Meet the Team

VPLS is more than just a colocation and network services company. We are a collaborative group of highly-skilled, motivated team members who bring value, experience, and know-how to every client we serve. At VPLS, we make choosing the best people a priority. Our team members define who we are as a company and how well we can provide our clients with the best service on the market today.

From leadership roles to technical ones, and everything in between, our team is growing. VPLS continues to evolve current positions to meet market demand and create new ones when needed. We are a growing company with over 20 years of experience in cloud-to-edge solutions. Our reach is global, and so is our team. We have staff located all around the world, covering many markets, languages, and service needs.  

Leadership

Our leadership team comprises a group of fantastic people who uphold our core values and goals and then exceeds them. They are more than just faces behind a world-class business. VPLS has a group of leaders who exemplify hard work, dynamic thinking, and innovative strategies to ensure success at every level. Meet our leadership team!

Arman-Khalili-CEO
Arman Khalili

Chief Executive Officer

Derek Garnier

President & Chief Operating Officer

Ted-Mektrakarn-Founder-CDO
Ted Mektrakarn​

Chief Digital Officer

Mo Arab
Mohamed Arab​

VP, Cloud & Managed Services 

Ed-Buck-VP
Ed Buck

VP, Technology & Service Delivery

Jay Smith
Jay Smith

VP & GM of Data Centers

Savi-Singh-Director
Savi Singh

VP of Finance, Accounting, and HR

Ricky Zheng
Ricky Zheng

VP & General Manager, Hawaii and Pacific Islands

Renée Lawrence

VP, Global Marketing

Steve Rubin

VP of Network Engineering

Mark Hassman

VP of Systems

Betty-Kao-HR
Betty Kao

HR Operations Manager

Our Current Team Members

Our current team is strong, diverse, and growing by the day. From colocation experts to engineers, sales, and technicians, they get the job done impeccably. VPLS has an expansive network of server locations and client locations and therefore needs an expansive group of individuals to meet these needs. Not just anyone can provide the service and efficiency we rely on to provide the best for our clients.

VPLS actively searches for potential team members who will create maximum value, learn, grow their skills, and ultimately grow within the company. Meet our current team at VPLS!

Aaron Artea
Aaron Artea

System Administrator

Air-Pakdeeburee-Web
Air Pakdeeburee

Web Designer

Al Legal Counsel
Albert Asatoorian

Inhouse Counsel

Alexander Lee
Alexander Lee

Associate Engineer for Support Desk

Alika Stricker
Alika Stricker

Associate Engineer for Support Desk

Anthika-Bhincharern-Ops
Anthika Bhincharern

Operations Manager

Antonio-Toscano-DC
Antonio Toscano

Data Center Tech

Bao Nguyen
Bao Nguyen

Network Engineer

Behnam Ghasemiyeganeh

Network Engineer

Betty-Konadu-DC
Betty Konadu

Data Center Tech

Bon Sittichareontham

NOC Technician

Bryan Sagayaga
Bryan Sagayaga

Field Engineer

Chad Worawong

Senior Systems Engineer

Chai Muangsong
Chai Muangsung

Web Developer

Charles Jenness 200x200
Charles Jenness

Network Engineer

Christo Taylor
Christo Taylor

Office Administrator

Christopher Aldana
Christopher Ortiz Aldana

Data Center Technician

Chris-Murillo-DC
Christopher Murillo

Senior NOC Technician

Christopher Otamias

Sales Operations Manager

Claudiu Gheorghe
Claudiu Gheorghe

Systems Engineer

Daniel-Seah-Sales
Daniel Seah

IT Solutions Manager

Davica Tauta
Davicia Tautai

Associate Engineer for Support Desk

David-Ashworth-Sales
David Ashworth

Director of Operations, Plano

Derrick Hofmann

Vice President, Business Development SV3

Diego-De-Alba-DC
Diego de Alba

Data Center Manager, LA2

Donald
Donald Lucero

Network Technician

Edwardo Novoa

Data Center Technician

El-Dkhissi-DC
El Dkhissi

Data Center Manager, DC1

Eric Rodriguez

Sales Representative – Microsoft Solutions

Fight-Dounghirun-IT
Fight Dounghirun

Assistant SE Manager

Game-Paythaisong-NOC
Game Paythaisong

Associate Systems Engineer

Garret Wong
Garrett Wong

Director of Services

Guide-Thaidumrongdej-NOC
Guide Thaidumrongdej

NOC Analyst

Ice-Prungmuang-IT
Ice Prungmuang

Linux Systems Engineer

Isaiah
Isaiah Venegas

Data Center Technician

Jang Lee
Jang Lee

Help Desk Lead

Janet Salas
Janet Salas

HECO Help Desk Technician

Jeffre Valle 200x200
Jeffrey Valle

Customer Support Center Representative

Jennifer Macneil
Jennifer Macneil

Inside Sales

Jermanine Morris
Jermaine Morris

Infrastructure Technician I

Jessica Wolfe

Data Center Technician

Joshua Horiuchi
Joshua Horiuchi

Infrastructure Engineer

Jose Vasquez
Jose Vazquez

Staff Accountant

Julian Kiang

Associate Systems Engineer

Junteng-Tan-IT
Junteng Tan

Systems Administrator

Kaina Lingaton
Kaina Lingaton

Senior Engineer

Kan-Andelin-Ops
Kan Andelin

Senior Sales Support Administrator

Kawika Miller
Kawika Miller

HECO Help Desk Technician

Ket-Sangwanna-IT
Ket Sangwanna

Network Engineer

Kevin-Tsai-Ops
Kevin Tsai

Order-to-Cash Manager

Kimmie-Nguyen-Accounting
Kimmie Nguyen

Billing Administrator

Kristine Ostrea
Kristine Ostrea

Associate Systems Engineer

Kung-Janfak
Kung Janfak

Senior NOC Technician

Liu Vongsupap

Accounts Payable

Lucian System Engineer
Lucian Hule

Systems Engineer

Mark-Mayeda-Sales
Mark Mayeda

Sales Director

Marwan Nassar

Account Executive

Matt S
Matt Schryver

Director of Business Development

Mike-Smiley-DC
Mike Smiley

Director of Operations, SV7

Miraj Sharma
Miraj Sharma

Controller

Mohammed
Mohammed Abdulrazzaq

Data Center Technician

Mohsin
Mohsin Bukhari

Data Center Technician

Mond-Pengpipat-Web
Mond Pengpipat

Web Manager

Monica-Hsu-Sales
Monica Hsu

Business Development Manager

Mon-Teeranuntachai-Support
Mon Teeranuntachai

Support Supervisor

Natwar-Darak-IT
Natwar Darak

Senior Network Engineer

Nut Charoennet
Nut Charoennet

NOC Analyst

Oat Pornananrat
Oat Pornananrat

NOC Analyst

Ohae-Radchalee-Accounting
Ohae Radchalee

Billing Analyst

Pae-Junphan-Accounting
Pae Junphan

Billing Analyst

Panja-Khuanjanthuk-Ops
Panja Khuanjanthuk

Renewals Manager

Parn-Jittarom-IT
Parn Jittarom

System Engineer

Phillip Mueller
Phillip Mueller

Network Engineer

Pui Paha
Pui Paha

Lead Web Developer

Ramiro-Rios-IT
Ramiro Rios

Associate Systems Engineer I

Richard Rodriguez
Ricardo Rodriguez

Lead Site Technician at Chappaqua, NY

Rick Hernandez

Network & System Service Manager

Robert Peden
Robert Peden

Associate Systems Engineer I

Ronald Yu
Ronald Yu

Infrastructure Engineer

Rowena Condez
Rowena Woltz

Customer Support Center Representative

Saravanan-Sadasivam-IT
Saravanan Sadasivam

DevOps Engineer

Satang-Thongkamsopa-NOC
Satang Thongkamsopa

NOC Analyst

Sina Fallahi
Sina Fallahi

Chief Facility Engineer

Sophal Ly
Sophal Ly

Associate Systems Engineer

Sun Cho
Sun Cho

Project Manager

Ta-Kongnawang-NOC
Ta Kongnawang

Senior NOC Technician

Tab Vongpratum
Tab Vongpratum

Support Supervisor

Tay-Roongrawiwan-IT
Tay Roongrawiwan

Project Manager

Thanachai Dangha
Thanachai Dangha

Maintenance & Repair

Toh-Chainarong-Support
Toh Chainarong

Support Manager

Tom-Arakelian-IT
Tom Arakelian

Senior Systems Engineer

Tong-Khemleg-Support
Tong Khemleg

Support Supervisor

Tosh-Kittikeyrechaikun-IT
Tosh Kittikeyrechaikun

Senior Network Engineer

Tyron Williams
Tyron Williams

Data Center Technician

Victor-Yu-IT
Victor Yu

Cloud and Systems Engineering Manager

Vijjayano Wower
Vijjayano Wower

HECO Help Desk Technician

Vince-Tran-DC
Vince Tran

Senior Infrastructure Engineer

Walter-Pronozuk-Sales
Walter Pronozuk

Business Development Manager

Walter Mendez
Walter Mendez

Data Center Technician

Wilai Sohheng
Wilai Sohheng

Maintenance and Repair

William Johnson
William Johnson

Junior Network Engineer

Wind Kruyysawast
Wind Kruaysawast

NOC Analyst

Winnie-Sung-Accounting
Winnie Sung

Accounting Manager

Our Core Values at VPLS

VPLS is a company that believes strongly in core values and how each and every member of our team embodies them. Our core values at VPLS help to guide everything that we do as an organization. These values include integrity, dedication, clear communication, and adaptability. The integrity, dedication, and commitment of our employees are crucial to VPLS because these core values inform everything we do.

Cloud Shirt Banner 1200x629

Best-in-Class Customer Support for Colocation and Network Services

Whether you’re looking for colocation at scale, or any of our managed network services, VPLS has you covered. We are the best-in-class when it comes to customer support, thanks to our team. When you work with VPLS, you’re not just working with a company. You’re working with a robust team of talented individuals who will support your needs 100%. We’ve been doing it for almost 25 years now, and we have no plans on slowing down.

Join our team, and come see how we do this, and how we can help you succeed in your next venture. We would love for you to meet everyone who helps make VPLS so successful and become part of that success yourself!

Learn more about the VPLS team, colocation services, network services, and everything we offer by following this link here. You can also write to us at [email protected], or call us at (888) 365-2656!

Scroll to Top
Close

Arman Khalili is the CEO of VPLS/Evocative and brings with him over 25 years of experience in Internet Infrastructure industry.

Prior to joining the company, Arman served as a Principal at Industry Capital a real assets based private equity firm in San Francisco. He was the founder and CEO of CentralColo also known as Element Critical. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Black Lotus, a leader in DDoS mitigation company, which was acquired by Level 3, and was the Founder/CEO of UnitedLayer, the largest privately held colocation provider in San Francisco. He was the founder of Sirius – one of the first ISPs in Silicon Valley, as well as the Co-founder and CTO of MusicBank, the first music subscription company. He has held numerous senior consulting positions at Level3, AT&T and Apple Computers.

Close

Derek Garnier is a 30-year industry veteran in digital infrastructure, specializing in corporate strategy, and has successfully built, operated, and sold companies.

He was most recently co-founder of Arcadian Infracom, a long-haul fiber optic company operating in the Southwest. Prior to Arcadian, Derek served as President and COO of Evocative Datacenters, the predecessor to VPLS, which he again joins as President and COO.

Derek also served as the CEO of Layer42 Networks, a national network services and colocation provider, which he successfully exited in 2015 through a sale to Wave Broadband. Post-acquisition, Derek continued as Wave’s SVP of Datacenter services. Before his tenure at Layer42 Networks, Derek held management positions at QTS Datacenters and AboveNet Communications through the acquisition of Sitesmith, a global managed services provider of which he was an early employee. Derek began his career as an engineer, serving in the rolefor network and data center provider ISI, later renamed Global Crossing via multiple acquisitions, as well as at network companies MFS Datanet and Cabletron Systems.

Close

As Chief Architect & Senior Advisor, Ted Mektrakarn brings over 15 years of experiences in technology development and management. Ted is responsible for the company’s vision, strategic direction, and operational management. Ted carries significant multi-industry knowledge and experience, advancing high-growth technology startups and industry-leading Fortune 500 companies alike. He is known for his ability to take promising technologies and organizations to the next level.

Ted’s experience in the industry includes past positions with companies like Brocade Communications thru the acquisition of Foundry Networks, Vivendi Universals – MP3.com and AT&T CERFnet. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the largest Internet exchange system, Coresite’s Any2 Network Exchange.

Close

Mohamed Arab serves as the company’s Vice President of Cloud and Managed Services. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, operational management, and technical product innovation. Prior to joining VPLS, Mohamed served as VP of Technology for Hivelocity and Chief Technology Officer for Rack Alley LLC, which he founded, grew, and divested in 2017. He holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering and brings to VPLS decades of experience in the area of Internet technologies specifically design, security, support, and sales. 

Mohamed is fluent in three languages and, in his spare time, he enjoys cycling, sailing, and a good ebook.

Close

Edward Buck is the Vice President of Technology and Service delivery at VPLS. Ed’s executive responsibility includes the design, delivery, maintenance, operations and support of all Evocative services. Prior to joining VPLS, Ed was a VP at UnitedLayer, a San Francisco based Colocation and Hosting Company.

Ed also founded ASPextra in 2003, a company focused on providing scalable and highly available managed hosting solutions. At ASPextra, Ed built a network and service delivery internet infrastructure compromising of multiple, geographically dispersed data centers serving clients in the US, Europe and Asia.

Ed is a regular contributor to a number of open source projects. He received his B.A. from Pomona College.

Close

A pioneer in data center infrastructure development, VPLS is proud to have Jay Smith as the company’s Vice President & GM of Data Centers. Jay has over 20 years of experience in telecommunication and data center management including deep knowledge of voice and data communication, fiber optic connectivity, data center design, colocation, managed services and related technologies.

Prior to joining VPLS, Jay was the co-founder of Cyberverse. Established in 1994, Jay’s leadership over the past 25 years enabled Cyberverse to earn the reputation as one of the most trusted Internet infrastructure services companies in the industry.

Today, Jay is responsible for all VPLS data centers operations across the United States and consults with clients on determining the most appropriate combination of physical data center locations and customized infrastructure solutions to meet their specific needs.

Close

Savi Singh has over 10 years of experience in accounting, with five years of experience in the data center and telecommunications industry. He has successfully led financial and accounting operations through numerous acquisitions.

Savi started his career as a Tax Specialist and then broadened his professional expertise by moving into a corporate and startup sector. Prior to joining Evocative, Savi served as a Revenue Manager of 365 Data Centers.

In his free time, he enjoys photography and hiking with his dog.

Close

Ricky Zheng is the Vice President and General Manager for VPLS operations in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Ricky brings over 20 years of experience delivering technology solutions to the Commercial, State, Local, and Federal government sectors in Hawaii and US affiliated territories located throughout the Pacific region. 

Prior to joining VPLS, Ricky founded ZR Systems Group LLC in 2006, a Hawaii based company focused on providing Managed IT Services, Colocation & Cloud solutions, Equipment Sales, and Consulting services. During that tenure, ZR Systems was placed three times on the Pacific Business News’ Fastest 50 Growing Companies list and consistently placed in the Top 5 in IT Services Firms and Cloud Provider rankings. 

Ricky has a BBA in Management Information Systems and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. When he’s not at work or with his family, Ricky enjoys working with local non-profit and public service organizations to stay involved in the community.

Close

Renée Lawrence is responsible for VPLS’s global marketing organization, brand strategy, corporate communications, product marketing, field and partner marketing, and insights and analytics. Renée is a technology executive with extensive experience in data center operations, IT infrastructure technologies, managed services, product lifecycle management, and global channel development.

Prior to joining VPLS, Renée held senior marketing, product management, operations and global alliance roles with GlobalCenter, Exodus Communications, Savvis (now Lumen), EMC Corporation, and VCE. Renée has an MBA from the University of San Diego, a BA from the University of California, San Diego, and studied Strategic Marketing Management at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Close

Steve Rubin is a 30+ year industry veteran and is the VP of Networks at VPLS. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the company’s global network, ranging from the core backbone between data centers and markets to customer premise network access and the hardware and software that powers these connections. In addition, Steve manages the Security team, ensuring secure data transmission from customers and along the VPLS backbone.

Prior to VPLS, Steve managed the network engineering team at Crowdstrike, implementing and managing their global fiber, optical, and IP backbone. Previously, he was the co-founder, CEO and CTO of Layer42 Networks, which was successfully sold to Wave Broadband in 2015. Earlier in his career, Steve assisted many companies from inception including Napster, AboveNet Communications, Exodus Communications, Global Center, Aimnet, and Netcom. He is an active participant with many of the network groups shaping today’s Internet service offerings.

Close

Mark’s background includes 25 years of Internet technology companies and services. He’s an accomplished Internet visionary with unique full-stack experience. His expertise spans content distribution, social media, video, and infrastructure services. He has held leadership positions at SmudgeLab, Interactive Television Networks, BroadShift, New Frontier Media, SiteSmith, DIGEX, and PactAnt. He’s an avid skier and perpetual builder of new things.

Close

Betty brings over 30 years of experience in corporate operations, accounting, sales, and human resources to her role as HR Operations Manager at VPLS. Prior to joining VPLS in 2018, Betty oversaw operations for a large Asian food importer on the West Coast. In that role, she was responsible for warehouse management and HR while also serving as the corporate liaison with the FDA. In her earlier career, Betty started the US branch for an Asian automobile parts exporter. She oversaw daily operations and also successfully expanded the business across all US regions.

Betty studied music in college with a major in piano. In her spare time, she volunteers at the local senior center, where she plays piano for the residents. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and trying out new restaurants.