPNs, MPLS, Ethernet WAN services and application-fluent networking, as well as voice-data convergence and network sourcing.
Previous experience
Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Rickard was responsible for business development with service provider customers at Cisco Systems. His previous experience in the networking industry has included technical and marketing roles with StrataCom, Nortel, Timeplex and Marconi. Overall he has more than 20 years of networking industry experience.
Professional background
Cisco Systems
Marketing Manager
StrataCom
Marketing Manager
Nortel
Product Marketing Manager
Areas of coverage
Cloud and Edge Infrastructure
Education
B.S., Physics, Nottingham University, Honors
Top Issues That I Help Clients Address
1Network service provider vendor selection
2Network service provider contract negotiation
3Network WAN equip. vendor selection (e.g., SD-WAN, WAN optimization gear)
4Develop network architecture and strategies
5Develop network sourcing strategies