What it’s like to be Head of Solution Line SMO at Ericsson Ireland

I started in Ericsson Education, as a technical trainer. It was my first job when I finished university and possibly the most fun one, I have had during my career. I had the opportunity to work with new technology and to travel the world meeting customers and visiting their operations. It was an amazing time and I met some of my best friends during those years.

I have always enjoyed understanding how we can leverage technology to bring value to customers and it is important to me that the work I do is impactful.

Ericsson’s vision to use connectivity to improve the world around us is a message I have engaged with throughout my career. Ericsson’s culture has been instrumental in my progression and created an environment where I could have an impact.

Career progression and training

After working in multiple roles in adjacent areas across the two BAs, when this role came up it felt like a natural fit.

I am very excited, and it is an opportunity to do something new for Ericsson, to show the industry that we are open and are evolving, it is also a chance to deliver something new to customers that I believe will support their long-term profitability and deliver value in their operations. It will be very challenging but also rewarding.

Together with my team we are responsible for the market introduction and product evolution for Ericsson’s SMO offering Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (IAP). We work with customers and industry to shape business requirements to develop a best-in-class automation system and foster a vibrant eco system to deliver rapid innovation in RAN automation.

Technology

We are working with new technology on an ongoing basis and there is a rapid pace in innovation however, we need to be cognisant of the time to adoption in our customers is not always as fast as we think, and we need to be pragmatic on which technologies have a genuine performance advantage and which we can evolve without.

Currently, we are working with customers on early deployments to their labs of IAP, we will use these early engagements as an opportunity to gather feedback and understand how we can improve the product. We are also spending time with industry partners to understand requirements for ecosystem development. A vibrant ecosystem is key to the success of IAP.

In the area I am working in, I see that the pace of innovation is increasing, many of the technology enablers are now in place in the network and the management domain and we will start to see more and more applications emerging. We also plan to launch our first commercial release of IAP and I am very excited to bring that solution to market.

Advice

Be open to new experiences, spend time with colleagues and really engage with the breadth of the company. Ericsson is a fantastic company to work for and regardless of where you start, there are opportunities to explore your interests and contribute in a meaningful way to the overall vision to use connectivity to improve lives.

About Ericsson Ireland

We are always looking for people to join the team at our Athlone site in Ireland and help build the future of telecommunication technology. To find how you could be part of the team and our site at Athlone click here.

To see available roles at Ireland, click here and get to know our colleagues here.