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: 11 July 2025 —

• Using Signal groups for activism.  [Schneier]  [Micah Lee]

• Expert generalists.  [ipSpace]  [Martin Fowler]

• IS-IS 3-way handshake and the power of SHOULD.  [ipSpace]

• Cisco interview questions.  [ipCisco]

• Starlink helps eight more nations pass 50 percent IPv6 adoption  [The Register]

• ICANN critical of AFRINIC, causing election annulment.  [The Register]

• Chinese-owned VPNs hide their origin.  [Graham Cluley]

• The CV is dying - and AI is to blame.  [Ars Technica]

• Ossification and the Internet.  [Geoff Huston]

• Canadian telecom hacked by China state group.  [Ars Technica]

• Largest DDoS attack to date.  [Schneier]  [Ars Technica]

• Network digital twins - beyond PowerPoint and reality.  [ipSpace]

• Is Cisco Live still the place to be?  [Networking Nerd]

• EVPN route attributes matter.  [ipSpace]

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.