Security First: Scaling Hybrid IT Enterprise Networks

Williams-Sonoma’s Senior Vice President of Technology, Raleigh Mann, unpacks the complexity of global networks, the shift to API-driven automation, and why security must remain the first and last priority. How can enterprises innovate at scale while maintaining security and resilience?

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In this Executives at the Edge episode, host Pascal Menezes explores these topics and more with Raleigh Mann of Williams-Sonoma, Inc.:

How can enterprises manage the growing complexity of multi-cloud and hybrid IT environments?
Why is a “security-first” approach essential in today’s interconnected enterprise landscape?
What role do APIs play in driving automation and reducing reliance on portals?
What lessons can be learned from procurement cycles, vendor dependencies, and real-world failures?
How can industry standards and certifications help enterprises trust vendor solutions?

Learn More

Read the Enterprise Case Study: Williams-Sonoma’s Network Journey to SD-WAN and SASE in Retail.
About Mplify for Enterprises.
Meet the rest of Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council and read their recent Industry Manifesto for SASE Certification.

About Our Guest

Raleigh Mann, Senior Vice President of Technology, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

Raleigh Mann has been at the forefront of networking and infrastructure for 30+ years. Early in his career he worked for Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) as a network analyst at the early days of the public Internet, then on to America Online just prior to the explosive growth of Dial-up Internet. He then moved to the West Coast and created the networking and security team at Industrial Light + Magic (a Lucasfilm company)—where high-performance compute systems were in huge demand for special effects in the film industry. After 7 years and completion of the technical studios at the Presidio campus, Raleigh joined Google’s production networking team.

While at Google and with 10x+ growth year over year, his team designed and launched the first large scale SD-WAN/OpenFlow (B4 network), continuing on to implement and manage SDN in the datacenter as well, utilizing their own hardware and software. This team was also recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with multiple EMMY(™) awards for their work on the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, capable of broadcasting nearly all events live and globally through the Google/YouTube systems, delivering orders of magnitude with more capability than the 2010 Olympics.

Raleigh Mann now serves as the Senior Vice President of Technology for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. where they have implemented SD-Wan for the retail stores, SDN in the datacenter and are on a Zero Trust migration for the entire enterprise, among many other transformations, both technical and cultural.

Executives at the Edge podcast is brought to you by Mplify, a global alliance of network, cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise organizations working together to accelerate the AI-powered digital economy through standardization, automation, certification, and collaboration.

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