Brief Summary

I have over 30 years’ experience in the IT industry, most of which has been spent in networking/telecoms in the UK/EMEA and NZ/APAC.  I have worked in varied roles such as technical consulting, network design and architecture, pre-sales support, operational support and software engineering.  I moved to New Zealand in 2008, where I worked in several roles before returning to the UK in 2022.

My experience has been gained in a wide range of organisations, from start-ups, through enterprises and to large service providers and telcos.  I have worked in both team environments and on an individual and independent basis.  In recent years, I have also done a lot of my work in the public sector.

Though performing hands-on work is not as regular as it used to be, it has been a strong element in my previous work, when I gained satisfaction from performing proof-of-concepts before deploying to production environments.  I first started working with Cisco in 1994, and with Juniper in 1999.

I very much enjoy customer-facing roles since no two customers are alike, and so the variety this gives is always a challenge that I am keen to take on.  Taking part in technical discussions with customers forms a key part of being able to fully understand their requirements, which is essential to being able to deliver a successful solution.

Latest News and Useful Articles                — Updated: 5 February 2026 —

• On MPLS forwarding performance myths.  [ipSpace]

• US declassifies information on JUMPSEAT spy satellites.  [Schneier]  [Ars Technica]

• After a decade, VXLAN is still insecure.  [ipSpace]

• 'Lethal' and 'magical' Palantir tech in demand everywhere.  [The Register]

• Interface MAC addresses in IOS L2 images.  [ipSpace]

• FBI takes notorious RAMP ransomware forum offline.  [Bitdefender]

• Network observability.  [ipSpace]

• Site for online criminals seized by FBI.  [Ars Technica]

• The impact of AI on network engineers.  [ipSpace]

• UK MoD signs with Palantir.  [The Register]

• A tech career in 2026.  [ipSpace]  [Anil Dash]

• IP address to organisation name map.  [Geoff Huston]

• Startup aims to revive Moore's law with optical transistors.  [The Register]

• Microsoft unlocks BitLocker for the Feds.  [The Register]  [Schneier]

A more comprehensive news/article list can be found on my networks sub-domain here.

Click here for the latest full version of my CV, or find me on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

rob (at) larsenconsulting (dot) net

© Robert Larsen.  All rights reserved.