Nikos Anerousis

I joined IBM Research in 2003 as a member of the research staff and I am currently head of the service engineering research department. My current work at IBM Research focuses on applying engineering principles to the design, management and optimization of services, with applications across the entire portfolio of IBM's services business.


Mission and Focus

Our department has a collective background in mathematics and statistical analysis, data-mining and stream processing, network and service engineering, performance analysis and optimization, distributed/cloud computing and grids. We apply our collective expertise to create innovative solutions that span the entire spectrum of the services economy.

Our work in the past included projects on social networking algorithms and collaborative tools for the workplace, business process engineering and transformation, statistical analysis to drive service quality, productivy and risk optimization, applying the lean sigma methodology in the services ecosystem, knowledge management and reuse. We blend a wide range of established and emerging technologies, spanning information processing, Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), Web 2.0 and enterprise mashups.

Our mission is to apply innovation to difficult engineering and business problems, to create new opportunities and reduce cost wherever possible. I regard our work as transformational: challenging the current practices (and even best practices) and introducing a strategic blend of technology and process re-engineering to achieve our goals. We have a growing extended team, which includes strong collaborations with the IBM Research center in Bangalore, India, and many partners across the IBM Global Services organization.


Past work at IBM

Between 2003 and 2005 I worked on large-scale application middleware with particular focus on continuous availability, on-demand resource allocation, event-based systems, high-performance messaging and IT health management. This work was included in IBM's Websphere Extended Deployment (XD) product. I also worked on IBM's software-as-a-service platform (SaaS) targeted to the managed business process outsourcing segment (MBPO/MPBS).


Background and interests


Over the years I have accumulated a wide range of skills from low-level systems engineering to organizing and operating technology-intesive businesses. I am interested in all aspects and stages of the technology lifecycle, from design, financial planning, prototyping, development to steady-state operations. I enjoy working on problems that involve science and touch issues of scale, performance analysis and optimization, reliability and profitability.


Past Experience

From 1999 to 2003 I was the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Voicemate, where I led a team of 15 engineers in creating and deploying the first audio and multimedia publishing solution for the financial markets. The Voicemate technology included tools and infrastructure for authoring, managing, distributing and searching multimedia knowledge on fixed and mobile devices. As a member of the executive management team, I worked on marketing, business strategy and fundraising (Seed and Series A venture funding), and managed the company's patent portfolio. I consulted with clients primarily in the financial industry and oversaw product development through 2 major releases and deployment in 2 major dataceneters.

After receiving a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1995, I interviewed with AT&T Bell Laboratories and joined the Computing Sciences Research department in Murray Hill, NJ as a Member of Technical Staff. I had worked there earlier as a summer intern in 1992 and 1993. I had the extreme luck and privilege to work with the same scientists that invented the Unix operating system and the C programming language (among many other famous inventions), people for who I had developed enormous admiration as a young engineering student. At that time, the old AT&T split into three companies, and I eventually joined the team that founded AT&T Labs-Research as a Senior Member of Technical Staff.

At AT&T Labs-Research, I conducted research in the areas of multimedia networks and services, network and systems management, agent technologies, packet telephony, Internet routing, active networking and performance evaluation for advanced Internet services. I also participated in the team that designed the single pipe architecture for broadband home access that later lead to AT&T’s entry in the cable industry and the acquisitions of TCI and MediaOne. My most visible project was the Marvel distributed management platform, used to provide customer and operations management services for large-scale broadband cable access networks. Originally designed in 1996, Marvel was one of the first management platforms to leverage the power of a fully distributed Java architecture to offer network and system management services. I also worked on TOPS, a feature rich precursor to today's VoIP services, and participared in a number of other activities including the AT&T Worldnet internet backbone.

Between 1998 and 2000 I was also an adjuct assistant professor at the department of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University.


Education

I graduated with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 1995. My thesis topic was on the design, performance analysis and demensioning of next generation networks and services. My thesis advisor was professor Aurel A. Lazar. From Columbia I also have an M.Phil. (1994) and M.S. (1991). I did my undergraduate studues at the National Technical University of Athens, where I received a Diploma in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1990.


Hobbies

I enjoy sports, particularly windsurfing, snowboarding, soccer and basketball. Since 1985, I have been extremely dedicated to the practice of Shotokan Karate. I currently have a 3rd degree black belt, and I am attending a 2-year instructor course (graduating the summer of 2008). The careful study of Karate under the supervision of Sensei Mori, one of the most senior instructors today, has tought me invaluable life lessons in self-disciplice, humility, and respect.


Contact Information

You can email me at NIKOSatUSdotIBMdotCOM.



Last updated 19 Feb 2008