Cradlepoint Names La O New Regional Sales Chief

Juan La O has been named regional sales manager by Cradlepoint, overseeing a territory that includes California and Nevada state agencies and the University of California system.

La O is a veteran of the telecom-technology sector, having begun his career with Sprint Nextel and spending 13 years with the firm. In 2006, La O moved to AT&T, where he began as a mobile applications consultant. One of his noteworthy career points was working on the California State Lottery’s first iPhone app with Amy Tong, who was then with the Lottery and who is now the state chief information officer and director of the California Department of Technology.

“I’ve had a lot of major projects working with the (California Governor’s) Office of Emergency Services, helping CHP upgrade their network for all their locations … and helping a bunch of different agencies with Voice over IP implementations, as well,” La O told Techwire. Among the other large state entities with which he’s worked in various roles, La O said, is the Department of Water Resources.

La O moved to Cradlepoint this month after leaving AT&T.

“One of the main reasons for that decision, as far as choosing Cradlepoint as my next employer, was really — if you think about the cool initiatives that are happening in the IT and technology space, Cradlepoint really hits on two of the major four. I feel like cloud, AI, 5G and SD-WAN are kind of the big things that all these different IT resources and groups are talking about, and Cradlepoint really has sunk their teeth into the 5G and SD-WAN part of things,” La O said.

“The wireless world has finally reached the point where, from a bandwidth and a reliability perspective, it’s really going to start competing against the wireline world … and that’s where SD-WAN comes in, where customers are now starting to support their branch locations and small offices/home offices with wireless connections, as opposed to having to wait several months for some sort of physical wireline infrastructure to be installed.”

La O added that among his goals is to build awareness of Cradlepoint outside of the emergency-services sector.

“Cradlepoint is already a household name amongst the mobile world,” such as the California Highway Patrol and fire and police departments. “The next step is really that jump from just being a mobile service provider to actually now replacing fixed locations through branch/small office/home office, Internet of Things initiatives.”

La O graduated from St. Mary’s College in Moraga in 1994 with political science degree. He lives near the Capitol and said he’s looking forward to walking to in-person meetings at the statehouse again. In his off hours, La O is working on restoring his 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle — and “an old yacht.”