Former Vodafone executives join ngena

The Next Generation Enterprise Network Alliance (ngena), the Deutsche Telekom shared enterprise connectivity spin-out, refreshed its senior executive team in what it said was a move to “fuel growth” and strengthen its “partner promise”. The switches bring two ex‑Vodafone execs to the table — separating ngena further from familial ties with Deutsche Telekom, which were pared back with the latter’s majority stake sell‑off in 2019 (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #93).

The new appointments are:

• Chris Burke, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). He joined the ngena Advisory Board in 2019, bringing with him significant experience in advisory and director roles at technology and venturing outfits, including at HP, Red Hat, SLR Dynamics, and Affirmed Networks. He was Chief Technology & Information Officer (CTIO) at Vodafone UK until 2004.

• Maja Grätz, Chief Operating Officer (COO). Most recently Vice‑President (VP) of Technology Transformation at Vodafone Germany, she also spent time at Unitymedia and Accenture.

• Miguel Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). A 30‑year marketing and communications veteran, he initially joined ngena as a marketing consultant in 2019.

ngena — which supports and markets international connectivity for enterprises, via a software-based network platform and more than 40 service provider backers — does not named Vodafone an Alliance Partner. It’s a community that does include rivals such as BT, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, Reliance Jio, and Telstra, as well as numerous other providers.

The management refresh comes around a year after Deutsche Telekom loosened its grip on the alliance, seeing it divest its stake and reduce go‑to‑market ties between the venture and T‑Systems (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #82).

In August 2019, ngena announced a raft of changes to its management team and the installation of a “hands‑on” Advisory Board. Burke was named an advisor at the time, alongside senior figures from Accenture, BT Global, and Cisco Systems (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #86).