Rick M. McConnell, VP and General Manager Unified Communications Business Unit, Cisco Systems
Rick McConnell is Vice President and General Manager of the Unified Communications Business Unit (UCBU), part of Cisco’s Voice Technology Group. UCBU provides such applications as voice mail and unified messaging (Unity), rich-media conferencing (MeetingPlace), soft phones (IP Communicator) and video telephony (VT Advantage).
Mr. McConnell joined Cisco in January 2004 as Vice President and General Manager of the Rich-media Communications Business Unit (RCBU). RCBU was created upon Cisco’s completion of the acquisition of Latitude Communications, a provider of fully integrated voice and web conferencing solutions.
Before his appointment at Cisco, Mr. McConnell was Latitude’s President and Chief Executive Officer, a position that he had held since September 2002. Beginning in August 2001, he served as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for development, marketing, sales, support and operations. Mr. McConnell joined Latitude in November 1998 as Chief Financial Officer, leading the company’s initial public offering in May 1999.
Prior to joining Latitude, Mr. McConnell was Chief Financial Officer at Storm Technology, where he oversaw a 20-fold growth in revenue and directed the company’s IPO. He has also been a Financial Engineer with Credit Suisse First Boston.
Mr. McConnell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Quantitative Economics and a Masters of Business Administration, both from Stanford University. He has published several software study guides in economics, which were distributed internationally by W.W. Norton & Company. Mr. McConnell is frequently sought out as a public speaker, having presented at numerous technology conferences, including the Burton Group Catalyst Conference, VoiceCon and the Wainhouse Summit, as well as many investor conferences, including those sponsored by Chase H&Q, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.