Stephen Horton

Stephen Horton Email and Phone Number

Associate Director - DevOps Automation at Verizon @ Verizon
Allen, TX, US
Stephen Horton's Location
Allen, Texas, United States, United States
Stephen Horton's Contact Details
About Stephen Horton

Experienced professional specializing in software product architecture, design and development. Through increasing levels of management and responsibility, developed and maintained a proven track record of hands-on multitasking and delivering on aggressive, high-pressure schedules. Proficient in design, implementation and automation using restful web services, microservices, multi-threaded event distribution, message bus frameworks, distributed network programming, databases, embedded programming, design patterns, user interfaces, test and delivery. Extensive International experience working with a large customer base and remote internal teams. Full product life cycle experience managing teams in R&D and DevOps and leading companies to success; significant other contributions in Procurement, Product Management, System Test and Integration, Operations and Field Support.

Stephen Horton's Current Company Details
Verizon

Verizon

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Associate Director - DevOps Automation at Verizon
Allen, TX, US
Website:
verizon.com
Employees:
97920
Stephen Horton Work Experience Details
  • Verizon
    Verizon
    Allen, Tx, Us
  • Verizon
    Associate Director - Devops Automation
    Verizon Apr 2018 - Present
    Basking Ridge, Nj, Us
    • Architected and implemented a multi-vendor automation platform that enables workflow-based, complex automations with Python open source technologies, including Python Flask with SQLAlchemy, Netmiko, Napalm, Ansible, and ReST. Platform growth is approaching the management of 25000 devices.• Mentored and grew the team, with a focus on uniting the operations organization around a common automation tools ecosystem based on Python. Measured results: eliminated repetitive tasks, improved consistency and quality of Ops processes, increased reliable reuse, enabled faster troubleshooting, reduced costs, and captured expert knowledge.• Automated the deployment of the platform into the Verizon Cloud Platform, the world's largest OpenStack core; currently working on adding horizontal scaling features to ensure future capacity.
  • Verizon
    Senior Architect - Network Automation And Virtualization
    Verizon Aug 2017 - Apr 2018
    Basking Ridge, Nj, Us
    • Architected a Test Automation Platform using Robot Framework, Python and Bash, and built test case suites for testing network appliances. Created custom library extensions for robot framework using Python. Platform is deployed using OpenStack Heat with virtual network appliances for testing, including HP and BigSwitch.• Architected a KVM virtual model (cloud-in-a-box) of the Verizon next generation cloud platform for staging configuration changes and upgrades, developing automation tools, and test automation.• Automated the virtual model creation using Python, Bash and Ansible; model includes all aspects of the data center network architecture, including spine and leaf, underlay and overlay control plane using network appliances from Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Nokia, Nuage, and has fully-functional, nested OpenStack Pike VIM inside.
  • Huawei Technologies
    Senior Architect Consultant
    Huawei Technologies Jul 2016 - Aug 2017
    Shenzhen, Guangdong, Cn
    • Senior Software Architect for US R&D Innovation Center working to build a robotic process automation (RPA) software platform applying microservice, Business Process Mgmt (BPMN), and artificial intelligence technologies to benefit Huawei R&D business lines.• Developed Java J2EE microservice software for Activiti / Flowable BPMN workflow execution engine (running embedded) using Eclipse IDE, REST, RAML, Jersey / JAX-RS, JSON, GSON, XML, and Tomcat Servlets.• Architected and implemented data access layer to JanusGraph backed by Apache Cassandra cluster, including schema, data modeling, and APIs, for the automation environment’s resource reservation subsystem.• Architected and implemented Openstack Mitaka cloud for the project: provisioned servers and network devices, installed Ubuntu with Canonical Metal as a Service (MAAS), deployed ceph-backed nova/glance/cinder/manila, and neutron, heat, magnum, horizon, aodh, and ceilometer. Created cloud image templates and migrated legacy workloads to the new cloud; currently performing all admin and maintenance operations.• Developed Ansible playbooks for automation of cloud mgmt tasks and daily/weekly/monthly backups of cloud entities. Implemented cloud orchestration with Heat templates, Openstack REST APIs and Java Openstack4J.• Designed continuous integration (CI) , delivery (CD) of automation software with Jenkins, GitHub Enterprise, GitLab• Developed performance load test automation of cloud restful web services APIs with Junit, Postman, JMeter, RestAssured and BPMN workflows. Integrated InfluxDB, Grafana, and Telegraf metrics for dashboard monitoring.• Project manager for Academic Partnerships Incubator to identify and integrate artificial intelligence from researchers applicable to R&D business units: software architecture recovery, smell detection (bad practices), natural language processing (NLP), modeling simulations, machine learning, test optimization, fault localization, and traceability.
  • Kodiak
    Director Platform Software R&D
    Kodiak Jun 2009 - Feb 2016
    Plano, Texas, Us
    • Drove creation of the 4th generation platform to virtualize the product line; included Redhat KVM VMs on bridged networking and VLANs with Docker containers, and Redhat Anaconda Kickstart to deploy bare metal servers and launch automation.• Managed datacenter deployments with partner colocation facilities. Worked with partners to plan capacity, manage infrastructure, guarantee security, benchmark performance, execute deployments and troubleshoot issues.• In 2011, moved company’s manufacturing and integration facility from Arrow Electronics in Phoenix to Kontron in Montreal for the 3rd generation product platform. Worked with Kontron to establish an ISO-9001 certified turn-key manufacturing process for performing software/hardware integration, system level test and ship.• Assumed role of procurement prime in 2009: Managed company hardware/software supply chain relationships for: Redhat, Kontron, Intel, Motorola Computing Group/Emerson Network Power, Interphase, GE Intelligent Platforms, HP, Cisco, Adtran, and Arrow Electronics. Planned, negotiated and implemented capital purchases for product stocking, integration, build, and deploy to customer sites for contract fulfillment.• Managed and controlled company transportation programs for domestic and international (import/export) shipments. Activities included working with the freight forwarder (Mainfreight) and company’s process automation to produce necessary documentation for product systems and establishing procedures for customs brokerage, import/export bonds and licenses, handling duties, taxes and any additional certification requirements for the target deployment countries. Proficient in all aspects of global technology distribution. • Most recent hands-on technical contributions: cloud migration prototyping with Openstack (Kilo and Liberty) Ironic, OpenVswitch source code integration with Intel DPDK, automation and orchestration for Amazon AWS and Rackspace RPC cloud block storage volumes and VMs.
  • Kodiak
    Senior Technical Manager - Platform Software R&D Team
    Kodiak Jan 2006 - Jan 2009
    Plano, Texas, Us
    • Team was responsible for integrating platform from third party and open-source components, and developing automation tools for deploying product hardware, firmware, and base software platform to the field.• Defined software and hardware integration architecture for Ethernet and application redundancy, security hardening, auditing and compliance, fault and performance monitoring, config mgmt, maintenance and admin activities, and subscriber provisioning.• Led team to in-house integrate 2nd generation platform based on best-of-breed components from vendors. This platform was stable and successfully deployed in 15 countries in Central and South America, 4 countries in Europe, 3 countries in Asia, and wide spread throughout North America.• While leading team to integrate a new DSP processor board, ported Gentoo Linux to a PowerPC blade server employing a Marvell system controller, Broadcom, Conexant, and PMC Sierra components. Created cross-compiler environment to adapt and write Linux device drivers in C and modified U-boot firmware in C to boot the board. • Led a team to architect and implement (Bash scripts and Java JNI) highly available storage array servers with robotic tape backup archival, which was delivered to Verizon to satisfy government contractual storage requirements.• Drove product certification efforts for NEBS (Verizon) and Brazil Homologation (Telefonica Vivo) to success.• Participated in new business request (RFI, RFP, and RFQ) responses to new and existing customers.
  • Kodiak
    Senior Architect - Platform Software R&D
    Kodiak Jun 2003 - Jan 2006
    Plano, Texas, Us
    • Led domestic and offshore development teams in India on customer requirements and high-level design strategy for the Kodiak Networks product, a Push-to-Talk or ‘walkie-talkie’ like system that integrates into wireless networks.• Early in product lifecycle, adapted TMF Standards for use in managing the system. Modified standard Corba IDLs for system mgmt functional areas for use in the Element Mgmt System (EMS) and application layers. Implemented prototypes for development teams in Java JacOrb (CORBA), C++, ACE, and TAO.• Worked directly with customer primes for integrating products into the customer network, defined deployment requirements, and planned roll-out implementation for my team. Customers at this time included Alltel, Orange (5 Countries), Telstra (Australia), Cellcom, Cingular / AT&T, Verizon, Bell Mobility, Telefonica (13 Countries), Millicom (5 Countries), and a number of other regional and Tier 2 wireless carriers.• Involved in all areas of system mgmt integration employing C++, Java and standard APIs between company products and customer network: fault mgmt, alarm delivery to EMS / NOC, high availability, config mgmt (both graphical through EMS as well as CLI), accounting and billing mgmt with hand-off to customer, monitoring and key performance indicator (KPI) collection with hand-off to customer mediation center, and security and auditing.• Worked with customer primes and third party consultants to assess security vulnerabilities through scans.• Developed script based tools in Tcl/Tk and Bash shell for product deployment automation and monitoring, backup and restore, log monitoring and collection, remote access tunneling, network config, and others.
  • Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
    Principal Engineer - Platform Software R&D
    Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Sep 2002 - May 2003
    92707 Colombes, Fr
    • Advised development teams on compliancy with various Telcordia (Bellcore), ITU, and 3GPP Standards regarding faults, redundancy, high availability, config, and performance mgmt of the Spatial Wireless Softswitch. The product is a distributed network architecture system built upon Solaris with C++ and Java, and it was acquired by Alcatel.• Implemented fault mgmt features such as alarm synchronization, refresh, throttling, fault correlation, and failure monitoring of the product hardware in C++.• Analyzed product performance and implemented optimizations in the message bus layer in C++.• Developed tools for automation of in-service upgrade and install of the product in Tcl/Tk and Expect.• Worked with hardware vendors to solve C++ driver and firmware related issues regarding Layer 2 Ethernet stability, power mgmt, and hardware redundancy.
  • Raze Technologies
    Principal Engineer And Manager - Platform Software R&D Team
    Raze Technologies Jun 2001 - Sep 2002
    • Led base platform team to develop mgmt infrastructure for embedded broadband fixed wireless system (IEEE 802.16) employing C/C++ and Wind River’s VxWorks real-time operating system. System is comprised of custom hardware boards on a proprietary back plane with both PPC 8260 and MIPS processors.• Developed device managers (mgrs) with associated maintenance and alarm state machines in C++, for implementing the industry standard mgmt categories defined by ISO in FCAPS. Examples of device mgrs implemented are IEEE 802.16 radio monitor, T1 device driver mgr (based on ANSI T1.231 standard), remote software download/upgrade mgr, fault mgr (SNMP/MIB), config mgr, subscriber battery mgr, redundancy synchronization mgr, and call monitor.• Designed a distributed publish-and-subscribe message bus framework in C++ with VxWorks message queues used by all software components in the system for exchanging and sharing data.• Designed a framework in C++ for scheduling and maintaining historical performance data, diagnostics, and operational measurements for use with customer SLAs (Service Level Agreements).• Designed the system redundancy strategy for detection, isolation, recovery and treatment of faults.• Ported GNU UNIX tools in C to VxWorks for use in development, test, and field debugging. Examples include text-processing tools like grep, tail, more, Ed (editor), and Apache web server.• Developed C++ base layer utilities for CRC checksum, file transfer, date/time manipulation, config backup and restore, command line interfacing (CLI), and performing manufacturing test before units leave the factory (used a socket server based test framework interfaced to Agilent VEE).• Modified VxWorks OS implemented in C for in-field remote software upgrade, network stack optimizations/tuning.• Defined load build and Makefile processes and performed other DevOps tasks.
  • Zhone Technologies
    Technical Advisor - System Architecture Team
    Zhone Technologies Jun 2000 - Jun 2001
    • Led the architecture and development of an Element Mgmt System (EMS) for managing the Xybridge family of Softswitch products. EMS was based on Java Mgmt Extensions (JMX / JDMK) framework and RMI / CORBA and addressed all areas of system mgmt: faults and high availability, config mgmt, accounting, performance, and security.• Designed a distributed EMS Client GUI application in Java Swing and JacOrb CORBA.• Developed the platform architecture used by all the product nodes for storing persistent data in the central database (Oracle) and caching portions into a local in-memory database (TimesTen) on each node. This included a database abstraction layer written in Java that managed database connections and activities within the node.• Implemented Java base libraries used in creating all product components, including libraries for object pooling and memory mgmt to control Java VM garbage collection, thread handling, timers, and logging.• Performed Oracle and TimesTen database admin responsibilities.• Developed product packaging structure, development Makefile environment, and performed other DevOps tasks.• Prototyped database event notification system in Oracle Advanced Queuing and JMS.• Established company-wide use of profiling tools and good Java coding techniques, enforced through code reviews, to achieve near real-time performance from the product.• Following acquisition of Xybridge by Zhone Technologies, integrated the Java platforms of both companies into a unified product success.
  • Nortel Networks
    Technical Lead - Wireless Intelligent Networks R&D
    Nortel Networks Jun 1999 - Jun 2000
    Ca
    • Led the development of Java Swing and Visibroker CORBA client GUI interfaces to administer product EMS, subscriber provisioning and system management. Product is a Java-based distributed services system for the Wireless network that is composed of Linux call processing nodes and a Solaris / Oracle node for persistent storage.• Conducted initial design, Java development, and troubleshooting for provisioning (CORBA/IDL) and systems management (SNMP/MIB) interfaces to bring them to maturity.• Created a collection of Java Servlet/JDBC-based tools to aid teams in integrated product test.• Performed database admin activities for embedded Oracle database, administrated Solaris, Linux, and CVS source code repository. Participated in developing loadbuild process and performed other DevOps tasks.
  • Nortel Networks
    Senior Software Engineer - System And Test Automation
    Nortel Networks Jan 1997 - Jun 1999
    Ca
    • Developed UNIX and Windows software automation tools for driving test case execution on switching products.• Developed C++ GUI based client-server toolset for managing product test execution.• Created distributed test case generation tool based on a call-modeling schema implemented in C++ with Oracle.• Implemented a Java GUI client-server tool that performs per protocol message analysis and compliance test.• Developed web C++ CGI and Java applications for loading and automation of the product datafill database.• Designed various other automation tools (C++ on Windows and UNIX). • Designed Java Swing GUI tools for test case generation automation.• Developed a C++ distributed compilation server for product automation test cases.• Administrated Linux servers and ported existing UNIX Motif applications to the Linux platform.• Provided development and customer support for existing applications.• Administrated team web servers, authored technical documentation, and mentored co-op students.
  • Texas Instruments
    Software Engineer - Missile Systems
    Texas Instruments Jan 1994 - Jan 1997
    Dallas, Tx, Us
    • Designed Paveway Project Laser Guided Bomb Test Set for military customers employing C++ and blade servers. • Designed, developed and tested over 30,000 lines of object-oriented C++ code for the initial product release.• Converted existing automation test software from UNIX to Microsoft Windows C++.• Developed manufacturing test software on UNIX workstations (C++ and X-Windows Motif). • Converted existing Fortran code from Texas Instruments platform to C++ on the UNIX platform, in order to migrate manufacturing test hardware from proprietary to standard, off-the-shelf.• Wrote an ADM5 terminal emulator program in C++ to interface to legacy manufacturing test equipment.• Performed product demos and evaluations for foreign military customers.
  • Texas Instruments
    Database Admin - Procurement & Materials Mgmt Team
    Texas Instruments Aug 1992 - Jan 1994
    Dallas, Tx, Us
    • Created database repository of incoming inspection quality data and supply chain test data for performing historical analysis of component quality for all company production projects.• Developed relational database reporting tools for use by the materials organization and management team.• Developed UNIX and Solaris shell scripts to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from various sources.• Provided training and instructional support to teams and external material suppliers

Stephen Horton Skills

Integration Software Development Unix Databases Product Management Virtualization Middleware Frameworks Cloud Computing And Iaas Distributed Networking Linux And Unix Operating Systems Test Automation User Interface Design System Architecture Embedded Systems Solaris Networking Embedded Development Shell Scripting Languages Business Process Automation System Monitoring Shell Scripting Debugging Java

Stephen Horton Education Details

  • Mississippi State University
    Mississippi State University
    Physics
  • The University Of Texas At Dallas
    The University Of Texas At Dallas
    Electrical Engineering And Computer Science
  • Jonesboro High School
    Jonesboro High School
  • Arkansas Governor'S School
    Arkansas Governor'S School
    Natural Sciences

Frequently Asked Questions about Stephen Horton

What company does Stephen Horton work for?

Stephen Horton works for Verizon

What is Stephen Horton's role at the current company?

Stephen Horton's current role is Associate Director - DevOps Automation at Verizon.

What is Stephen Horton's email address?

Stephen Horton's email address is sh****@****hoo.com

What schools did Stephen Horton attend?

Stephen Horton attended Mississippi State University, The University Of Texas At Dallas, Jonesboro High School, Arkansas Governor's School.

What skills is Stephen Horton known for?

Stephen Horton has skills like Integration, Software Development, Unix, Databases, Product Management, Virtualization, Middleware Frameworks, Cloud Computing And Iaas, Distributed Networking, Linux And Unix Operating Systems, Test Automation, User Interface Design.

Who are Stephen Horton's colleagues?

Stephen Horton's colleagues are Allan Gordon, Andrea Janiszewski, Pettinato Giacinto Dino, James Beveridge, Matthew Brinegar, Donny Schwendt, Diane Rau.

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