Over the past several years Mr. Shareef has led Zotera’s transition from being a Management Consulting firm offering strategic counsel and planning to telecommunications companies to a premier provider of Industrial IoT & Industry 4.0 (IIoT) Solutions. Today Zotera develops “disruptive” Industrial Automation technologies that enable Real-time Monitoring & Management of Industrial Infrastructure, Assets, and Facilities.We employ advanced communications built for Industrial Automation which delivers high-speed connectivity, scalability, high availability and is an essential foundation to securely connecting our Edge Computing Platforms from the edge of the network to the cloud. Our Edge Computing Platforms integrate Information Technology (IT), and Operations Technology (OT) into one single system, in a single place: the “Edge” of the network. IT and OT integration is a significant trend in Industrial Environments and as a result, our solutions are capable of transforming dozens of industries.Deployed on premise and in remote locations (in some cases with little infrastructure), our solutions bring intelligence to the "Edge" enabling real-time analytics to be hosted at the sensor and location where the data is generated. It delivers trusted data to the cloud for predictive and prescriptive analytics to facilitate a transition from a reactive and costly break/fix and preventative maintenance and informs of the time before maintenance is required and thereby increasing operational efficiency and saving costs. Our marriage of smart devices, advanced communications, and management platforms offer a clear foundation for innovation that will help to increase operational efficiencies and to develop new business practices. Zotera’s Management Consulting continues to provide strategic counsel to business owners, corporate boards, and government stakeholders regarding business and technology transformation across several industry sectors.

Responsible for fortune 500 opportunities and the management of executive level client relationships. Managed business development activities including client requirement analysis, proposal development, contract formation, negotiation, and management. Held P&L responsibility for the implementation of complex enterprise solutions that supported the strategic business initiatives of clients. Areas of focus included Novell’s Suse Linux operating system, the ZENworks suite of automated system management tools for the datacenter and end-user environments, and Identity Based Computing. Responsible for oversight of Program Managers, Project Managers, and consultants assigned to projects.

Directed the development of a system for Vodafone which highlighted the ability to bring a natural language voice portal and streaming music into one application. The system focused on several key elements such as Device Usability, Content Integration, Content Preparation (CODECs, compression), Content Delivery, Audio Quality, the performance impact on the Wireless Network, and Device Level Considerations such as Application Size, Device Memory and Performance of Batteries. The system also focused on Identification and Authentication, as well as Digital Rights Management. Directed the development of a “Ubiquitous Content Delivery Platform” for Sony Pictures Integrated Networks designed to publish a range of Sony Pictures promotional web content to different form factor devices. Combined the range of operational requirements of Sony Pictures with device-specific expertise to create a viable product. Other considerations included server and client side applications with open, standardized components and integration points. Consulted the Executive Management of a well-established natural language, voice & speech recognition solutions provider. Developed a business model that improved the efficiency and profitability of the company’s consulting practice which included the world’s leading Natural Language & Speech Recognition Engineers, Six Sigma experts, and CRM implementation engineers. Mentored sales and program management efforts.

Responsible for opportunity pursuits and the management of C level client relationships for major accounts within the Telecommunications and High-Tech Manufacturing sectors. Managed business development activities including client requirement analysis, proposal development & presentation, as well as contract formation, negotiation, and management. Held P&L responsibility for the implementation of complex enterprise solutions that supported strategic business initiatives. Responsible for revenue, margin, and the matrix management of geographically dispersed Pursuit Management Teams, Client Partners, Practice Leads, Program & Project Managers, and assigned Engineering Teams. Responsible for several large systems development initiatives. Programs included a Global Service Delivery Platform (SDP) initiative for Vodafone the world’s largest wireless carrier. The program’s value was several tens of millions of dollars. The SDP was designed to deploy in over 30 countries and scale to over 200 million subscribers. The project involved the matrix management of a global implementation including GEO Pursuit Management teams, Client Partners, Practice Leads, Program and Project Managers, as well as 75 engineers assigned to the project. Participated in the roll-out strategies for Vodafone’s 30 global operating companies. Developed the Product Management Strategy effectively helping to convert the Vodafone Global Platform & Internet Services organization into a product oriented entity as opposed to purely an R&D organization.Company’s 2nd highest revenue producer achieving 263% of quota.

Global responsibility for Product Management and Product Marketing of a $3.6 Billion Hitachi product division. Products included enterprise servers (Mainframes), storage sub-systems, Storage Area Networks (SAN), and systems management software. Managed eight product launches which drove 20% growth in enterprise server market, and 60% in the midrange server market. Developed plans for new product initiatives. Negotiated contracts with OEMs, and Channel Partners such as Hewlett Packard, Brocade, Veritas, and Storage Tek. Coordinated the product development activities performed by internationally dispersed engineering and quality assurance organizations, with those of the worldwide sales and marketing organizations. Launched Storage Area Network seminars in 26 cities worldwide that generated $40M in new business. Targeted key analysts and won recognition from Gartner, IDC, Clipper Group, Aberdeen Group, GIGA, and META.

P&L responsibility for a 280-person telecommunication consulting practice. Responsible for all business functions including operations, business development, marketing, recruiting, program management, training, human resources and administration. Exceeded revenue and profitability goals by 20% on average over a 5-year period. Developed a state of the art remote software development center. The software development center employed innovative communication protocols, and utilized the most advanced tools and techniques required in object oriented software development and multi-platform systems deployment. Directed the establishment of program management methodologies, tools and techniques. Achieved a level 4 Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) rating (top 5% audited internationally at the time).

Responsible for systems integration, software development and support services for major OEMs such as IBM and Digital Equipment Corp. Locus was commissioned by IBM to produce a version of the AIX UNIX based operating system known as AIX TCF (transparent computing facility). Responsible for the development and incubation of nascent Systems Management technologies when there were none for the UNIX operating system. Systems Management technologies were instrumental to the commercialization of UNIX which was primarily used until then as an engineering platform.

Managed executive level client relationships. . Intimately involved in sales and marketing strategies including a business plan for market expansion. Helped to develop the company's number 1 and number 3 sales territories Conducted requirements analysis, performance measurement, capacity analysis and modeling of mainframe operating systems environments for EMC Corp. Developed cost justification for hardware acquisitions and systems assurance reviews for hardware installations. Delivered technical presentations to EMC engineers as well as national and regional IBM user groups.

Significant contribution to Systems Management technologies, tools, techniques, methods, and standards for Virtualized Operating Systems, and Data Center Infrastructure. Solutions included automated operations; performance measurement & tuning; resource utilization; security; and storage management. Consulted customers regarding virtualization strategies, performance analysis, monitoring, and the tuning of IBM mainframe operating systems. Provided recommendations for capacity management and planning to client’s upper tier management. Interfaced with the Sales, Product Management, Quality Management, and R & D departments concerning product strategies. Participated in sales & technical marketing activities including product presentations and training. Presented a variety of technical topics at regional IBM user groups and international conferences.

Led a team of engineers in the development and support of data center virtualization and systems management technologies. Technologies included automated operations; performance monitoring; resource utilization and accounting; security; tape and disk management. Interfaced with Product Management, Sales, and Technical Support. Directed product quality assurance efforts and testing of new software releases. Assisted technical writers in documentation reviews.