Alexander Mcmillen Email & Phone Number

Sunnyvale, Ca, Us

I joined Fortinet through the acquisition of OPAQ Networks, a venture- and PE-backed startup where I served as Senior Vice President of Operations. At OPAQ, we raised $43 million in funding and completed three acquisitions—Bat Blue Networks, Drawbridge Networks, and FourV Systems—culminating in our acquisition by Fortinet.At Fortinet, I serve as Director of Network Operations, leading the global infrastructure for FortiSASE, a platform recognized as a leader in Zero Trust Edge by Forrester WAVE and a Challenger in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). I manage a network spanning over 100 data centers, leveraging a mix of colos, IXPs, owned data centers, and major cloud platforms like AWS and GCP to ensure scalability and performance. Extensive peering positions Fortinet among the top 18% of the world’s most connected internet networks. I am proud to lead an international team of experts in site reliability engineering, network operations, and architecture, providing 24/7 Level 4 support.Beyond operations, I contribute to PM by defining specifications and participating in development workflows for FortiClient, FortiOS, FortiSwitch, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiAP, FortiADC, and FortiGate. I’m also actively involved in disaster recovery planning and Fortinet’s Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT), addressing vulnerabilities and ensuring business continuity.I work closely with Product Management, Information Security, and Consulting Systems Engineering teams to solve complex challenges and design proactive systems for enhanced monitoring and risk mitigation. My efforts ensure seamless integration between FortiSASE and Fortinet’s Security Fabric to deliver robust, scalable solutions.On the compliance front, I’ve led SOC2 audits with zero exceptions, achieved ISO27001 certification, and overseen compliance efforts for IRAP, ISMAP, and FedRAMP, demonstrating Fortinet’s commitment to meeting rigorous global standards.

Boulder, Colorado, Us

Angel Investor in Sweater, Inc. and a Founding Member of Sweater Ventures’ flagship fund, “The Cashmere Fund.” Supporting the fund’s mission to democratize access to venture capital through innovative investment platforms.

Boulder, Colorado, Us

As a Founding Member of The Cashmere Fund, I focus on supporting innovative private ventures through an actively managed portfolio strategy aimed at generating long-term capital appreciation.Proudly associated with a diverse range of companies across multiple industries, including: • Consumer Tech: Havenly, Graza, Frances Valentine, EarlyBird, and IQBAR. • Healthcare and Wellness: Cabinet Health, Wyndly, Hone Health, Parallel Health, and Lazzaro Medical. • Tech and SaaS Platforms: The Last Gameboard, Symphonic Capital, Stonks, and Nada. • Sustainability and PropTech: Cloud Apartments, Accredible, and Hearth Display. • Venture Funds and Communities: Ganas Ventures, Curate Capital, and Nomadica.

Reston, Virginia, Us

As a WSET certified wine professional, I am thrilled to co-host Wine Wednesday, a networking event that connects entrepreneurs, engineers, decision-makers, and business development professionals in Northern Virginia. Our unique wine theme allows me to educate our guests about the world of wine while fostering meaningful connections.

At Sliqua, I oversaw the design, implementation, and operations of an autonomous system that supports both IPv4 and IPv6 (AS32740). I also led development efforts on a custom LAMP platform and managed the security and maintenance of critical systems for high-demand customers who require 100% uptime.Providing 24/7 on-call technical assistance, I managed diverse teams of support and engineering professionals, while maintaining partnerships with industry leaders such as Cloudflare, InterWorx, Ksplice, Blank Law and Technology, and Vyatta/VyOS.I co-founded Sliqua in high school and successfully presented our business plan at the DECA International Career Development Conference, earning a spot in the Top 10 global e-commerce business plans.

University Of Richmond, Va, Us

As an Advisory Board Member for the University of Richmond's Customer Experience (CX) Certificate Program, I am passionate about helping individuals and organizations deepen their understanding of customer experience. With a diverse background in technical assistance during crisis situations, such as cyber security breaches and server/network outages, I bring a unique perspective to the discussion. My experience has taught me the importance of effective communication and empathy in times of stress, which I believe are crucial elements of exceptional customer experience.My role in the CX Certificate Program involves providing feedback and insights from my expertise in various disciplines to improve the program's relevance and value for participants. I am committed to sharing my knowledge and experience to help individuals and organizations integrate best practices and innovative methodologies throughout their operations, enabling them to deliver outstanding customer experiences at all times.

Herndon, Va, Us

Acquired by Fortinet, $FTNT in July 2020.OPAQ emerged as a pioneering company in the SASE/SSE market, raising $43M and becoming a leading cloud provider in network security. Its cutting-edge platform enabled midsize businesses to access Fortune 100-grade network security-as-a-service through a software-defined network that prioritized speed and performance. OPAQ operated datacenters in key locations across the US, including Ashburn, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, and London. This strategic infrastructure allowed OPAQ to provide its customers with fast and reliable access to its network security services. Furthermore, OPAQ's autonomous system (AS) was well-connected with over a thousand peers, ensuring that its network was highly resilient and capable of handling large volumes of traffic. OPAQ had its headquarters in Northern Virginia and was a privately held company. It received funding from renowned venture capital firms such as Columbia Capital, Greenspring Associates, Harmony Partners, and Zero-G, Inc.

Herndon, Va, Us

As the third employee at Roka Security, I led the transition of existing systems and network infrastructure to a scalable architecture, which was replicated across multiple locations in North America and Europe. I designed, built, and maintained a Service Provider backbone with datacenter deployments under two autonomous systems (AS54876, AS62234), achieving 99.999% availability.In addition to designing and maintaining multiple wide area networks, I have mitigated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks exceeding 100 Gbps against high profile targets. I managed vendor selection and procurement activities for all internal business units, including construction, cabling, network devices, datacenters, and internet service providers.I also taught a Datacenter Fundamentals course as part of a larger certification program and performed incident response, vulnerability assessment and scanning activities for customers in various verticals, including financial, non-profit, government contractors, managed services providers, datacenter operators, and security companies.Furthermore, I assisted in Sales Engineering and proposal writing functions for both commercial and government contracts. I also collaborated with multiple business units to create and enhance a wide range of products and services, including managed network services, digital forensics and incident response, vulnerability assessment, vulnerability scanning, IDS, end-to-end encrypted voice, video, and chat application, managed hosting, secure enclave, IP transit, IP transport, DDoS mitigation, and virtual security appliances.

Herndon, Va, Us

Responsible for the operations of three datacenter footprints located in Ashburn, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam. I set up and scaled two IPv4/IPv6 autonomous systems (AS54876, AS62234) across the United States and Europe, utilizing full routes from eight carriers, including private peering agreements.My responsibilities included managing the security and maintenance of critical systems for customers with 99.999% availability and mitigating Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against high-profile targets, including Worldstar HipHop. I also participated as a member at North American Network Operator Group (NANOG) events and in community projects, such as the Unwanted Traffic Removal Service from Team Cymru.

Acquired by Zayo Group ($ZAYO) for $675M.As a Systems Engineer, I not only managed customer-facing infrastructure but worked closely with our customer support, sales engineering, and executive teams to develop a cloud platform before “cloud” was a household term.We used the HP Cloud System Matrix / VMWare ESXi to enable customers to visually implement complex cloud architectures including servers, storage, and network. This innovative solution proved to be a game-changer and was the basis of the sale of Latisys to the Zayo Group for $675 million. I am proud to have played a pivotal role in this success story by developing and implementing the cloud platform that ultimately contributed to the company's acquisition.Our engineers were also responsible for managing thousands of hosts and supporting Linux and Windows systems running different configurations on various platforms such as VMWare ESXi 4/5, Virtuozzo, Plesk/cPanel, etc. We developed standardized cabling, labeling, power, and racking standards for the managed hosting platform. These standards were deployed to all 8 datacenters, empowering engineers to remotely support customer-facing systems.I participated in the on-call rotation for all customer-facing systems, which meant that I was always available to address any issues that arose outside regular business hours. By working closely with my team and being available to address any concerns, we were able to provide our customers with the highest level of service and support. My dedication to collaborating with other teams and empowering our support teams to handle complex customer requests without escalating to valuable engineering resources resulted in increased efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and ultimately, business success.

I oversaw the construction and operations after the acquisition of the Pryme Technologies data center campus in Ashburn, VA which doubled in size during my tenure to 123,000 square feet. Following the acquisition of the campus, I was responsible for managing on-site vendors such as electrical, mechanical, construction, raised flooring, and cabling to ensure seamless data center operations.In addition, I managed the Network Operations Center in a 24x7x365 on-site rotation, handled internal change management for the Ashburn market and collaborated with remote implementations and engineering teams to deploy customer-facing solutions.I was able to maintain high standards of performance and ensure customer satisfaction with 100% site uptime, cementing my reputation as a leader in the data center industry.

Us

Joined as employee #2, Acquired by Latisys.As a Network Engineer, I held the sole responsibility for overseeing Network Operations of AS29944 and for responding to physical and logical support cases in a 24x7 environment, ensuring the smooth functioning of critical networking systems and customer colocated equipment. Additionally, I managed remote hands issues at Equinix Ashburn and Switch & Data Reston, providing efficient and prompt resolution to any technical challenges that arose.I acted as a liaison and administrator for irc.ptptech.com on the Eris Free IRC Network (EFNet). EFNet has traditionally been associated with technical communities and hacker culture, and has been the target of various cyber attacks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. We mitigated attacks in excess of >40 Gbps during this period.

I served as a Network Engineer and handled Internal IT at Applied Security, a leading technology company that specializes in providing advanced security solutions to clients across various industries. In this role, I managed internal server rooms and critical power and cooling systems, while also overseeing the configuration and maintenance of routers, firewalls, switches, and servers. Additionally, I provided IT assistance to a security-minded team working in a mixed network environment encompassing Linux, Mac, and Windows systems. I was able to help Applied Security maintain a strong foundation for its security solutions, ensuring that clients received top-quality services and that sensitive data remained secure.

Before cryptocurrencies were even a concept, I had the opportunity to develop a proof-of-concept platform that aimed to revolutionize trade between developing countries with unstable currencies. When I was only 18, I presented this innovative platform at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Summit and Expo in Shanghai, China.The platform's primary objective was to create an eBay-style marketplace that would promote economic growth and sustainable development by facilitating online trade between developing countries. Although the platform was never launched, my proof-of-concept garnered significant interest from experts in the field and was well-received.I am honored to have presented my work at such a prestigious event and to have contributed to the ongoing efforts to promote global trade and economic development. As a young engineer, I was dedicated to using technology to address the world's most pressing challenges and to make a positive impact on society.