Nick A.

Popa
4922 Lake Valencia Blvd. West
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
Phone: (727) 785-3131
Blackberry: (727) 480-1419
Email: np61e3d0@westpost.net
website: http://www.nickpopa.com (Downloadable MS Word Resume)
Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpopa

A Senior Sales Engineer, with the unique ability for translating complex technic
al data into customer centric solutions, easy to understand.
Recognized as a hands-on resource for streamlining processes, developing tools t
o enhance customer service, training and mentoring while providing exceptional p
re-sales and post-sales support, I am a strong advocate of superior customer ser
vice and adept in presenting high level, technical presentations to internal and
external customers.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Sr. Sales Engineer, Verizon, 2005 to 2009. Verizon is a worldwide leader in Tele
communications offering data and voice services. My Sales Engineer transition t
o Verizon was a result of Verizon/MCI merger, becoming part of the newly formed
division, Verizon Partner Solutions, traditional Verizon and MCI (Verizon Busine
ss) products such as IP, MPLS, Ethernet, ISP, Frame Relay, ATM, DWDM, SONET, DS3
, DS1, Voice T1, Voice ISDN PRI, VoIP and SIP Gateway.
* Secured new business with superior customer service. Saved a 100M Ethernet In
ternet access circuit for a new client after unresolved four month implementatio
n delay. Research unveiled supporting equipment not available, contradicting cap
acity check. Worked around normal processes, initiating installation, ensuring
client satisfaction thus securing $20K month in new order for same client.
* Rescued major Ethernet account. Took over key account, frustrated with lack of
support and dwindling sales. A face to face with customer identified their need
s. Designed, proposed and implemented plan successfully turning around customer.
Re-gained customer confidence, becoming preferred vendor and increasing revenue
$150K+/month
* Identified a new market. Customers requesting high bandwidth, low latency req
uirements circuits, not covered by SLA. Working outside normal channels, got ci
rcuits installed. Research found end users to be financial institutions performi
ng online stock trades and milliseconds impacted prices. Research of other team
s found increasing demand for this. Presented business case to Product Marketin
g establishing new market.
Sr. Technical Consultant, MCI, 2002 to 2005. MCI was a world leader in Long Dist
ance Voice and Data Services possessing largest fiber worldwide network and worl
d's largest Internet Provider. My transition to MCI was a result of WorldCom/In
termedia merger supporting the IP, MPLS, Ethernet, ISP, Frame Relay, ATM, DWDM,
SONET, DS3, DS1, Voice T1, Voice ISDN PRI, VoIP and SIP Gateway products. The n
ame changed to MCI post-merger.
* Rescued a key account in cell technology by resolving outages of "their" sold
services that utilized MCI to Asian cell providers, disabling roaming for their
users. Using Visio diagrams, proposed solutions were presented to ours and their
customer. Customer implemented redesigned redundancy concepts, minimized dual
outages.
* Created cohesion between sales and technical staff. Sales Teams complaining ab
out losing business due to late and incorrect quotes for MCI/Verizon Ethernet Se
rvices and unclear Sales Engineering policy resulted in no help. After hours, I
developed a pricing guide and trained Sales Teams, decreasing quote turn around
.
* Became subject matter expert for Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM Products and Inter
national Services.
* Created and led several technical sales, product and technology training sessi
ons to Account Teams
Sr. Sales Engineer, Intermedia Communications, 1999 to 2002. Intermedia was USA'
s largest CLEC and owned the third largest Frame Relay and ATM public network.
Owned large market share due to creative use of NNI's to every LATA's LEC greatl
y reducing costs and prices. Joining the ILEC group, I supported the "Bell Comp
anies", extending their reach to "Out of Franchise" and Intra-LATA locations whi
le adhering to divestiture laws.
* Volunteered to develop comprehensive order processes for key accounts, Bell At
lantic (Verizon) and Qwest that worked for both customers and our systems.
* Becoming the mentor and team lead Sales Engineer for the Bell Atlantic team, I
grew the group to six Sales Engineers placed in the major market cities of Bell
Atlantic.
* Working closely with the Account Managers, developed a new relationship with t
he Wholesale arm of Bell Atlantic and built many more NNI's to their internal ne
twork preparing for new law allowing them to build their own network "Out of Fra
nchise" and Intra-LATA barriers deepening our relationship.
* Received President's "Circle of Excellence Award" and singled out for "Top Ban
ana" award for Highest Achievement by any Sales Support Person in the company.
Sr. Systems Engineer, Ascom Timeplex, Inc., 1990 to 1999. Timeplex manufactured
telecommunications equipment. My position, uniquely created for me, was to pro
vide multifaceted technical support for Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support.
At times, I worked with Engineering and Field Service organizations as a Produc
t Specialist of our Packet and Router products on site for emergency situations.
* Won $20M contract for 500 branch bank network. Pressured by Cisco selling pre-
released routers, I proposed a scaled network demo of resiliency to bank managem
ent. Network test, documentation and diagrams of scenarios, resolved bank concer
ns, resulting in a signed contract the next day. Each company presented Excelle
nce & Outstanding Achievement Award for dedication and ongoing support.
* Successfully resolved complete outage of an Albany, NY, bank 125 sites network
by troubleshooting complex system issues bringing network online within three h
ours. Redesigned network and configurations for optimal performance and document
ed all configurations.
* Selected to provide Consulting Services to Telecom Soluciones S. A. in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, Embratel in Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo, Brazil, BanCafe in Bog
ota, Columbia and British Telecom in Manchester, England on packet network conce
pts, design, implementation, troubleshooting and maintaining networks.
* Received Award for Outstanding Technical Support for key account, Kaiser Perma
nente.
* Selected to join new "core technical expertise" group relocating from San Mate
o, CA to Clearwater, FL in 1994.
* Awarded Sales & System Support "Systems Engineer of the Quarter."
Sr. Systems Engineer, Telenet Communications., 1988 to 1990. Telenet was a US S
print Company offering Packet Switched Public Data Network Services. It offered
asynchronous dial in access and direct X.25 connections and sold its own brand
of switches and concentrators for enterprise solutions with access to the networ
k.
* Requested by Apple Computers to be assigned to their account.
* Designed and sold hardware and network to key account, Apple Computers, result
ing in corporate endorsements for our services.
* Often called for, even while out of town, by Apple to provide X.25 expertise o
n non-Telenet services. Once even to assist our competitor Timeplex with config
uration issues.
* Supported multiple key accounts such as Tandem Computers, Hewlett-Packard, and
Sun Microsystems.
Network Technical Specialist, CompuServe Network Services, 1978-1987. Besides t
he CompuServe Home Access Services most people are familiar with, CompuServe als
o offered Packet Switched Public Data Network Services with dial-in asynchronous
access and direct X.25 connections.
Starting with CompuServe while it was very young, my career advanced over time.
Following is a list of positions I held.
* Lab Technician - Columbus, OH 1978-1981.
- - Became very proficient at building and repairing our custom designed PC
boards for our D.E.C. PDP11/35 and LSI 11/23 based Communication Nodes.
* Field Service Technician - Los Angeles, CA. 1982 - 1983.
- - Successfully installed company's first X.25 PAD CPE customer without any
idea what it was at the time.
- - Grew the area from 17 POPs to over 150 POPs.
- - President's Award 1982 - Only non-sales person ever selected. Honored f
or assisting Sales team at Mining Congress Trade Show
* Western Area Manager Field Service - Los Angeles, CA: 1983 - 1985
- - Rented properties in Irvine, and Santa Clara, creating and designing our
first two major network hubs in the Western US.
- - Recruited new techs from local schools such as ITT Tech and DeVry increa
sing group from one to seven.
- - Spotlight 1983, 1984 Winner for outstanding achievements
* Network Technical Specialist - Los Angeles, CA & San Francisco, CA. 1985 - 19
87
- - Played significant role in establishing the relationships and processes
for supporting VISA and AMEX, our first and largest Point of Sale customers.
- - Established X.25 services for many large, high profile customers such as
Apple Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Tandem Computers
- - Spotlight 1985 Winner for outstanding achievements.