Reporting from Vancouver: an interview with Avaya's program manager for the Olympics
In our final Olympic post, I thought it would be interesting to do an interview with Chris Gadsby, Avaya's program manager for the Olympics. In that role, Chris was integral for the successful deployment of Avaya's equipment throughout the Vancouver area, and I hope this interview gives a behind the scene view for the demanding work that the team was completing day in and day out during the Olympic Games.
Thanks to Chris for his time and insight.
- Chris, what is your role for the Olympics? What has it been like working on the Olympic Games in Vancouver?
I am Avaya's program manager for the Olympics. My role is to ensure that our Olympic contracts are fulfilled successfully and to the mutual benefit of our customers and Avaya. I have been delighted to work on the Olympics - truly a career highlight. I live in Calgary Canada and was there for the 1988 Olympics and love to ski so the Winter Olympics have a special appeal.
- How long have you been working on this project?
I have been working on the project for about 2.5 years. At the time I was working on an internal project and I was asked whether I would be interested in a "customer facing project" with no specifics being offered. I said yes and was then told it was the 2010 Winter Olympics - I was very surprised and flattered.
- Can you walk us through a typical' day for you during the Olympics?
During the Games period we are focused on network performance. We have a team of product experts working here in Vancouver with our Olympic partners and we start the day early reviewing reports of network performance. We then meet with the extended support team to discuss and manage any items requiring follow up actions and monitoring.
- What have you learned from your experience working on this project?
In real estate they talk about the 3 most important things being "Location, Location, Location" ... In project management it is "Communicate, Communicate, Communicate".
- Avaya has been working with several other sponsors/suppliers of the Olympics and Paralympic, such as Bell, VANOC and Atos Origin. Can you walk us through how these collaborations have worked in practice?
The Avaya equipment was used by Bell, VANOC and Atos Origin to provide various services to the Olympics and they are Avaya's key stakeholders. Traditionally the Olympic Games would be served by several separate networks - the Avaya solution is based on a converged network design whereby all traffic is travelling on a single purpose-built network. This has made close cooperation an absolute requirement. We have collectively adopted a "one team" approach to ensure success. We share the goal of delivering a flawless technology solution and have been very successful in working together.
- Chris, thanks so much for some of your valuable time, very much appreciated. Great work in Vancouver.
In conclusion, Avaya is very proud of our role as the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver for both the completed Winter Olympics and our continued support for the Paralympic Games, which will run between March 12-21.
Posted 9 Mar 2010 at 08:39 PM