Emerging Technologies Council

Emerging Technologies Council

The Emerging Technologies Council is organized to provide an emphasis on new advances in technology at Avaya and within the Avaya Ecosystem.

Council members can gain a better understanding of Avaya’s technology direction and provide suggestions and feedback as part of the IAUG Future Needs process. “More voices on our council will give a broader aspect to our feedback to Avaya and could very well drive future directions,” says co-chairs Paul and Nick. Champions from the product management team are on the calls to hear the feedback directly. Your voice is heard.

Chairs:

	Paul Leatherman Chief Technology Officer CRI, Communication Resources Inc., With more than 30 years of experience in technologies that are the building blocks of unified communication, Paul is truly a leading technical expert in the field. At CRI he focuses on the company’s long-term technology vision and the strategy to achieve that vision. Paul is an accomplished speaker with a long history in user groups, including IAUG, IAMP, INNUA, INDUG, and the Avaya Technology Forum (ATF).
	Nick Kwiatkowski Manager, Unified Communication, Adj. Professor Michigan State University Nick Kwiatkowski is the manager of the Unified Communications team at Michigan State University where he manages the phones, cable television, fiber optics, cellular and 2-way radio systems on campus. Nick is also an Adjunct Professor in the Media and Information department within the College of Communication Arts and Sciences where he teaches Data Communications, Networking, Cloud Computing and Network Security. Nick is a frequent presenter at many larger telecom related conferences including IAUG and AHECTA. Nick is a volunteer at the MEAC at IAUG as well as one of the founders of the Feature Request service.
Avaya Champion:
	Kirk Jones Director Product Management UC Applications Avaya Kirk is a highly enthusiastic and motivated technical professional who is driven by customer successes. Currently responsible for the full Avaya UC enterprise application portfolio including Aura, IX Meetings ( Equinox Conferencing ), AADS and Media Server. Proven to be an imaginative problem solver with ability to achieve positive results through innovative, forward thinking, determination and attention to detail. With over two decades of development, new product introduction, hands on deployments, architecture, and recovery experience offers a deep technical understanding for the enterprise market. A customer advocate that is not afraid to go against the grain and earn trusted advisor status to enable digital business transformations in the UC ecosystems for enterprise customers from small to global enterprise organizations. Customers business success is the top priority in every action or conversation.